# Can't think of who wrote this strange book...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-think-of-who-wrote-this-strange-book/284378>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 12, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-think-of-who-wrote-this-strange-book/284378 "2005-01-12T13:14:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-think-of-who-wrote-this-strange-book/284378/1 "2005-01-12T13:14:22Z")

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It’s really weird, but I enjoyed it. I want to find it again, but can’t remember it for the life of me.

The author is British. The premise of the book is that the Curse of the Flying Dutchmen was a horrible stench that came and went. They were also immortal, couldn’t kill themselves. Eventually they came up with the cure (don’t remember how!) but instead of stinking they started glowing like ET.

I was thinking it was Tom Holt but none of the books he’s written look familiar. Help?

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-think-of-who-wrote-this-strange-book/284378/2 "2005-01-12T13:20:25Z")

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Yeah Tom Holt _Flying Dutch_ 1991.

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-think-of-who-wrote-this-strange-book/284378/3 "2005-01-12T13:22:40Z")

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It’s a love story.

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**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-think-of-who-wrote-this-strange-book/284378/4 "2005-01-12T13:27:28Z")

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Thanks a lot! Now I just have to find it over here. I bought it at a convention years ago. I don’t know why Tom Holt isn’t more popular.

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-think-of-who-wrote-this-strange-book/284378/5 "2005-01-12T14:18:57Z")

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I like Holt, but I suspect his humor doesn’t travel well. You’d think he could develop a reputation using Terry Pratchett’s coattails, but while Holt is funny, he’s not fall-down funny like Pratchett.

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**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-think-of-who-wrote-this-strange-book/284378/6 "2005-01-12T14:38:18Z")

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[The Flying Dutch](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312069758/ref=reg_hu-wl_item-added/102-1551233-6421742?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance)