Background
Thomas, Ross Elmore was born on February 19, 1926 in Oklahoma City. Son of J. Edwin and Laura (Dean) Thomas.
(A large sum of money brings former campaign manager and W...)
A large sum of money brings former campaign manager and Washington insider Harvey Longmire out of retirement and on the trail of a missing union leader, a trail that leads through the seamy side of the Capital's political scene. Reprint.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0688031048/?tag=2022091-20
("Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain...)
"Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain't that a big enough majority in any town?" -- Mark Twain Ross Thomas chose the quotation from Huckleberry Finn as the text of his post World War II story as well as for the title. When Lucifer Dye is released from three months in a Hong Kong prison, debriefed, handed a false passport, a new wardrobe and a $20,000 check, his haughty control ...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FKYKVI2/?tag=2022091-20
( The Fourth Durango is not your ordinary Durango. It's n...)
The Fourth Durango is not your ordinary Durango. It's not in Spain, or Mexico, and it's not a ski town in the Colorado Rockies, although Durangos do exist in all of those places. This Durango has an industry, albeit a rather odd one-it is a hideout business, a place where people pay to find sanctuary from former friends and associates who are either trying to kill them, or have them killed. Into this Durango comes a former chief justice of a state supreme court, followed by son-in-law Kelly Vines to act as his emissary to the beautiful and savvy mayor. Following them come a false priest, and a run of murders. It takes a Ross Thomas to stir these characters into a witty and ingenious mix readers will not be able to -and certainly would not want to-resist.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312315856/?tag=2022091-20
( Would you be wary if someone gave you the assignment of...)
Would you be wary if someone gave you the assignment of delivering five million dollars to a Philippine terrorist--never mind from whom or why? Booth Stallings, a terrorism expert just fired from his job at a bashful organization that never admitted its mount in the Washington merry-go-round, is wary. So wary that he cuts in con man "Otherguy" Overby, who in turn involves Artie Wu, pretender to the throne of China, and his partner, Quincy Durant. Obviously, good patriots don't want to hand over all that money to bad guys. Better they keep it for themselves. Which inevitably raises the question: Who among them will end up with the money?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312290594/?tag=2022091-20
("The Fourth Durango" is not your ordinary Durango. It's n...)
"The Fourth Durango" is not your ordinary Durango. It's not in Spain, or Mexico, and it's not a ski town in the Colorado Rockies, although Durangos do exist in all of those places. This Durango has an industry, albeit a rather odd one-it is a hideout business, a place where people pay to find sanctuary from former friends and associates who are either trying to kill them, or have them killed. Into this Durango comes a former chief justice of a state supreme court, followed by son-in-law Kelly Vines to act as his emissary to the beautiful and savvy mayor. Following them come a false priest, and a run of murders. It takes a Ross Thomas to stir these characters into a witty and ingenious mix readers will not be able to -and certainly would not want to-resist.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005D3AVTE/?tag=2022091-20
( Ah, Treachery!, the last novel Thomas wrote before his ...)
Ah, Treachery!, the last novel Thomas wrote before his death, tells the story of one Captain Edd "Twodees" Partain, drummed out of the Army and hounded by rumors of his involvement in a secret operation in El Salvador. Twodees gets hired on to help a fundraiser for the "Little Rock folks" recover funds that were stolen from an illicit stash used to smooth over problems and pay off hush money. Meanwhile, Partain is involved in a storefront operation called VOMIT (Victims of Military Intelligence Treachery) trying to defend former intelligence operatives such as Partain from those who are trying to cover up the past permanently.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312327048/?tag=2022091-20
(Nachdem seine Bar in Bonn in die Luft gesprengt wurde, is...)
