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The Seersucker Whipsaw
An old-school Southerner is recruited to run a political campaign in a dangerous African election.
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. But Shartelle is the best, and the political future of Albertia is too important to be left to anyone else. If history is any indication, this first fair election will probably be the country’s last. Rich natural resources make it attractive to businessmen on both sides of the Atlantic, opening Albertia 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.
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. But Shartelle is the best, and the political future of Albertia is too important to be left to anyone else. If history is any indication, this first fair election will probably be the country’s last. Rich natural resources make it attractive to businessmen on both sides of the Atlantic, opening Albertia 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.
273 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
40 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
About the author
Ross Thomas
59 books171 followersRoss Thomas was an American writer of crime fiction. 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 St. Ives.
Thomas served in the Philippines during World War II. He worked as a public relations specialist, reporter, union spokesman, and political strategist in the USA, Bonn (Germany), and Nigeria before becoming a writer.
His debut novel, The Cold War Swap, was written in only six weeks and won a 1967 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Briarpatch earned the 1985 Edgar for Best Novel. In 2002 he was honored with the inaugural Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award, one of only two authors to earn the award after their death (the other was 87th Precinct author Evan Hunter in 2006).
He died of lung cancer two months before his 70th birthday.
Thomas served in the Philippines during World War II. He worked as a public relations specialist, reporter, union spokesman, and political strategist in the USA, Bonn (Germany), and Nigeria before becoming a writer.
His debut novel, The Cold War Swap, was written in only six weeks and won a 1967 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Briarpatch earned the 1985 Edgar for Best Novel. In 2002 he was honored with the inaugural Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award, one of only two authors to earn the award after their death (the other was 87th Precinct author Evan Hunter in 2006).
He died of lung cancer two months before his 70th birthday.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
December 29, 2017
★ ★ 1/2
The single critique of a book I have the most problem with is “dated.” There seems to be no consistent definition. I’ve seen early John Sandford novel labeled as such because of computers that used floppy discs. Or Lawrence Block novels because Matt Scudder went off in search of a payphone. I’ve even seen Hammett and Chandler blanketed with the term occasionally, apparently no specific citation necessary. But there has to be more to it than the onward march of technology. If that were the case, with speed that such things evolve nowadays, today’s books would be dated before they hit the shelves. So perhaps a truer definition is more interior than exterior. Maybe there’s something intangible that forces our minds to notice the differences between today and our memories of an earlier time--or even our extended memory, from exposure through movies and television. That explanation would cover my examples, from Hammett to Sandford. What it does not explain is the Sixties. I’ve never encountered a book written in the Sixties described as dated. I’ve come to believe it’s because that particular period--which did not begin as the 60s began and actually extended into the 70s--is frozen in time in most memories. Its mere mention brings to mind hippies and student unrest and anti-war protests and civil rights marches; images instantly recognizable. It stands a world apart from our own. It’s the same reason Shakespeare or Dickens or Mark Twain are never described are dated.
The Seersucker Whipsaw, written in 1967, is dated. But why? Since I know it when I see it (read it?), perhaps with a bit of reverse engineering I may be able to explain it, at least to myself. The most obvious reason, in this particular case, is that this story is not anchored to any of the iconic symbols associated with its decade. This may come as something of a surprise if you’re familiar with the work of Ross Thomas. His novels in some way always touch on government or politics. It does here too, just not American politics. The Seersucker Whipsaw follows a speech writer and a brilliant political strategist as they attempt to win the first election of an oil- and mineral-rich African nation soon to be freed of British rule. And therein lay the elements that most heavily date the novel.
The Seersucker Whipsaw chugs along with two goals in mind: the exploration of daily life in Africa and the process of running a successful political campaign under rudimentary conditions. While the protagonists set about accomplishing the latter it allows the reader to learn just how big a gulf exists between the haves and have-nots. The men in charge own luxurious cars and live in air-conditioned splendor, invaluable in a desert country. The vast majority of their citizenry are poor, doing all-day, backbreaking work for the equivalent of pennies. We meet characters that represent all the various facets of Africa in the process of the strategist devising and implementing clever ways for their opponents to sabotage themselves while he simultaneously pushes his candidate forward. Unfortunately, fifty years later, we already know everything the novel has to show us on both subjects. Which, if nothing else, allows me to find that definition of dated that I was seeking: A work of literature is dated when its subject matter, initially explored as new and original, has become common knowledge.
Dated need not be a death sentence for a novel. If there is a story worth following or characters worth exploring, the exterior trapping quickly become irrelevant. Neither is present here. The strategist, Clinton Shartelle, has a few personality quirks but hardly emerges as a fascinating character. The speech writer, who is also the narrator, finds love, and yet even the ultimate of universal themes fails to resonate. Part of what brings the couple together is how the assassination of President John F. Kennedy still affects both of them almost four years later. Its nuance is lost to time. Another mainstay of the form, the unexpected murder, is also unsuccessful as an attempt to add interest. At the two-thirds mark, the reader has already trudged through too much of the all-too-familiar. It certainly doesn’t help that this death does nothing to hinder their assignment and there is no great incentive for the protagonists to solve it. And finally, there’s the ending. In 1967 it was an accurate reflection of the region’s instability. In 2017 it reads like a plot twist pulled out of the writer’s a**.
