# Good old thriller writers



## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

Everybody over thirty knows Ross Thomas was a class act. But, looking at another writer professionally, there's a difference between reading one book and reading a bunch of books and finding out that the writer repeated his tricks, so that a bunch of books together aren't as impressive as one or a very small selection. Let me say immediately that Thomas doesn't suffer from that problem: he's good all the way through, like best quality candy rock stick.

Normally I tell my wife which author I want to read and if we don't already have all his books, she orders them from the local bookseller, who must think she's the mother of Father Christmas. In this case... An ebook library called Scribd gave me a complimentary membership. (It's apparently eight or nine bucks a months after a first free month, for which you can read as many books as you like. If you're a heavy reader, Scibd might turn out to be a bargain.) So, I rooted around a bit on Scribd's shelves and, on discovering that Otto Penzler's Mysterious Press had reissued all the Ross Thomas books, decided to read all the Ross Thomas books again.

Holy Moses, but Thomas can put a lot of wit and happenings in what is actually a very modest space, because crime thrillers back then, meaning from the 1960's forwards, were written to length. Note the wit: Thomas was well known -- as a young man I met him on a couple of occasions and I knew quite a few people who'd known him since the war -- as a cynic's cynic, or at least a sceptic's sceptic*, and this translates, via light touch, to prose that, despite being simplistic in the American style, is a constant delight and surprise. And, of course, his plots are unpredictable, always having a novel twist at the end.

****

So who else do you think I should reread, given that I like well-written thrillers. Hey, I'll read cheap [email protected] from Robert Ludlum too if I can't find a quality thriller, but I do like reading the better writers.

* A distinction brought home to mr by the American thinker Will Durant, whose books also grace Scribd's list, but we'll take that felicity up some other time.

_edited to comply with FD -- removed some minor self-promo  -- Ann_


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I've got _The Eighth Dwarf_ around here in hardcovers somewhere. I see it's available from Kindle Lending... I may have to borrow it and re-read. I've completely forgotten everything about it except the title. I've been reading a lot of older mysteries lately and feel the need to go with something that won't tie my brain in knots like the locked-room stuff I've been into lately.

Mike


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## John A. A. Logan (Jan 25, 2012)

Have you tried Jim Thompson, Andre? (The Killer Inside Me, Pop. 1280 etc...as well as The Getaway, and The Grifters...lots of his books having been filmed)

And James M. Cain, of course - The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity...


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

Scribd doesn't actually have all the Ross Thomas books. I didn't find Briarpatch, or All the Fools in Town are on Our Side. I left The Seersucker Whipsaw to last as it is set in Africa and I have considerable African experience, as did Thomas, so he gets nothing wrong though of course the politically clowns will screech that he's not toeing the line. But I finished it now, as good as always, so it is just as well you fellows are here with more suggestions. 

The Eighth Dwarf is on Scribd, but I saw that one on the bottom shelf of the bookshelf outside my bathroom, so I have it too.

It's years since I read Cain, and I can't now remember reading Thompson at all, so I'll look into him first. I remember two (?) movies made from his novel Getaway, though. Thanks!

I'll tell you what else is on Scribd that's tempting: Donald E Westlake's Stark novels; can't now remember the pseudonym under which he wrote them. There appears to around thirty of them! I don't think I want to read that many of such stark (pun intended) prose, but a few of the best ones, just before the gap of about twenty years in Westlake's Stark output, read as a set would very likely impress and entertain.

Off to my bath with my iPad and my double-zipped plastic baggie to keep the steam out of it, to choose something to read.


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## joanhallhovey (Nov 7, 2010)

That's a very good point you make.  I have read everything by the late, great Patricia Highsmith, of Ripley fame, for example, and never tired of her work.  Not so true of some others.  
It must be near impossible not to repeat yourself in some way after you've written the tenth book.  I've caught myself once or twice writing something that seemed like deja vu to me, and I believe I catch those most of the time.  One is hopeful anyway, and no one has come forward to chastise me.


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## John A. A. Logan (Jan 25, 2012)

Andre Jute said:


> Scribd doesn't actually have all the Ross Thomas books. I didn't find Briarpatch, or All the Fools in Town are on Our Side. I left The Seersucker Whipsaw to last as it is set in Africa and I have considerable African experience, as did Thomas, so he gets nothing wrong though of course the politically clowns will screech that he's not toeing the line. But I finished it now, as good as always, so it is just as well you fellows are here with more suggestions.
> 
> The Eighth Dwarf is on Scribd, but I saw that one on the bottom shelf of the bookshelf outside my bathroom, so I have it too.
> 
> ...


