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paul_cornelius's review
3.0
Sort of a clumsy story that kept twisting and turning in on itself until all its major characters were gone. Not nearly as violent as the novel it serves as a sequel to, No Orchids for Miss Blandish, this book nevertheless has its gruesome and grisly moments. I can't get over the feeling that JCH was merely cashing in on the former novel's success and fame with Flesh of the Orchid. This especially feels so when compared to the very interesting works he published around the same time that exhibited much more skill, psychological insight, and experimentation with form.
Meanwhile, in the failed idiom and word usage department, a couple of things. In this book, at least, JHC got it right and had his American characters refer to the hood over an engine, instead of a bonnet. But he still has them talking about torches, instead of flashlights. Finally, the person who operated a soda fountain in a drug store during this era was a soda jerk, not a soda jerker. Funny he got these wrong, because several of his other American based stories right before this one seemed to have figured out the slang and idiom usage correctly. Always fun to keep a tally, nevertheless.
Meanwhile, in the failed idiom and word usage department, a couple of things. In this book, at least, JHC got it right and had his American characters refer to the hood over an engine, instead of a bonnet. But he still has them talking about torches, instead of flashlights. Finally, the person who operated a soda fountain in a drug store during this era was a soda jerk, not a soda jerker. Funny he got these wrong, because several of his other American based stories right before this one seemed to have figured out the slang and idiom usage correctly. Always fun to keep a tally, nevertheless.
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