Aloha Means Goodbye

by Naomi A. Hintze

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Genres: Gothic, Fiction

213 pages

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

An American writer of mystery, supernatural and gothic suspense novels for adults.

Hintze was born in Camden, Illinois, the daughter of Jesse Estes Agans and Estella Rang. She studied at Maryville College from 1927 to 1929, and at Ball State Teachers College from 1929 to 1930. On April 19, 1930, she married Harold Sanborn Hintze, with whom she had three children. Naomi was fascinated with psychic phenomena, a recurring theme in her books. She and her husband settled in Charlottesville, Virginia, where the nearby University of Virginia was the only American university with a Division of Parapsychology. Naomi was a member of the American Society of Psychical Research. She died on November 16, 1997.

In 1970, she was nominated for the Best First Novel Edgar Award for You'll Like My Mother published by Putnam in 1969. The book was adapted into the 1972 film of the same name, directed by Lamont Johnson and starring Patty Duke, Rosemary Murphy and Richard Thomas (The book was published in the United Kingdom in 1970 under the title The House With the Watching Eyes). Her third novel, Aloha Means Goodbye published by Random House in 1972, was made into a TV movie in 1974. (It was published in the United Kingdom as Hawaii for Danger.)

Reviews

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like to buy vintage fiction books set in Hawaii to have on a shelf in my guest room and picked this one up at a used bookstore and decided to give it a read. (I remembered reading the author's "You'll Like My Mother" in Jr. High). A fun read--young woman in peril, mystery thriller kind of thing. Dated of course since it was written in '72. (Loved the fact that the 25-year old heroine is an "old maid" lol). The descriptions of Oahu and Maui are fun.

[Martha Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book I stumbled upon, a mystery story of a naive young woman from Illinois longing for some romance and excitement in her life and winning a trip to Hawaii seemed just what she needed. As the trip unfolds, things seem a bit off and I found the twists interesting and surprising. Not outstanding but a solid read.

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another re-read. I think I first read this as a teenager, when my family visited Hawaii. It made an impression on me that I have never been able to forget. Sara, at twenty-five, is beginning to think life is passing her by, the promise of something exciting just around the next corner has dimmed. Especially when she spends several weeks in the hospital undergoing tests to try to discover just what had laid her low recently. Eventually she receives a clean bill of health, and returns home. But her old life, working at a preschool, volunteering at the old folks home, and living with her parents has lost its luster. She has even given up on her hobby of entering contest; after all, she never wins. Except then she does! An all-expense-paid trip to Hawaii. At first, everything seems fine. But then, Sara becomes suspicious, and the story veers into Gothic territory. Is Sara in some kind of danger? But why? Recommended.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this after The Once and Future King so it was destined to suffer, but it was an entertaining, quick little read. It's a slight, soapy, never-quite-scary-or-suspenseful "mystery" novel (the solution to which mystery one figures out far sooner than the completely bland protagonist). There's an attempt to give Sara Moore--our hapless heroine-- a "dark" side, but it mostly consists in her flirting with a married man. Ooh...racy!

I won't get into what it's about, but it may interest you to know that it was made into a made-for-tv movie with Sally Struthers in 1974. Yeah, before she porked up, shilled for Save the Children, morphed into the incredibly annoying Babette on Gilmore Girls and finally achieved pop culture immortality via South Park. MUST. NETFLIX. THIS. MOVIE.

Only thing truly noteworthy about the book was the fact that it focused positively on Hawaii in a non-touristy way; according to the author blurb on the jacket, Hinze and her family "spend part of each year on Hawaii." Sadly, this silly excuse for a mystery novel was the result, but at least it was a quick read and not nearly as painfully dumb as Twilight, thus the second star. (It also helped that I didn't pay a dime for it, being as it was a withdrawn library copy, while I actually paid money for Meyer's magnum shittus).

Also--personally interesting for me--was that the blond, Midwestern, and frankly vapid Sara Moore catches the eye of David Choy, a Chinese-Hawaiian doctor who becomes Sara's love interest. He's a doctor, handsome...why isn't he married already? And why does he set his sights on this goofy "haole" (white) girl who hasn't even finished her college education? Oh, wait, here's her description: "...she had mouse-blond hair, a few freckles, and sky-blue eyes. Her face with its delicate prettiness had a still look much of the time that imitated serenity and denied fantasies and hopes. She was five feet four inches, wiht a figure that was, in spite of its economical dimensions, noticeably better than average." Aside from the asinine description, it would appear Sara's main virtue is being a skinny girl with big tits. Geez.
Anyway, the "fascinating" guy ends up with totally boring chick...perhaps it has more in common with Twilight than I thought?

Anyway, if the book had been about David Choy, maybe I'd have given it another star or two.