Yeah, that's right, there were two versions of The Getaway made.
First one directed by Peckinpah, with Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw.
2nd version was with Alec Baldwin/Kim Basinger I think - haven't seen that one, but Peckinpah one is great!


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

John A. A. Logan said:


> Yeah, that's right, there were two versions of The Getaway made.
> First one directed by Peckinpah, with Steve McQueen, Ali MacGraw.
> 2nd version was with Alec Baldwin/Kim Basinger I think - haven't seen that one, but Peckinpah one is great!


Peckinpah is one of the Old Reliables when it comes to directing violence. Another one was Walter Hill; a couple of days ago I watched Extreme Prejudice, an underrated movie, on my treadmill; walked miles further than I intended! Stunning final 15 minutes. Script co-written by Harry Kleiner, who also scripted LE MANS (if you're reading this, Dakota).


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

Andre Jute said:


> I'll tell you what else is on Scribd that's tempting: Donald E Westlake's Stark novels; can't now remember the pseudonym under which he wrote them. There appears to around thirty of them! I don't think I want to read that many of such stark (pun intended) prose, but a few of the best ones, just before the gap of about twenty years in Westlake's Stark output, read as a set would very likely impress and entertain.


You mean "Parker" novels written under the pseudonym Richard Stark? Those are great. I love Parker, he is such a comforting character.

Some of my favorite thrillers are Modesty Blaise books by Peter O'Donnell (the novels, and they need to be read in order). Some parts of those, especially early ones, are just amazing. There are details of one-on-one combat and some psychological stuff that I've never found anywhere else. They are not consistently good but well worth of reading and often surprising.


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

anguabell said:


> I love Parker, he is such a comforting character.


Eh? Are we talking about the same psychopath?


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

Andre Jute said:


> Eh? Are we talking about the same psychopath?


A minor flaw. He is calm, extremely competent and doesn't display any unnecessary emotions 

Another old but good one - The Day of the Jackal. Anyone remembers the movie with Edward Fox?


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

Does thrillers include private eyes? I never get tired of recommending Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer series of novels, which is downright excellent. Some critics rate him more highly than Hammett or even Chandler.

And I'll second Patricia Highsmith, a superb writer. Think about it ... she came up with the plot for Strangers on a Train when she was just 19.


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

anguabell said:


> Another old but good one - The Day of the Jackal. Anyone remembers the movie with Edward Fox?


I remember both. Neither would make my shortlist; too much exposition, too little action. The Fourth Protocol, book and movie with Michael Caine and Piers Brosnan, were much better, and so were The Odessa File, book and movie with Jon Voight.



Tony Richards said:


> Does thrillers include private eyes? I never get tired of recommending Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer series of novels, which is downright excellent. Some critics rate him more highly than Hammett or even Chandler.
> 
> And I'll second Patricia Highsmith, a superb writer. Think about it ... she came up with the plot for Strangers on a Train when she was just 19.


You're right, Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer is a class act. Just proves my point, that it is the character, not the plot, that makes the story. Mind you, Chandler and Hammett are well worth rereading. I found some older pseudonymous Ross MacDonalds, prentice works from when he was a grad student, on Scribd*, but I didn't finish the one I started -- it's relatively good stuff, but these days my time and patience is so short that anything that isn't absolutelely first class doesn't get past ten pages with me.

For some reason now hidden in the mists of time, I never got into Patricia Highsmith. Perhaps an oversight to be rectified?

* Together with the obvious bestsellers and perennial favourites and the big stuff, like Will Durant's History of Civilization (which I'm reading and for which I can start a new thread if anyone is interested), of which all the volumes would cost many hundreds to buy, what makes Scribd so good is the many, many, rare and wonderful books, often unconsidered because unavailable in libraries or bookstores where I live, in many cases even unknown until found on Scribd.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Tony Richards said:


> Does thrillers include private eyes?


I don't include private eye novels to be in the thriller category, but that could just be me. 

Some of the thriller writers I read (or have read) books by are Desmond Bagley, Alastair MacLean, Manning Coles, Hammond Innes, David Morrell, Clive Cussler (early work), James Rollins, some work by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (working together and individually) and probably a few more that I can't recall at the moment.