The only thing not dated is the prose of Ross Thomas. Reading Thomas reminds me Elmore Leonard’s famous line of advice to writers: Leave out the boring parts. He was talking about story but it applies to Thomas’ narrative. It streams along, saying exactly what he wants to say, not stopping for anything, sometimes even commas. His books read so smooth and easy that even with an unsuccessful effort like The Seersucker Whipsaw, you don’t feel as though you’ve wasted your time.
The single critique of a book I have the most problem with is “dated.” There seems to be no consistent definition. I’ve seen early John Sandford novel labeled as such because of computers that used floppy discs. Or Lawrence Block novels because Matt Scudder went off in search of a payphone. I’ve even seen Hammett and Chandler blanketed with the term occasionally, apparently no specific citation necessary. But there has to be more to it than the onward march of technology. If that were the case, with speed that such things evolve nowadays, today’s books would be dated before they hit the shelves. So perhaps a truer definition is more interior than exterior. Maybe there’s something intangible that forces our minds to notice the differences between today and our memories of an earlier time--or even our extended memory, from exposure through movies and television. That explanation would cover my examples, from Hammett to Sandford. What it does not explain is the Sixties. I’ve never encountered a book written in the Sixties described as dated. I’ve come to believe it’s because that particular period--which did not begin as the 60s began and actually extended into the 70s--is frozen in time in most memories. Its mere mention brings to mind hippies and student unrest and anti-war protests and civil rights marches; images instantly recognizable. It stands a world apart from our own. It’s the same reason Shakespeare or Dickens or Mark Twain are never described are dated.
The Seersucker Whipsaw, written in 1967, is dated. But why? Since I know it when I see it (read it?), perhaps with a bit of reverse engineering I may be able to explain it, at least to myself. The most obvious reason, in this particular case, is that this story is not anchored to any of the iconic symbols associated with its decade. This may come as something of a surprise if you’re familiar with the work of Ross Thomas. His novels in some way always touch on government or politics. It does here too, just not American politics. The Seersucker Whipsaw follows a speech writer and a brilliant political strategist as they attempt to win the first election of an oil- and mineral-rich African nation soon to be freed of British rule. And therein lay the elements that most heavily date the novel.
The Seersucker Whipsaw chugs along with two goals in mind: the exploration of daily life in Africa and the process of running a successful political campaign under rudimentary conditions. While the protagonists set about accomplishing the latter it allows the reader to learn just how big a gulf exists between the haves and have-nots. The men in charge own luxurious cars and live in air-conditioned splendor, invaluable in a desert country. The vast majority of their citizenry are poor, doing all-day, backbreaking work for the equivalent of pennies. We meet characters that represent all the various facets of Africa in the process of the strategist devising and implementing clever ways for their opponents to sabotage themselves while he simultaneously pushes his candidate forward. Unfortunately, fifty years later, we already know everything the novel has to show us on both subjects. Which, if nothing else, allows me to find that definition of dated that I was seeking: A work of literature is dated when its subject matter, initially explored as new and original, has become common knowledge.
Dated need not be a death sentence for a novel. If there is a story worth following or characters worth exploring, the exterior trapping quickly become irrelevant. Neither is present here. The strategist, Clinton Shartelle, has a few personality quirks but hardly emerges as a fascinating character. The speech writer, who is also the narrator, finds love, and yet even the ultimate of universal themes fails to resonate. Part of what brings the couple together is how the assassination of President John F. Kennedy still affects both of them almost four years later. Its nuance is lost to time. Another mainstay of the form, the unexpected murder, is also unsuccessful as an attempt to add interest. At the two-thirds mark, the reader has already trudged through too much of the all-too-familiar. It certainly doesn’t help that this death does nothing to hinder their assignment and there is no great incentive for the protagonists to solve it. And finally, there’s the ending. In 1967 it was an accurate reflection of the region’s instability. In 2017 it reads like a plot twist pulled out of the writer’s a**.
The only thing not dated is the prose of Ross Thomas. Reading Thomas reminds me Elmore Leonard’s famous line of advice to writers: Leave out the boring parts. He was talking about story but it applies to Thomas’ narrative. It streams along, saying exactly what he wants to say, not stopping for anything, sometimes even commas. His books read so smooth and easy that even with an unsuccessful effort like The Seersucker Whipsaw, you don’t feel as though you’ve wasted your time.
