Re: RARA-AVIS: Chinaman's Chance

From: Doug Bassett ( dj_bassett@yahoo.com)
Date: 15 Aug 2000


--- Sllichtman@aol.com wrote:
 My excitement
> only increased when I read the blurb by Brian
> Garfield
> It said something like, "combines the compassion of
> Ross MacDonald, the
> descriptive insight of John D. MacDonald, the
> toughness of James M. Cain, the
> breeziness of Rex Stout and the recovered memory and
> command of French of
> Marcel Proust." (Okay, I made up the last part
> about Proust.)

Geez, that's a terrible description of Thomas's stuff. Personally, I'd describe Thomas more in terms of Elmore Leonard. "Elmore Leonard in the corridors of power", maybe.
>
> The politics of the book,
> and the sense of evil, were
> shallow,

It would be interesting to hear more about this.

 and the old stock figure Eastern
> Establishment Wasp pulling the
> strings was way too much of a deux ex machina to my
> taste.

That's a fair point. If you read enough Thomas, you'll see this figure crop up time and time again -- usually he's a dirty figure under the surface polish.

doug

===== Doug Bassett dj_bassett@yahoo.com

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