Mike


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## John A. A. Logan (Jan 25, 2012)

Andre Jute said:


> Peckinpah is one of the Old Reliables when it comes to directing violence. Another one was Walter Hill; a couple of days ago I watched Extreme Prejudice, an underrated movie, on my treadmill; walked miles further than I intended! Stunning final 15 minutes. Script co-written by Harry Kleiner, who also scripted LE MANS (if you're reading this, Dakota).


Yes, Walter Hill is another great - my two favourites of his as director are Hard Times (released in the UK as The Streetfighter) with Charles Bronson, and The Driver, with Ryan O Neal and Bruce Dern (sort of an existential thriller where characters don't have names, just listed in credits as The Driver, The Cop, The Girl etc)

And Water Hill also wrote the screenplay for The Getaway.

I can remember being impressed by Extreme Prejudice, but it was years ago, details a bit sketchy now, will have to rewatch sometime - Hill and Nick Nolte made quite a few films together, and he seemed to get the best out of Nolte (just as Sidney Lumet got some extra juice out of him, and his feral character, in Q and A)


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## John A. A. Logan (Jan 25, 2012)

anguabell said:


> A minor flaw. He is calm, extremely competent and doesn't display any unnecessary emotions
> 
> Another old but good one - The Day of the Jackal. Anyone remembers the movie with Edward Fox?


Yes, always thought The Day of the Jackal was the best film Edward Fox ever made. 
Great portrayal of the meticulous detail, planning, and ice-cold execution, by Fox.

Fine direction there, too, by Fred Zinneman, who, at the other end of the spectrum (subject-matter wise), had directed A Man For All Seasons.


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## John A. A. Logan (Jan 25, 2012)

jmiked said:


> I don't include private eye novels to be in the thriller category, but that could just be me.
> 
> Some of the thriller writers I read (or have read) books by are Desmond Bagley, Alastair MacLean, Manning Coles, Hammond Innes, David Morrell, Clive Cussler (early work), James Rollins, some work by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs (working together and individually) and probably a few more that I can't recall at the moment.
> 
> Mike


Desmond Bagley - his novel, Running Blind, is excellent. Espionage thriller set in Iceland. BBC made an adaptation of it in late 70s.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

John A. A. Logan said:


> Desmond Bagley - his novel, Running Blind, is excellent. Espionage thriller set in Iceland. BBC made an adaptation of it in late 70s.


I always enjoy seeing the 1973 movie _The Mackintosh Man_, from his novel _The Freedom Trap_. Even though it's not that good a movie, despite being directed by John Huston and starring Paul Newman and James Mason 

Mike


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

jmiked said:


> I always enjoy seeing the 1973 movie _The Mackintosh Man_, from his novel _The Freedom Trap_. Even though it's not that good a movie, despite being directed by John Huston and starring Paul Newman and James Mason
> 
> Mike


Thanks for the memory. I'll look out The Mackintosh Man and watch it again. From Desmond Bagley I remember The Enemy, probably because at the time I was in business, operating my agency's London office, and recognized some of the characters! But it's a Bagley book you love or hate, no in-between; it breaks many of the rules of "popular" thrillers, including that of the relatively happy ending, and the resolution of all plot lines. That makes it one of Bagley's better novels.


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

Not all good old thriller writers are dead.

Noel Hynd used to come to KB (and may still). Though we never met to press the flesh, I knew him instantly when I saw his name on KB because of a pair of good books he wrote a generation ago, which I was happy to see in modestly-priced ebooks. His books are at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=noel+hynd&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Anoel+hynd. The one I particularly remembered as striking was _Flowers From Berlin._


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

Andre Jute said:


> Peckinpah is one of the Old Reliables when it comes to directing violence. Another one was Walter Hill; a couple of days ago I watched Extreme Prejudice, an underrated movie, on my treadmill; walked miles further than I intended! Stunning final 15 minutes. Script co-written by Harry Kleiner, who also scripted LE MANS (if you're reading this, Dakota).


Yes, an excellent movie. Hasn't been shown on TV for years, sadly. Another great one of his is _The Warriors_.


