I read Missionary Stew last week, alternating with Out. It's
a lot faster read, but offers just as much to think
about.
Morgan Citron is a journalist just out of prison in an
African state headed by an Idi Amin type. He's now in
California, slowly recovering from the ordeal
psychologically, but his money is running out and he's
reduced to living in his car. Then he has a stroke of luck.
He goes to an ACLU fundraiser in the hopes of free food and
gets offered a job as an apartment super. One thing leads to
another, and the next thing you know, he's teamed up with a
political candidate's money man. Their goal is to try and
find out "what really happened" in a Latin American country.
The truth about the mystery event will apparently empty the
White House, leaving the way clear for whoever reveals
it.
Thomas seems to draw on insider knowledge of political
machinations and the ways of the FBI and CIA. There's a cast
of colourful characters in a complicated plot revolving
around money and politics. Once again I fail to understand it
fully, even when it's all spelled out.
A number of people are killed, but it's not too gory. Citron
himself never uses a gun.
Despite the wry, maybe cynical, maybe accurate, look at how
candidates get elected in the U.S., this is not a despairing
book. There are even a couple of low-key love stories in it.
One thing about his protagonists is that they are all very
intelligent and very aware of the way things work, and a lot
of them have a sensitive, domestic side to them.
After reading it and thinking about some of Thomas's other
books, I was wondering whether he really qualifies as
hardboiled. His books are definitely not cosies, but they're
not exactly Mickey Spillane, either. He's one of my favourite
authors anyway, and I guess if enough Rara-Avians like him,
he must be in.
Karin
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 26 Feb 2005 EST