November 4, 2023
I enjoyed the writing, the characters, and my trip down memory lane to the 60s - although I suppose my experience in Alabama was a lot different than Africa. And that was probably the most interesting aspect of the book, the people and life in Africa. I don't think I'd want to live there, but it makes interesting reading.
This story takes place in an imaginary city that is about to become independent from Great Britain. There is about to be an election, which is important because the winner of this election will oversee the next one, and that means they will probably win it.
A group of Americans are hired by one candidate to run his campaign, and that's the story.
The main character is an interesting guy named Clinton Shartelle who is hired by the company, based in the UK, to run the operation. He's very colorful, very capable, part everything (ie, black, creole, and maybe a few others), and seems to be able to talk to anyone. He's full of surprises and lots of fun. Life seems to be a game for him, as is the campaign, but he actually takes it seriously while acting the clown much of the time. But in the end, it seems that he took it more serious than it seemed.
The story itself wasn't really that good, though, but the characters and writing style made it better. However, the younger generation might not like it due to some of the very non-PC attitudes and expressions.
This story takes place in an imaginary city that is about to become independent from Great Britain. There is about to be an election, which is important because the winner of this election will oversee the next one, and that means they will probably win it.
A group of Americans are hired by one candidate to run his campaign, and that's the story.
The main character is an interesting guy named Clinton Shartelle who is hired by the company, based in the UK, to run the operation. He's very colorful, very capable, part everything (ie, black, creole, and maybe a few others), and seems to be able to talk to anyone. He's full of surprises and lots of fun. Life seems to be a game for him, as is the campaign, but he actually takes it seriously while acting the clown much of the time. But in the end, it seems that he took it more serious than it seemed.
The story itself wasn't really that good, though, but the characters and writing style made it better. However, the younger generation might not like it due to some of the very non-PC attitudes and expressions.
April 6, 2017
Clint Shartelle is a honey-tongued Southerner who wears impeccable three-piece suits and drinks like a fish. (Waitaminnit! Do fish actually drink? Whatever.) Shartelle claims to be one sixty-fourth Native American, one-twelfth African-American, and the country’s best political campaign manager. Apparently, he is not the only one who believes that. Enter Peter Upshaw, who represents a fast-growing London-based American PR firm. Upshaw carries an offer of an immoderate sum of money for Shartelle to run a campaign in a West African nation that bears a considerable resemblance to Nigeria. This — eventually — turns out to be an offer Shartelle cannot refuse. Thus begins The Seersucker Whipsaw by Ross Thomas.
Africa for the Africans
It is 1966, barely more than two years since the assassination of John F. Kennedy and before the major U.S. escalation that seared the Vietnam War into the memory of all who lived through it. In Africa, decolonization was just getting underway; Ghana had been independent for less than a decade. Presidential elections are scheduled in a country called Albertia (as in Prince Albert, get it?), and the British are falling all over themselves to get out and leave Africa to the Africans. Albertia is wealthy, so competition for the presidency is naturally stiff.
A problematic three-way race
With little delay, Shartelle and Upshaw arrive in Albertia to launch the campaign for Chief Akomolo, the Big Man in the west of the country. He faces two major opponents, one in the north, the other in the east. Unfortunately, both command more populous territories and are better positioned to win than the Chief. To make matters worse, other American organizations are working for the two opponents — and one of them is the CIA. Shartelle, as strategist and manager, and Upshaw, as speechwriter and flack, realize that Akomolo can’t possibly win if they run a clean, straightforward campaign. But Shartelle, it turns out, is a genius at dirty tricks — and Akomolo’s advisers prove to be equally flexible about campaign ethics. For anyone with even the most casual experience in electoral politics, the ensuing campaign is a wonder to behold.
Dialogue that sings
To say that Ross Thomas has a way with words is akin to claiming that Barack Obama is a fair-to-middling orator. His narrative prose is superb, his characters are unforgettable, and his dialogue is priceless: witty, intelligent, and oh-so-natural.
About the author
Ross Thomas began writing novels in the 1960s and passed away twenty years ago, but his books are just as fresh and engaging today as they were when first published. The Seersucker Whipsaw is the fourth of the twenty thrillers he wrote under his own name. He also wrote five novels under a pseudonym and two books of nonfiction.
Africa for the Africans
It is 1966, barely more than two years since the assassination of John F. Kennedy and before the major U.S. escalation that seared the Vietnam War into the memory of all who lived through it. In Africa, decolonization was just getting underway; Ghana had been independent for less than a decade. Presidential elections are scheduled in a country called Albertia (as in Prince Albert, get it?), and the British are falling all over themselves to get out and leave Africa to the Africans. Albertia is wealthy, so competition for the presidency is naturally stiff.
