ffutures | Another bloody manip... Chosen Hazel Eyes

Early artist's rough of cover for John D. MacDonald's famous unpublished Travis McGee story Chosen Hazel Eyes. The novel, briefly scheduled for publication at the end of 1972, would have plunged McGee into the world of the supernatural. Unfortunately the marketing department of Fawcett Books intervened, pointing out that MacDonald was virtually unknown in the world of horror (he had published some science fiction, but was primarily known for his thrillers), while his existing readership were likely to reject the series if it took this new direction. As a result MacDonald was paid a kill fee for the book and publication was abandoned. Several hundred advance proofs were pulped, and all that remains is a photograph of the front cover and an enduring mystery.

Okay, in the real world this combines the publisher's ISBN, author's name and Travis McGee novel logos from One Fearful Yellow Eye, a picture of a yacht found on line, a portrait of McGee used on several of the Fawcett editions of the McGee novels, and an enlarged and heavily modified still of Nikki Wood from Fool For Love. It worked reasonably well but isn't perfect.