A Bullet for Cinderella

MacDonald scores again with a dark tale of a Korean War POW who goes to a small town to try to locate 60,000 dollars another POW who died in the Chinese prison where they were both held had hidden. Of course, he becomes involved with two women--one with a heart of gold and one who, on the outside, is much harder. Then he has to deal with a psychopathic third POW who is also in town looking for the money. There are some great passages in this book about human nature and about how we can grow into a different person who no longer fits into his previous life. There are also some great suspense scenes and an oppressive sense of doom pervading the story. The only jarring notes are touches of sentimentality that seem out of place in such a show more hard-boiled tale and and ending that is way too pat. Still, this is reminiscent in many ways of the best of MacDonald's early work, such as Dead Low Tide. show less

A Bullet for Cinderella by John D. MacDonald was originally published in 1955 and I personally found this to be a hard-boiled crime story that I could not put down. It starts out with the main character arriving in a strange town with the purpose of recovering a buried treasure that his army buddy told him about just before he died in the prison of war camp they were in.

Tal Howard is a disillusioned Korean War veteran he’s hoping to finance a new life with the sixty thousand dollars of embezzled funds that his dying friend, Tim, told him about. Unfortunately his friend wasn’t able to tell him specifically where the money is and another inmate from the camp is also in town searching for the money that he overheard Tal and Tim show more discussing. This other inmate, Earl Fitzmartin, is a particularly nasty character, tough, amoral and ruthless. The plot twists and turns, secrets are revealed, dead bodies turn up and our main character finally realizes that the stolen money isn’t as important to him as the real treasure he has found in this town is, a young woman called Ruth. Unfortunately by the time Tal sorts out his feelings, Ruth has fallen into the hands of Fitzmartin.

This classic story features some fairly brutal action, interesting characters and a well written plot that holds the readers attention. The story moves quickly but the final few chapters are incredibly fast moving, exciting and suspenseful helping to make A Bullet For Cinderella a page turner. show less

This is my first MacDonald novel and I will be looking for more. Hal Howard met Timmy Warden in a Korean prison of war camp. Before Timmy died he revealed that he had stolen money from his brother's business and felt guilty. He asked Tal to go to his town, recover the money and return it to his brother.
When Hal gets there, he finds the brother is a drunk whose business is dying from lack of care. Hal plans to get the money and take it but soon discovers that another man from Korea is also looking for the money. Hal is not a detective who can handle all comers. He is an ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation who tries to stay out of the way of the killer who is much stronger than him. There are the attractive woman, good and bad but show more there is one for whom he falls for and gets at the end of the story. show less

Many years ago, I took a liking for the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald, so when I ran across this title for my Kindle at a reasonable price, I downloaded it to see what it might be like.

Tal Howard is an ex-POW who had been quartered with Timmy Warden from Hillston. Timmy had died in the camp and Tal had been emaciated and very sick. Following his recuperation he remembered Timmy telling him that he had buried $60,000 of money that he had stolen from his brother George, who ran a local hardware store and lumber yard. Timmy had also had an affair with Eloise, his brother’s wife. Timmy expressed remorse for these actions, but died before he could tell Tal where to find the money so it could be returned to George. The sole clue show more Tal had was that it had something to do with Cindy.

Tal, restless, leaves his girl and decides to find the money. Posing as a writer,he learns that Eloise has left George, fleeing town with a salesman and that another man from the camp. Fitz, has also been poking around looking for the money. Fitz knows nothing of Cindy. His best leads come from Ruth Stamm, one of Timmy’s old friends. There’s also a man whom even Fitz fears... Anything more would be spoiling the plot.

Good story, typical of early fifties noir.


Note: This book was also published under the title “On the Make.” I hate that. show less

The characters and imagery of the story are cleverly plotted and will told. MacDonald at his best. An archeological treasure as well invoking many images of the early part Korean war fifties. Many little reminders of what the world was like then. Little things like gas station attendants pumping gas. Reads quickly.

This was not MacDonald's best book. The dialogue seemed far too forced. I did enjoy the main character, but the bad was a little unbelievable. 3 Shiny Bits of the Night Sky for me.

Good 50's Noir