A problematic three-way race
With little delay, Shartelle and Upshaw arrive in Albertia to launch the campaign for Chief Akomolo, the Big Man in the west of the country. He faces two major opponents, one in the north, the other in the east. Unfortunately, both command more populous territories and are better positioned to win than the Chief. To make matters worse, other American organizations are working for the two opponents — and one of them is the CIA. Shartelle, as strategist and manager, and Upshaw, as speechwriter and flack, realize that Akomolo can’t possibly win if they run a clean, straightforward campaign. But Shartelle, it turns out, is a genius at dirty tricks — and Akomolo’s advisers prove to be equally flexible about campaign ethics. For anyone with even the most casual experience in electoral politics, the ensuing campaign is a wonder to behold.
Dialogue that sings
To say that Ross Thomas has a way with words is akin to claiming that Barack Obama is a fair-to-middling orator. His narrative prose is superb, his characters are unforgettable, and his dialogue is priceless: witty, intelligent, and oh-so-natural.
About the author
Ross Thomas began writing novels in the 1960s and passed away twenty years ago, but his books are just as fresh and engaging today as they were when first published. The Seersucker Whipsaw is the fourth of the twenty thrillers he wrote under his own name. He also wrote five novels under a pseudonym and two books of nonfiction.
February 18, 2021
One of his better books.
A James Carville-like souther politician fixer (who precedes Carville by 20 years) is hired by a politician who is running for President of a former British colony in Africa.
Sounds like it could be really problematic, but it manages to fairly depict the transition from colony to republic in the 1960s by telling the story straight. The tribal leaders get as much grief as the British governor.
It’s full of political dirty tricks and amusing characters.
There’s also TWO women with names. They almost do something besides sleep with the main characters.
If you can deal with a story written and set in the late 60s, it’s a pretty good Ross Thomas political thriller.
A James Carville-like souther politician fixer (who precedes Carville by 20 years) is hired by a politician who is running for President of a former British colony in Africa.
Sounds like it could be really problematic, but it manages to fairly depict the transition from colony to republic in the 1960s by telling the story straight. The tribal leaders get as much grief as the British governor.
It’s full of political dirty tricks and amusing characters.
There’s also TWO women with names. They almost do something besides sleep with the main characters.
If you can deal with a story written and set in the late 60s, it’s a pretty good Ross Thomas political thriller.
February 9, 2019
Ratf#%^&ing has been in the news a lot the last couple of years because of the Trump/Russia scandal. Outside influence affecting democratic elections is a time honored tradition, and few are more familiar with it than the United States, which has been practicing it for decades. It’s practically the CIA’s métier at this point. It’s a violent, imperialistic practice ripe for skewing.
Enter Ross Thomas. This is one of his earlier novels and apparently it’s influenced by his real life adventures in the African political trade. He sends his two main characters over to a fictional African nation on the west coast that’s prepping for its first free elections after the withdrawal of British colonial rule. The two men have a reputation for fixing political elections and are working for a British-based company hired out by Chief Akolo, one of the candidates.
In the hands of a lesser novel, this could get messy fast but Thomas makes it clear our characters are not heroes. They’re propping up the Chief because they’re getting paid, not because of any ideology. In order to help him win, they come up with a typical two-part strategy: the legit public campaign and the shady private campaign of sabotage (rat—-ing) against Akolo’s opponents. This is referred to as the “whipsaw.”
Thomas gets the rep of being the Elmore Leonard of politics and never is that more accurate than here. The dialogue is smooth. The white characters read like white collar criminals. In particular, Clint Shartelle stands out the most; a fast-talking southern huckster who is the brains behind the operation. Stick him with a ring of Florida family criminals and you could see him going toe-to-toe with a no nonsense sheriff. Instead, he’s used here to navigate the Akolo campaign through the rigors of a free election. The result is hilarious.
The book does have its shortcomings. Shartelle is a casual racist who has no problem throwing around the n-word in the company of white people. We’re meant to see his interactions as a critique of the American view of Africa but it feels thin and gratuitous. While I think the book is mostly sympathetic to Africa, Shartelle’s character is perhaps not the most sensitive way to view it. Also, the few female characters are poorly written, particularly the love interest of one of the other operators. This is an early Ross Thomas book and he would get better with writing for women but here, he clearly had no idea what he was doing.
I’m willing to deal with the shortcomings because I feel the book has good intent at the heart of it. It’s satirical more than anything. And the ending is one of the best I’ve read this year. This is a good place to start if you’re interested in Ross Thomas. Just be aware of the faults.
Enter Ross Thomas. This is one of his earlier novels and apparently it’s influenced by his real life adventures in the African political trade. He sends his two main characters over to a fictional African nation on the west coast that’s prepping for its first free elections after the withdrawal of British colonial rule. The two men have a reputation for fixing political elections and are working for a British-based company hired out by Chief Akolo, one of the candidates.
In the hands of a lesser novel, this could get messy fast but Thomas makes it clear our characters are not heroes. They’re propping up the Chief because they’re getting paid, not because of any ideology. In order to help him win, they come up with a typical two-part strategy: the legit public campaign and the shady private campaign of sabotage (rat—-ing) against Akolo’s opponents. This is referred to as the “whipsaw.”