Nachdem seine Bar in Bonn in die Luft gesprengt wurde, ist McCorkle mit seiner Frau Fredl in die USA zurückgekehrt und hat ›Mac’s Place‹ in Washington neu eröffnet. Als sein Geschäftspartner Mike Padillo mit einem Messerstich von einem Schiff taumelt, löst sich der Traum von einem ruhigen Leben in Luft auf: Fredl wird von Entsandten eines südafrikanischen Landes entführt, die verlangen, daß Padillo ihren Premierminister ermordet und so die Bemühungen um Unabhängigkeit stärkt und die Gleichberechtigung von Schwarzen und Weißen verhindert. Mit Hilfe von zwielichtigen Doppelagenten und Washingtons Unterwelt unternehmen McCorkle und Padillo eine waghalsige Rettungsaktion, deren Gelingen nicht nur über Fredls Leben entscheidet …
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F3AXYXC/?tag=2022091-20
( A stuntman searches for a colleague whom he thought he ...)
A stuntman searches for a colleague whom he thought he killed long ago Two pirates do battle on an old junk ship in Singapore Harbor. They leap nimbly from deck to rigging, crossing swords like fencing masters. And then one surprises the other, slicing a rope and sending the unfortunate pirate tumbling into the bay. This is how stuntman Angelo Sacchetti dies. Edward Cauthorne was his opponent, a fellow stuntman whose career died along with Sacchetti. He’s selling used cars when two thugs approach him. They’re emissaries from Sacchetti’s godfather, a Mafia don. Sacchetti is alive after all—alive enough to be blackmailing the don—and they firmly request that Cauthorne find him. The search takes Cauthorne back to Singapore, to risk his own life for the sake of the man he thought he’d killed.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1453234772/?tag=2022091-20
(Asked to deliver a quarter of a million dollars to whomev...)
Asked to deliver a quarter of a million dollars to whomever has stolen a prized African shield from a Washington museum, Philip St. Ives soon finds himself involved in a dangerous game. Reprint. PW.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060808616/?tag=2022091-20
(Assigned to deliver the ransom money to whomever stole th...)
Assigned to deliver the ransom money to whomever stole thief Abner Procane's diaries, professional go-between Philip St. Ives finds himself stumbling across dead bodies and cops on the make. Reprint. NYT.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060808543/?tag=2022091-20
( A long-distance call from a Texas city on his birthday ...)
A long-distance call from a Texas city on his birthday gives Benjamin Dill the news that his sister--it's her birthday, too, they were born exactly ten years apart--has died in a car bomb explosion. It's the chief of police calling--Felicity Dill worked for him; she was a homicide detective. Dill is there that night, the beginning of his dogged search for her killer. What he finds is no surprise to him, because Benjamin Dill is never surprised at what awful things people will do--but it's a real surprise to the reader. As Newsday said when the novel was first published, "One sure thing about Ross Thomas's novels: A reader won't get bored waiting for the action to start."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312290314/?tag=2022091-20
(A classic mystery featuring Padillo and Mac, from the awa...)
A classic mystery featuring Padillo and Mac, from the award-winning author of Ah, Treachery! McCorkle returns from Germany to Washington, D.C., with a beautiful wife, intending to live a quiet life as a saloon keeper in a classy neighborhood. But when his old friend Mike padillo is stabbed, his wife is kidnapped, and various assassination plots and double agents surface, McCorkle and Padillo set off to save the day.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006BRGGE/?tag=2022091-20
(Political manager Clinton Shartelle receives the challeng...)
Political manager Clinton Shartelle receives the challenge of a life-time when he travels to the small African nation of Albertia to run a political campaign against a candidate who is heavily backed by the CIA. Reprint. LJ. NYT.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446401692/?tag=2022091-20
(Accepting a presidential assignment when an international...)
Accepting a presidential assignment when an international terrorist is kidnapped and the terrorist's friends abduct the president's brother in answer, independent fixer Chubb Dunjee investigates a trail of ruthlessly dangerous players. Reprint. NYT.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671421867/?tag=2022091-20
( At the height of the Cold War, two Americans are runnng...)
