Ross Thomas is a flawed writer yet he is one of my favorites.
I cannot put him in the first rank but I have to admit that I
have gotten more pleasure from him than most of those I would
consider technically superior.
The same flaws appear in book after book. The plots are too
complicated and the characters too many. At times. he resorts
to unbelievable slapdash to wind things up. And yet....
His characters are wonderfully drawn. I am currently reading
for the first time VOODOO, LTD. and there is one character
who only appears as a minor corpse but in very few words
Thomas made him very real. VOODOO, by the way, features Wu
and Durant introduced in CHINAMAN'S CHANCE.
The primary reason I love Thomas has to do with that hard to
define thing called "voice." I am just a sucker for his
voice. I can open one of his novels and feel entertained,
stimulated, and at-home immediately.
Secondly, Thomas was a very world-wise guy and his characters
are cynical in a way I understand. Thomas floated between
public relations, electioneering, government work, and there
are rumors (I think well-founded) of contact with/work for
agencies involved in espionage. As someone who has spent the
last 20 years in the same world (minus the spying), he writes
of characters and circumstances I know and understand. And he
has them nailed. Certainly, his portraits of Washington are
dead on. I can read his books and figure within a block or
two where Mac's Place is located.
So many of his novels cry out for a firm editor. Someone
needed to say at times, "Ross, you can't do that" or "This
ending does not work." But maybe they were charmed as I am by
his virtues to the point that they ignored his flaws. Too
bad, because a bit more care would have made all the
difference.
CHINAMAN'S CHANCE is a very good entry point to Thomas' work.
Complicated, yes, but it hangs together better than most. It
is one of my favorites as is THE FOOLS IN TOWN ARE ON OUR
SIDE. I have also greatly enjoyed his novels written as
Oliver Bleeck about the journalist turned go-between Philip
St. Ives.
Richard Moore
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