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## Ken Pelham (Dec 27, 2014)

jmiked said:


> Some of the thriller writers I read (or have read) books by are Desmond Bagley, Alastair MacLean, Manning Coles, Hammond Innes, David Morrell, Clive Cussler (early work), James Rollins, some work by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs (working together and individually) and probably a few more that I can't recall at the moment.
> 
> Mike


Ah, yes, Alistair MacLean was an early favorite of mine and I believe he really kind of established the mold for much of what the modern thriller is. I read and loved _The Guns of Navarone, HMS Ulysses, The Black Shrike, South by Java Head_, and a couple of others. In his later years, I was horrified by how BAD he'd gotten in _River of Death_, and I didn't read him after that. Hard to imagine Jack Higgins and Ken Follett without MacLean.

Preston & Child are my favorites of the modern thriller. They kind of let me know that it was okay--better than okay--to write thrillers that push the edge of science fiction and the macabre a little.


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

Len Deighton was the finest thriller writer of the latter half of the 20th century. I've just been reading the Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin again. They are ferociously cool spy thrillers, considered by many Deighton's masterpieces.

But to me, perhaps because as a writer I know how difficult it is to keep up the quality for so long, Deighton's masterpiece is the ten volume set about Bernard Samson. And Winter, the odd novel in that set which isn't directly about Samson, is the finest of Deighton's single novels, among other reasons because his elevated skill as an historian is glimpsed in almost every paragraph, but through a veil, available only to those who want to know; it's a superior novel for those too who don't care about the precision of the history behind it.


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## Kenton Crowther (Jan 5, 2012)

Some people regard him now as if he just got out of the Ark, but I always found Mickey Spillane's books were real page-turners. Politically correct he isn't/wasn't.


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

Kenton Crowther said:


> Some people regard him now as if he just got out of the Ark, but I always found Mickey Spillane's books were real page-turners. Politically correct he isn't/wasn't.


+1 for Mickey Spillane. No one except petty bureaucrats cares about political correctness.

Is your image, top left of your post, your artwork or did someone make it for you?


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## SteveHarrison (Feb 1, 2015)

Desmond Bagley was a particular favourite of mine and I enjoyed Jack Higgins & Alistair MacLean, too. Really good 'meat & potatoes' thriller writers.

Others I enjoyed were Gavin Lyall, Duncan Kyle & Jon Cleary.

I still see some of those old Fontana paperbacks at market bookstalls!


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

SteveHarrison said:


> Desmond Bagley was a particular favourite of mine and I enjoyed Jack Higgins & Alistair MacLean, too. Really good 'meat & potatoes' thriller writers.
> 
> Others I enjoyed were Gavin Lyall, Duncan Kyle & Jon Cleary.


Thanks, Steve. I am very happy to be reminded of this lot. I finished the first of Gavin Lyall's Major Harry Maxim books, The Secret Servant, last night on Scribd, where I have a subscription, and will read the second and third as well (the fourth one I seem to remember being too tiresomely focused on technical tank details of no interest to me). Lyall had several styles in his career. One of his best books is Midnight Plus One, which belongs to his second style and which I particularly like because it shows a Citroen DS dying. I had a DS in Australia, where it just about defined one as a "poof", and back in Europe I had, sometimes sequentially, sometimes simultaneously, several SM, a sort of Citroen-Maserati crossbreed, possibly the best grand tourer ever built, and definitely one of the most unreliable cars ever. So, since I have a heavy right foot, I know all about big Citroens dying under one, and Lyall gets it spot on. When I ran into him, I congratulated him on it, and he said someone had pointed me out to him as a fast-Citroen protagonist.


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## SteveHarrison (Feb 1, 2015)

Interesting stuff, Andre. I must read all those books again.


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## 67499 (Feb 4, 2013)

Hank Janson (Stephen Daniel Frances) - his stuff was pretty bad but his covers were great - my favorite is _Lady, Mind that Corpse_, which I scarfed up in a frayed antique ppbk edition years ago. Actually, he's neck-and-neck with Mickey Spillane for bad writing but rapid page-turning. Amazon doesn't have a copy of _Lady_ to show its wild cover, but here's another for the tone:


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## pmac (Sep 22, 2014)

Andre Jute said:


> Len Deighton was the finest thriller writer of the latter half of the 20th century. I've just been reading the Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin again. They are ferociously cool spy thrillers, considered by many Deighton's masterpieces.


I always find Deighton in the used book store and am never disappointed when I buy it for two bucks. Consistently good.


