The Moving Target

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1949. First edition. Fine/about Fine. A Fine copy of the first Lew Archer novel. Book is clean and appears unread with a deep red topstain. In a just about Fine dust jacket with two short tears and the spine color perhaps one shade lighter than the front panel. Housed in a custom cloth clamshell box. A superior copy overall and a Haycraft Queen cornerstone.

Ross Macdonald's acclaimed mystery novel that birthed the famed Lew Archer character. The Moving Target follows Archer as he investigates the disappearance of an oil tycoon, which, like any classic noir case, only becomes more complex the deeper Archer digs. Writers such as John Leonard and Eudora Welty have hailed Macdonald for bringing increasing depth and skill to the noir genre - and the Archer character would eventually become one of the most famous of all crime novel detectives. In 1966, the book would be adapted into the film Harper, starring Paul Newman and written by William Goldman. "...Macdonald as a writer, as a weaver of words and an observer of people, stands head and shoulders above most of his competitors" (contemporary New York Times review). Fine in about Fine dust jacket.