At the height of the Cold War, two Americans are runnng a bar in the West German capital, called Mac's place. One of the pair, Michael Padillo, isn't around a lot; he keeps disappearing on "business trips." McCorkle, his partner, wisely doesn't ask questions; he knows Padillo has a second job -- he's a (reluctant) US agent. But McCorkle is ready to answer a call for help from Padillo, and he joins his friend in a blind journey with no inkling of what they will encounter at the turn of each dark and dangerous corner.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312315813/?tag=2022091-20
( Clinton Shartelle doesn't seem like a good choice to ru...)
Clinton Shartelle doesn't seem like a good choice to run a political campaign in Albertia. For one thing, he's American, and Albertia is a small coastal republic in Africa, about to be cut loose from the English Crown. For another, Shartelle is Southern and fiercely proud of it, and his ideas about racial politics veer unpredictably from progressive to rigidly old-fashioned. Rich natural resources make Albertia attractive to businessmen on both sides of the Atlantic, opening it up to political corruption. For his part, Shartelle is hired to make sure that a British industrialist's favored candidate wins the presidency. But the opposition is backed by the CIA, for whom murder is just another political tool.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1468303678/?tag=2022091-20
( Missionary Stew follows political fundraiser Draper Hae...)
Missionary Stew follows political fundraiser Draper Haere on a quest to uncover the secret behind a right-wing coup in an unnamed Central american country. Haere seeks the information in order to get dirt on his boss's opponent in the 1984 US Presidential election. Haere's pursuit of the truth repeatedly puts Haere's life in danger, as the powers-that-be stop at nothing to keep the episode buried. Along the way, Haere carries on an affair with the wife of his candidate and enlists the aid of Morgan Citron, an almost-Pullitzer winning journalist who has recently been released from an African prison where the prisoners where fed human flesh--the titular missionary stew. Together Citron and Haere face up against cocaine traffickers, Latin American generals, corrupt US officials, and Citron's estranged, tabloid-publisher mother.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312327064/?tag=2022091-20
( "Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And a...)
"Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain't that a big enough majority in any town?" -- Mark Twain Ross Thomas chose the quotation from Huckleberry Finn as the text of his post World War II story as well as for the title. When Lucifer Dye is released from three months in a Hong Kong prison, debriefed, handed a false passport, a new wardrobe and a $20,000 check, his haughty control makes it clear that Dye's career with his country has been permanently terminated. But a good agent is always in demand, and just a few hours later Dye is being interviewed for a highly ingenious position. Victor Orcutt, although a not very good imitation of a British pre-war gent, has creative talents of his own. He has his sights a small southern city, with the ordinary run-of-the-mill corruption one would expect in such a place. The canny Orcott knows there's no profit in that . His creed is "To get better, it must be much worse." He and his two associates have looked up Dye's history, and he now offers the ex-spy's a mission. For two and a half times the government's bounty, Dye is to thoroughly corrupt the town. And the sly Dye takes the offer.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312315821/?tag=2022091-20
(A few hours before he was to have revealed a shocking sec...)
A few hours before he was to have revealed a shocking secret, ninety-two-year-old Crawdad Gilmore, advisor to six presidents, is murdered, and Jake Pope must figure out who killed him and why. Reprint. NYT.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446401730/?tag=2022091-20
(Wanda and her brother Walter hire McCorkle to help them p...)
Wanda and her brother Walter hire McCorkle to help them protect an Arab prince from the most accomplished assassin in the world, but the situation becomes dicey when Walter is murdered. Reprint. NYT. K.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671806955/?tag=2022091-20
(Durchgesehene Neuausgabe der deutschen Erstausgabe von 19...)
Durchgesehene Neuausgabe der deutschen Erstausgabe von 1990. Die Geschichte beginnt mit einem Telefonanruf morgens um vier in Durango, einer trostlosen Stadt in Kalifornien, abgeschnitten von der Welt - eine Stadt, die Gott vergaß. In dieser Abgeschiedenheit dient sie vor allem als Versteck für Leute, die Schutz vor Verfolgern suchen, wie Jack Adair, einst Oberster Richter, der wegen eines Steuervergehens in den Knast wanderte und überzeugt davon ist, daß ihm jemand ans Leben möchte. Für eine Million und mehr bieten ihm Stadtoberhaupt B. D. Huckins und Polizeichef Sid Fork Durango als Hort der Sicherheit und Zuflucht an. Und Adair bietet ihnen ein ungewöhnliches und durchaus profitables Zusatzgeschäft an. Wenig später beginnt das Morden.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F3AXWPW/?tag=2022091-20
Thomas, Ross Elmore was born on February 19, 1926 in Oklahoma City. Son of J. Edwin and Laura (Dean) Thomas.
