THE VERY BREATH OF HELL

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1971. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. The protagonist from Beare's first novel, "The Bloody Sun at Noon," smuggler and sometime salvage operator, Victor Stallard, returns a second time to the Persian Gulf to salvage 100,000 ounces of gold lost in a plane crash in the Gulf. First edition, first printing (as stated). About 5 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches, 183 pages plus one-page bio at end, bound in red cloth-covered boards with black lettering on spine. The dustjacket's front panel in various shades of yellow and green, shows a man and woman in vaguely middle-eastern style clothing fighting high winds with a ship in the background and handgun on man's hip. Front panel lettering is in black, with title on spine in yellow. Back panel contains seven blurbs for Beare's first novel. Boards and text are complete, clean and unmarked, tight and square with all hinges intact. No noticeable or significant flaws or damage. Not ex-library, not remaindered. Dj shows pair of scratches on fold between back panel and spine, one a half-inch, the other an inch and a half. O/w only minimal edge and surface wear. Collectable. Beare, an Australian journalist, spent several years working for an oil company in the Middle East which became the setting for several of his eight novels.