Thomas gets the rep of being the Elmore Leonard of politics and never is that more accurate than here. The dialogue is smooth. The white characters read like white collar criminals. In particular, Clint Shartelle stands out the most; a fast-talking southern huckster who is the brains behind the operation. Stick him with a ring of Florida family criminals and you could see him going toe-to-toe with a no nonsense sheriff. Instead, he’s used here to navigate the Akolo campaign through the rigors of a free election. The result is hilarious.
The book does have its shortcomings. Shartelle is a casual racist who has no problem throwing around the n-word in the company of white people. We’re meant to see his interactions as a critique of the American view of Africa but it feels thin and gratuitous. While I think the book is mostly sympathetic to Africa, Shartelle’s character is perhaps not the most sensitive way to view it. Also, the few female characters are poorly written, particularly the love interest of one of the other operators. This is an early Ross Thomas book and he would get better with writing for women but here, he clearly had no idea what he was doing.
I’m willing to deal with the shortcomings because I feel the book has good intent at the heart of it. It’s satirical more than anything. And the ending is one of the best I’ve read this year. This is a good place to start if you’re interested in Ross Thomas. Just be aware of the faults.
June 11, 2025
This is an early Ross Thomas book, from 1967, apparently based on his experiences running a political campaign in Nigeria, though the country is given a fictional name and ambiguous location in the novel. (Thomas's extensive experience in journalism, PR and politics gave him abundant material for his novels, all of which involve corruption and skulduggery.)
In this one, a London-based PR man tracks down a legendary political guru in Denver ("... I found him playing shortstop for the Kwikway Truckers in a sandlot park at 29th and Champa...") and hires him to fly to Africa to run the presidential campaign of a local chief in a British colony on the brink of independence. The Brits are pulling out after a couple of centuries, and the election is supposed to set the newly independent nation of Albertia up with a democratic government. Rival candidates have hired their own US-based campaign strategists, money and carpetbaggers are flowing in, and what happens when age-old tribal rivalries meet modern public relations flummery remains to be seen. There's a lot of "Albertian" local color, political trickery and an undercurrent of threatened violence. Unsurprisingly, things do not end well.
I'm a big Ross Thomas fan, but this is not one of my favorite novels; as happened occasionally, he let his research run away with him. Most of the novel is a blow-by-blow account of the campaign, with a not entirely convincing romantic subplot thrown in, along with whatever details of African life seemed to catch the author's fancy. I got a little impatient with it all and wanted more plot twists and turns. That said, the characters are, as always in a Thomas novel, quirky and fully developed, the dialogue crisp and clever, and the view into the cynical universe of nuts-and-bolts political maneuvering entirely convincing. Not the author's best, maybe, but certainly good for a few evenings' entertaining reading.
In this one, a London-based PR man tracks down a legendary political guru in Denver ("... I found him playing shortstop for the Kwikway Truckers in a sandlot park at 29th and Champa...") and hires him to fly to Africa to run the presidential campaign of a local chief in a British colony on the brink of independence. The Brits are pulling out after a couple of centuries, and the election is supposed to set the newly independent nation of Albertia up with a democratic government. Rival candidates have hired their own US-based campaign strategists, money and carpetbaggers are flowing in, and what happens when age-old tribal rivalries meet modern public relations flummery remains to be seen. There's a lot of "Albertian" local color, political trickery and an undercurrent of threatened violence. Unsurprisingly, things do not end well.
I'm a big Ross Thomas fan, but this is not one of my favorite novels; as happened occasionally, he let his research run away with him. Most of the novel is a blow-by-blow account of the campaign, with a not entirely convincing romantic subplot thrown in, along with whatever details of African life seemed to catch the author's fancy. I got a little impatient with it all and wanted more plot twists and turns. That said, the characters are, as always in a Thomas novel, quirky and fully developed, the dialogue crisp and clever, and the view into the cynical universe of nuts-and-bolts political maneuvering entirely convincing. Not the author's best, maybe, but certainly good for a few evenings' entertaining reading.
May 9, 2025
This tale of political campaigning in a fictional African country (most like Nigeria) would serve as a good text to study about American foreign policy and the CIA's role in the 60's. The patronizing attitude and wry, smug tone in the characters and even the plot twist really do not show Americans in the best light. The underlying ugliness of the assignment of the narrator and wizened Southerner, Clinton Shartelle (who has a godawful bloviation on the n word and its baggage near the beginning in exposition time that puts fear in reading on; read on because that is the nadir) wears away and the plot does get in a groove with that lovely Ross Thomas prose that sounds so right to my ear.
A great book to digest but not assimilate.
A great book to digest but not assimilate.
May 5, 2022
Good but possibly my least favorite Thomas so far.