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## quadtronix (Nov 7, 2013)

When I saw the title said Good "old" thriller writers I didn't think I would know any of the authors mentioned as I'm more into "newer" writers of thrillers such as Daniel Suarez, Mark Russinovich, Jack Henderson etc... But I was surprised to find that I actually know of and have read some of the writers mentioned. One that caught my eye and brought back fond memories was David Morell. I remember reading The Fifth Profession by him and loving it! I would also add to this list of great old thriller writers: Thomas Harris, John Stanford, Michael Conally, and David Baldacci...

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


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## John A. A. Logan (Jan 25, 2012)

Andre Jute said:


> Len Deighton was the finest thriller writer of the latter half of the 20th century. I've just been reading the Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin again. They are ferociously cool spy thrillers, considered by many Deighton's masterpieces.
> 
> But to me, perhaps because as a writer I know how difficult it is to keep up the quality for so long, Deighton's masterpiece is the ten volume set about Bernard Samson. And Winter, the odd novel in that set which isn't directly about Samson, is the finest of Deighton's single novels, among other reasons because his elevated skill as an historian is glimpsed in almost every paragraph, but through a veil, available only to those who want to know; it's a superior novel for those too who don't care about the precision of the history behind it.


Ian Holm did a fine, tense job of portraying Bernard Samson also, in the 1980s UK TV adaptation of the series.

Not to mention, of course, the Michael Caine characterisation in the 1960s "Ipcress" trilogy of "Harry Palmer" films (where he mastered the one-handed egg crack, in homage to Deighton's own culinary prowess, as well as the character's!)


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## Andre Jute (Dec 18, 2010)

John A. A. Logan said:


> Ian Holm did a fine, tense job of portraying Bernard Samson also, in the 1980s UK TV adaptation of the series.


Yeah! I wish they'd repeat that series. Definitely The Good Stuff.


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## Janet Rochester (Mar 1, 2015)

Ken Follett! _Eye of the Needle_ will make you stop breathing (and that's in the parts where the POV character is a Nazi assassin).

And _The Tears of Autumn,_ by Charles McCarry, has haunted me for years.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I can't believe I forgot to include Martin Woodhouse in my post of favorite thriller writers! He's right at the top of the list. I'd be surprised if anybody here has heard of him, but he was a British author/medical doctor/pilot/engineer/computer designer who was active back in the 1960-1990 time frame. He wrote a great series of techno-thrillers that I re-read every once in a while. He's one of the authors whose work that I liked enough to track down hard-cover copies of the books. His series was:

Giles Yoeman series
1. _Tree Frog _(1966)
2. _Rock Baby_ (196
aka _Bush Baby_
3. _Mama Doll_ (1972)
4. _Blue Bone_ (1973)
5. _Moon Hill_ (1976)

Also a stand-alone thriller _Phil and Me_ (1970). I'm going to have to dig these books out of the boxes and re-read them. Michael Crichton is often credited as the inventor of the techno-thriller, but Woodhouse anticipated him by several years

Woodhouse wrote a half-dozen of the more popular episodes of _The Avengers_, as well as scripts for other series. In the 1980s, he also invented:

"the solar-powered Lightbook, the world's first e-book reader (for which he's been dubbed "The Father of Modern Electronic Publishing). Recently, his time has been spent setting up an ambitious, large-scale charitable organization to distribute e-books (and by extension, education) to countless children in impoverished Third World countries." (quote from a 2008 interview, url given below).

His original 1990s website detailing the ereader and listing the books available has been hijacked and replaced by something with Chinese text, unfortunately.

Mike

http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php?/archives/1483-MARTIN-WOODHOUSE-EXCLUSIVE-INTERVIEW-WITH-WRITER-OF-THE-AVENGERS-AND-SUPERCAR.html


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## JeanneM (Mar 21, 2011)

There were two I remember enjoying long ago, The Boys from Brazil and Marathon Man.


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## 67499 (Feb 4, 2013)

Also the late Joe Gores, who was a "new old thriller writer" with his DKA File novels, my favorite being _*Dead Skip*_. I met Gores in San Francisco when he was researching his novel/bio _*Hammett*_ and spent an evening hearing a lot of great stories about his own time as a private detective. Including some fabulous stuff he dug up about _*The Maltese Falcon*_, which I blogged about in memory of Gores.


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## billwil19 (Dec 14, 2013)

The Manchurian Candidate (Richard Condon), Marathon Man (William Goldman), and The Ipcress File (Len Deighton) are all great reads. All were also made into very good movies.


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