It's that time of the year again; time for my annual Read Ross Thomas plea.
It's no surprise to the people who know me, or who regularly read my work, that I am a great admirer of the late Ross Thomas. Ross was, quite simply, the finest writer this genre has ever produced. I know plenty of people would disagree, and some might even come to blows over it, but I'll go to my grave proclaiming it.
Ross wrote 25 books over the course of his 29-year career, and nearly all of them are outstanding. There are a few that are merely good -- but even his good was better than most of us could hope for. That is why he won two Edgar Awards, was the recipient of the first Gumshoe Award for Lifetime Achievement, and why I have been proselytizing for his work ever since he died in 1995.
The two series Ross wrote are probably the favorites of most fans, and they are dear to my heart as well. One of them features Artie Wu and Quincy Durant, the lovable grifters and world travelers. Those books are Chinaman's Chance, Out on the Rim and Voodoo Ltd. (Chinaman's Chance is probably Ross' best-known work, and it is the one I always recommend to new readers.)
His other series features saloon keepers/spies Mac McCorkle and Mike Padillo, and those books are just as superb. They are The Cold War Swap, Cast a Yellow Shadow, The Backup Men and Twilight at Mac's Place. (I go back and forth as to which series if my favorite. They're both so damn good.)
Now that I think of it, the books he wrote under the pseudonym Oliver Bleeck were also a series, featuring Philip St. Ives. There are five of those. They're still good, but I don't care for them quite as much. They are: The Brass Go-Between, The Procane Chronicle, Protocol for a Kidnapping, The Highbinders and No Questions Asked.
Ross also wrote many fine stand-alone novels. Which of those readers will enjoy best will depend a bit on the subject matter.
For example, he wrote a book about a fictional election campaign in Africa (The Seersucker Whipsaw), a couple about labor union shenanigans (The Porkchoppers and Yellow Dog Contract), a classic "corrupt town" novel (The Fools in Town Are on Our Side), a tender, but biting story about a man investigating his sister's murder (Briarpatch), an exploration of corruption in the commodities market (The Money Harvest), a hilarious political thriller (Ah, Treachery), a story about a town where people to go disappear (The Fourth Durango) and many more.
Really, I think you can pick up any Ross Thomas book and be sure to have a fine story in your hands. Several of them were reprinted in recent years by St. Martin's Press, but several are still out-of-print. That is truly a shame. The fact that a writer so brilliant and gifted is not better known is a crime against literature.
If you've ever enjoyed anything I've written, I hope you'll take the time to find one of Ross Thomas' books and read it. This is one thing you can trust me on.