October 22, 2024
Just recently discovered the writing of Ross Thomas. What took me so long? Ross writes so well, simply a joy to read! While perhaps falling a bit short of Briarpatch, The Seersucker Whipsaw was for me an exhilarating read.
Shartelle, Louisiana born, and a rowdy by way of Oklahoma by way of Denver, is an outsized character with his own way of doing things, and getting things done. Oozing style, charisma, wry humor and good sense, Shartelle is a force to be reckoned with.
It is 1966. Shartelle , a hired political campaign guru, is teamed with Pete Upshaw, a disaffected but highly effective writer and publicity guy. They’re being paid to get the African chief of Barkandu elected as Albertia, finally freed of British colonial rule, to be the country’s first democratic leader. There are three contenders, politics is messy and rough, even more so in Africa. Hidden and powerful interests lurk behind each candidate, with the CIA assumed to be working behind the scenes to get their guy in place. This is a 3 horse race, …..but look out for the Whipsaw.
Thomas is quickly becoming a favorite writer of mine, call me old fashioned but I am a huge fan of “back in the day” mystery/suspense writers such as Ross MacDonald, John MacDonald, Erle Stanley Gardner (Cool & Lam), Dorothy Hughes, etc. Writers specializing in good solid writing and a perspective instructive of the times, people and place.
One goodreads reader while admiring the prose and character writing of Thomas, declared the book “outdated”. I strongly disagree, sure times were different 50-60 years ago, but some things never change. Consider this take by Shartelle: “ If they decided to tax the oil companies, I was automatically for it, so that precluded much personal interest. They could soak the rich, too, I decided. The only trouble with that was that the wealthy passed the tax laws and they weren’t going to legislate themselves into the poorhouse. So it would be the small farmer, the worker, the petty-trader, the people like Ojo our gardener, who would pay for the trips to the United Nations, the peace missions to Hanoi, and the cocktail parties on Government House lawn after the dawn of independence.” Now tell me that is out of date.
If you are interested in political intrigue and interesting people, time, and place. Don’t hesitate The Seersucker Whipsaw will suit you just fine.
Shartelle, Louisiana born, and a rowdy by way of Oklahoma by way of Denver, is an outsized character with his own way of doing things, and getting things done. Oozing style, charisma, wry humor and good sense, Shartelle is a force to be reckoned with.
It is 1966. Shartelle , a hired political campaign guru, is teamed with Pete Upshaw, a disaffected but highly effective writer and publicity guy. They’re being paid to get the African chief of Barkandu elected as Albertia, finally freed of British colonial rule, to be the country’s first democratic leader. There are three contenders, politics is messy and rough, even more so in Africa. Hidden and powerful interests lurk behind each candidate, with the CIA assumed to be working behind the scenes to get their guy in place. This is a 3 horse race, …..but look out for the Whipsaw.
Thomas is quickly becoming a favorite writer of mine, call me old fashioned but I am a huge fan of “back in the day” mystery/suspense writers such as Ross MacDonald, John MacDonald, Erle Stanley Gardner (Cool & Lam), Dorothy Hughes, etc. Writers specializing in good solid writing and a perspective instructive of the times, people and place.
One goodreads reader while admiring the prose and character writing of Thomas, declared the book “outdated”. I strongly disagree, sure times were different 50-60 years ago, but some things never change. Consider this take by Shartelle: “ If they decided to tax the oil companies, I was automatically for it, so that precluded much personal interest. They could soak the rich, too, I decided. The only trouble with that was that the wealthy passed the tax laws and they weren’t going to legislate themselves into the poorhouse. So it would be the small farmer, the worker, the petty-trader, the people like Ojo our gardener, who would pay for the trips to the United Nations, the peace missions to Hanoi, and the cocktail parties on Government House lawn after the dawn of independence.” Now tell me that is out of date.
If you are interested in political intrigue and interesting people, time, and place. Don’t hesitate The Seersucker Whipsaw will suit you just fine.
March 14, 2017
Come for the snappy intelligent dialogue, stay for the world building and plot. this one from the first person POV of the second protagonist, think Watson but not the bumbler or Goodwin without the bite in his sarcasm. Set in the 1960's and a fictional African country that is a stand in for Nigeria if you read the clues. A surprisingly sympathetic portrayal in general but there are still plenty of the typical saws of third world corruption and squalor. Our heroes are campaign consultants for one of the candidates standing for the countries first post-colonial leader. The campaign is gloves off with buttons, blimps and murder. As always with Thomas it's never quite a spy novel, never quite the detective novel he is just a master of the non-slasher thriller, bodies though there may be. His protagonists, whether bar owners, high class grifters or campaign managers never disappoint nor are they one dimensional. A slow burn but what an ending, highly recommended.
Want to read
February 20, 2020Synopsis: an old-school Southerner is recruited to run a political campaign in a dangerous African country.
