>
> Doug wrote:
>
> "Personally, I'd describe Thomas more in terms of
Elmore Leonard.
> "Elmore Leonard in the corridors of power",
maybe."
>
> Maybe now, but I first read Chinaman's Chance before
Leonard had his
> breakthrough, so the comparison wouldn't have sold
many copies.
Doug's point is a good one. It also applies to comments about
Thomas's use of now-familiar plot devices (the conservative
politician/power-broker as villain, etc.). "Chinaman's
Chance" was written more than twenty years ago. His first
book, "The Cold War Swap," won an Edgar in the mid-Sixties.
It would be a little ludicrous to criticize him in the year
2000 for using what have by now become cliché¤ cold war
sentiments.
Regarding the question of who Brian Garfield is, until the
mid-1980s, he was a very prolific and successful thriller
writer. One of his novels was the basis for the Bronson movie
"Death Wish" and its many sequels. This was a mixed blessing.
It brought him wealth, but because the films did a 180 on the
book's theme of vigilantism being a bad thing, it was not
exactly an exhilarating experience. I think he may have
stopped writing fiction to focus on filmmaking, probably with
the idea of having more control over his work. I think there
was a Walter Matthau movie "Hopscotch," based on one of his
novels.
Dick Lochte
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