Bachelor of Arts, University Oklahoma, 1949.
He is best known for his witty thrillers that expose the mechanisms of professional politics. He also wrote several novels under the pseudonym Oliver Bleeck about professional go-between Philip Saint Ives. Thomas served with the infantry in the Philippines during World World War World War II He worked as a public relations specialist, correspondent with the Armed Forces Network, union spokesman, and political strategist in the United States of America, Bonn (Germany), and Nigeria before becoming a writer
Briarpatch earned the 1985 Edgar for Best Novel.
He died of lung cancer in Santa Monica, California two months before his 70th birthday. Warriors for the Poor: The Story of Volunteers in Service to America, Volunteers In Service to America (with William H Crook, 1969)
Spies, Thumbsuckers, Etc.
(1989)
Aside from Philip Saint Ives, the following characters appear in more than one novel:
Howard Mott, a Washington Lawyer, has cameo roles or is mentioned in several novels. Draper Haere, political rainmaker, is a central character in Missionary Stew and is mentioned in Ah, Treachery.
Minor Jackson and Nicolae Ploscaru, central characters in The Eighth Dwarf, are mentioned in Ah, Treachery.
"Boy" Howdy is mentioned in two of the Wu/Durant books, one of them Out On The Rim, but might be two different characters.
(Nachdem Padillo, McCorkles Geschäftspartner der gemeinsam...)
( Would you be wary if someone gave you the assignment of...)
(The award-winning author of Out on the Rim and The Cold W...)
("Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain...)
( "Hain't we got all the fools in town on our side? And a...)
(Accepting a presidential assignment when an international...)
(A large sum of money brings former campaign manager and W...)
( Ah, Treachery!, the last novel Thomas wrote before his ...)
(Political manager Clinton Shartelle receives the challeng...)
(A nasty gambler, a purveyor of goods named Tic-Toc, and E...)
( A long-distance call from a Texas city on his birthday ...)
(Band 15 der Ross-Thomas-Edition Benjamin Dill - Berater ...)
(A few hours before he was to have revealed a shocking sec...)
(A few hours before he was to have revealed a shocking sec...)
(Wanda and her brother Walter hire McCorkle to help them p...)
(Wanda and her brother Walter hire McCorkle to help them p...)
(Nachdem seine Bar in Bonn in die Luft gesprengt wurde, is...)
( Missionary Stew follows political fundraiser Draper Hae...)
(A classic mystery featuring Padillo and Mac, from the awa...)
( A stuntman searches for a colleague whom he thought he ...)
(Asked to deliver a quarter of a million dollars to whomev...)
(Assigned to deliver the ransom money to whomever stole th...)
( At the height of the Cold War, two Americans are runnng...)
( Clinton Shartelle doesn't seem like a good choice to ru...)
(Durchgesehene Neuausgabe der deutschen Erstausgabe von 19...)
(Durchgesehene Neuausgabe der deutschen Erstausgabe von 19...)
("The Fourth Durango" is not your ordinary Durango. It's n...)
( The Fourth Durango is not your ordinary Durango. It's n...)
(Briarpatch B004HJE1IM New 10/22/2014)
(First Edition)
(Ross Thomas..."Out On The Rim"....Mysterious Press, New Y...)
(ROHSTOFF. SPEKULATION. MORD. Weizen, Platin, Holz - das s...)
(Quasi-P.I.s Wu and Durant of Wudu, Ltd. call in a couple ...)
( St. Ives goes to London on a job for the least trustwor...)
Served with infantry Army of the United States, 1944-1946.