October 24, 2018
It started quite interesting but became too plain and then "no idea" what happened ending made the story even more ridiculous.
November 2, 2022
I think I have now read all of Ross Thomas' novels -- no mean feat, given his output of about 24 books between "The Cold War Swap" in 1966 and "Voodoo Ltd." in 1992. '
As it turns out, "The Seersucker Whipsaw" was his second novel. You can tell. It lacks the verve of the first one, which he wrote very rapidly and which moves like a whirlwind. This book also contains a lot of racially offensive language. The main character, a Southerner named Clint Shartelle, tosses around the n-word very freely.
Shartelle is a past master at running successful American political campaigns. He's hired to run one for a candidate seeking the presidency of an African country newly freed from British rule. The thinking is that whoever wins this three-way race will likely be in charge for a long time. Pete Upshaw, a former reporter who now works for a British PR firm, is dispatched to get Shartelle to agree to run this campaign, no matter what.
There is some comedy in Shartelle's overly elaborate aw-shucks conversations with Upshaw, whom he tutors in how to promote one candidate while whipsawing the others. Shartelle travels around in a series of black-and-white seersucker suits (complete with vest!) and a black slouch hat, seeing the countryside and occasionally cracking wise.
But far too much of the book is taken up with what people wear, what they eat and how they get from one place to another. After a while, I got pretty tired of those details, as well as the pidgin English spoken by some of the people employed by Shartelle and Upshaw, and wished Thomas would get a move on.
A murder happens about 150 pages in, promising to liven up the proceedings -- how often do you get to combine a political campaign with a murder investigation? But then it seems forgotten amid all the election hijunks until the climax of the book, when Shartelle -- out of the blue -- names the killer. Instead we get some scenes of Upshaw falling for a pretty Peace Corps teacher and then Shartelle falling for a wealthy Creole widow.
The climax, when it hits, is hardly a suprise given the foreshadowing that Thompas laid on with a trowel. All in all, this is the worst of the 20-something Thomas novels I've read. I'm glad I saved it for the last, and glad too that he went on to write some really wonderful books that didn't have these problems.
As it turns out, "The Seersucker Whipsaw" was his second novel. You can tell. It lacks the verve of the first one, which he wrote very rapidly and which moves like a whirlwind. This book also contains a lot of racially offensive language. The main character, a Southerner named Clint Shartelle, tosses around the n-word very freely.
Shartelle is a past master at running successful American political campaigns. He's hired to run one for a candidate seeking the presidency of an African country newly freed from British rule. The thinking is that whoever wins this three-way race will likely be in charge for a long time. Pete Upshaw, a former reporter who now works for a British PR firm, is dispatched to get Shartelle to agree to run this campaign, no matter what.
There is some comedy in Shartelle's overly elaborate aw-shucks conversations with Upshaw, whom he tutors in how to promote one candidate while whipsawing the others. Shartelle travels around in a series of black-and-white seersucker suits (complete with vest!) and a black slouch hat, seeing the countryside and occasionally cracking wise.
But far too much of the book is taken up with what people wear, what they eat and how they get from one place to another. After a while, I got pretty tired of those details, as well as the pidgin English spoken by some of the people employed by Shartelle and Upshaw, and wished Thomas would get a move on.
A murder happens about 150 pages in, promising to liven up the proceedings -- how often do you get to combine a political campaign with a murder investigation? But then it seems forgotten amid all the election hijunks until the climax of the book, when Shartelle -- out of the blue -- names the killer. Instead we get some scenes of Upshaw falling for a pretty Peace Corps teacher and then Shartelle falling for a wealthy Creole widow.
The climax, when it hits, is hardly a suprise given the foreshadowing that Thompas laid on with a trowel. All in all, this is the worst of the 20-something Thomas novels I've read. I'm glad I saved it for the last, and glad too that he went on to write some really wonderful books that didn't have these problems.
August 18, 2023
Ross Thomas had a gift for writing novels of political intrigue, not to mention espionage and crime, and this is a very good example, particularly of the first. It's one of Thomas's earlier novels, set in the middle 1960s in the fictional west African country of Albertia, which is is on the cusp of achieving its indepencence as the British prepare to leave the Albertians to their own devices. The country is rich in natural resources and naturally lots of outsiders are hoping to be able to exploit them.
Three men are running for election to be the first premier of the country, and each has the support of outside interests. Inevitably, of course, one of the contenders is the favorite of the American C.I.A., which, particularly back at that time, could get pretty heavy-handed about such things. Another candidate, Chief Akomolo, is the favorite of a British petroleum company.
The chief's chances of election seem like something of a long shot, and so the company hires a powerful British P.R. firm to run his campaign and bolster his chances. The P.R. firm assigns the task to Pete Upshaw who is their best publicist. Upshaw, in turn, recruits a seasoned political strategist named Clinton Shartelle to map out a winning strategy. Shartelle is something of a cameleon who can adapt to almost any situation, most often coming off as a good ol' southern boy from New Orleans.
