A razor-sharp purveyor of hardboiled, acidly funny, finely rendered thrillers, Ross Thomas is a writer whose work will appeal to anybody who enjoys the crime novels of George V. Higgins, Elmore Leonard, James Elroy, or George Pelecanos.
Here are six Ross Thomas books for when you're craving a thriller book that's bold and fresh.
The Cold War Swap (McCorkle and Padillo Mysteries Book 1)
Ross Thomas came to writing late, after a successful career in journalism and politics. He wrote this, his debut, at the age of forty-one. He must have been inspired because, by all accounts, it took him just six weeks to complete.
Speed didn’t compromise quality, and this 1966 novel, set in Germany during one of the peaks of the Cold War, won the Edgar for Best First Novel. It introduces two of Thomas’ recurring characters: World War II veteran turned Bonn pub owner, Mac McCorkle, and his shadowy pal, Mike Padillo.
Both of them are spies working for an unnamed US intelligence service. In this adventure, the duo find themselves on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall, trying to engineer a prisoner swap.
A stylishly written delight.
The Porkchoppers
When he was in his thirties, Thomas worked for a spell as a union spokesman.
He draws on that insider knowledge in this sizzling tale of a union election that pits the incumbent, a handsome would-be actor with a drink problem, against a younger challenger who reacts to adversity by kicking and screaming like a child.
Behind them lies the real power: a network of fixers, bagmen, financial speculators, media manipulators, corrupt businessmen, and brooding gangsters.
As the fight becomes increasingly close and bitter, somebody decides to take drastic action and sanction an assassination. The hitman is a truly chilling creation, a bland family man who kills people with the same lack of thought with which most of us would swat a mosquito.
But who is this sociopath working for? A dark and dazzling novel.
Twilight at Mac's Place
Thomas had a jaundiced view of the Cold War (it’s possible he worked for the CIA while serving as a political agent in Nigeria and other emerging nations in the 1950s), and his spies are never the heroic figures that feature in the work of Ian Fleming, Tom Clancy, or even John Le Carre.
The deeply amoral (if hugely entertaining) McCorkle and Padillo make a reappearance (they are co-owners of Mac’s Place) in this murder mystery from 1990.
The duo joins a sparkling cast that features a corrupt former spy, an LA detective turned actor, a French thief, and an heiress who’s been working undercover for CIA in Southeast Asia.
With a plot that’s as taut as cheesewire, it’s a terrific thriller packed with the sort of sour wisecracks that are apt to make you laugh out loud.
Yellow-Dog Contract
Thomas returns to the world of the unions in this blazing 1976 thriller (the title refers to a work contract that stipulates the signatory cannot join a union).
Harvey Longmire is a retired political campaign manager happily living on a farm with his wife and flocks of rescue animals.
Or at least he is until two former colleagues turn up and ask for his help in locating the head of the Public Employees Union, who seems to have disappeared into thin air (did someone say Jimmy Hoffa?).
Populated with fully rounded characters, with a plot grounded in murky reality, it’s a brilliant example of Thomas’ work.
Briarpatch
By 1984, Ross Thomas had gained a legion of fans, not just amongst the reading public but amongst his fellow crime writers (Lawrence Block, Sarah Paretsky, and Joe Gores are all huge fans).
This knockout political thriller won the Edgar for Best Novel in 1985, cementing his reputation (he’d win the 2002 Gumshoe award, too – seven years after his death) as one of the elite.
It begins with a bang—quite literally—when a car explodes in a south-western city, killing a young homicide detective.
Her brother, Benjamin, a CIA operative, soon discovers she owns a duplex apartment she clearly couldn’t afford on a cop’s wages, and later that she’s left him a barely credible $250,000 in her will.
Determined to find out what is going on, Benjamin gradually uncovers a venal network of law enforcers who are more interested in money than justice.
The Fourth Durango
Jim Thompson’s classic The Getaway features a town so corrupt that criminals can live there without fear of arrest, just so long as they have the money.
Southern California’s Durango (it’s the fourth because it isn’t the one in Spain, Colorado, or Mexico), may well be that town’s twin. Ruled over by the beautiful Mayor and her boyfriend, the Chief of Police, it provides a safe haven for white collar criminals just so long as they pay.
The money comes in handy for providing schools and medical facilities, as well as keeping the city’s heavily staffed public services running. It’s a system that’s worked perfectly until murders start occurring and the outside world begins to take an interest.
A brilliantly bizarre and very funny crime caper that features two of Thomas’ most memorable creations—disbarred lawyer Kelly Vines and disgraced judge Jack Adair.
