Doug Johnson’s illustration for Donald E. Westlake’s Somebody Owes Me Money turns the story’s world of cab rides, gambling, crime, and pursuit into a tightly packed piece of late-1960s graphic storytelling. The fragmented panels suggest playing cards, a speeding train, a taxi, and figures in motion, all surrounding the central image of a woman and driver.
Westlake’s novel was first published in 1969 and follows New York cab driver Chet Conway, whose winning horse-race tip leads him straight into a murder investigation and trouble with competing criminal gangs. The mix of crime and humor was characteristic of Westlake, and this illustration captures that combination of urban tension and playful pulp-style design.
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