Upshaw and Shartelle arrive in Africa, assess the situation, and get immediately to work. They are not supporting Chief Akomolo out of any principal. Clearly, they are hired guns who would work for anyone willing to pay them and they don't pretend otherwise. The campaign that the two develop is an intriguing one, and watching them work is a lot of fun. Any reader who has idealistic notions about how political campaigns should be run in an honerable world should check those notions at the door. Things get down and dirty pretty quickly here as they seem to do in most political campaigns these days.
As is always the case in a novel by Ross Thomas, the dialogue is witty and the characters are intriguing. The exception to the latter rule here lies with two female characters who are not particularly believable and who add little of value to the development of the plot. That's a small complaint, though, and I enjoyed this book a lot.
Three men are running for election to be the first premier of the country, and each has the support of outside interests. Inevitably, of course, one of the contenders is the favorite of the American C.I.A., which, particularly back at that time, could get pretty heavy-handed about such things. Another candidate, Chief Akomolo, is the favorite of a British petroleum company.
The chief's chances of election seem like something of a long shot, and so the company hires a powerful British P.R. firm to run his campaign and bolster his chances. The P.R. firm assigns the task to Pete Upshaw who is their best publicist. Upshaw, in turn, recruits a seasoned political strategist named Clinton Shartelle to map out a winning strategy. Shartelle is something of a cameleon who can adapt to almost any situation, most often coming off as a good ol' southern boy from New Orleans.
Upshaw and Shartelle arrive in Africa, assess the situation, and get immediately to work. They are not supporting Chief Akomolo out of any principal. Clearly, they are hired guns who would work for anyone willing to pay them and they don't pretend otherwise. The campaign that the two develop is an intriguing one, and watching them work is a lot of fun. Any reader who has idealistic notions about how political campaigns should be run in an honerable world should check those notions at the door. Things get down and dirty pretty quickly here as they seem to do in most political campaigns these days.
As is always the case in a novel by Ross Thomas, the dialogue is witty and the characters are intriguing. The exception to the latter rule here lies with two female characters who are not particularly believable and who add little of value to the development of the plot. That's a small complaint, though, and I enjoyed this book a lot.
June 17, 2017
Something a little different for me is this novel set in a fictional African country on the verge of gaining independence from Great Britain through its first election. Our heroes are a couple American political consultants hired to help the campaign favoured by the Brits. You get the feeling right from the beginning that there's going to be all sorts of dirty tricks and crooks running about. As it turns out, not really. A few clever turns, sure, but nothing completely corrupt. All seems sweet and well, perhaps a little too much so for maybe 90 percent of the book. The main characters are quite engaging and the writing is lean so it moves quickly. The ending really takes the book up a notch or two.
Written as a contemporary novel in the year I was born (1967), some of the old-fashioned social norms are kinda fun to observe. Everyone drinks constantly, but that's the way it is in all Ross Thomas books. For the most part it's not to get drunk, it's just that apparently everyone had to have a drink in their hands at all times in the 1960s in order to be polite.
Even though the book is fifty years old, no one would be surprised to see the same sort of approach to fixing elections today, albeit with different technology. Kinda sad in that way. Some things never change.
Written as a contemporary novel in the year I was born (1967), some of the old-fashioned social norms are kinda fun to observe. Everyone drinks constantly, but that's the way it is in all Ross Thomas books. For the most part it's not to get drunk, it's just that apparently everyone had to have a drink in their hands at all times in the 1960s in order to be polite.
Even though the book is fifty years old, no one would be surprised to see the same sort of approach to fixing elections today, albeit with different technology. Kinda sad in that way. Some things never change.
January 27, 2022
I originally rated this book as two stars but after thinking about it this morning and seething by the time I got to work I had to drop it to one star. I'm so angry that I wasted any quality reading time on this worthless book. Maybe my ire should be more directed at the users here who gave it a 4.2. A 4.2! Most of Simenon's novels get around a 3.5 and so to give this a higher rating is blasphemy to me.
This book is boring, boring, boring and then there's a death. I don't care about the flat characters. A girl in the Peace Corps sleeps with a guy because he's available. I was in the Peace Corps and this makes sense to me. But the way she falls in love with him immediately is so banal. But my absolute worst part of this book is when a dead police commissioner draws CIA in the dirt when he dies. I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP. Please don't read this book. Go read Graham Greene or Simenon or anyone else with a decent sense of human nature. And for the love of God, please stop giving it good reviews.
This book is boring, boring, boring and then there's a death. I don't care about the flat characters. A girl in the Peace Corps sleeps with a guy because he's available. I was in the Peace Corps and this makes sense to me. But the way she falls in love with him immediately is so banal. But my absolute worst part of this book is when a dead police commissioner draws CIA in the dirt when he dies. I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP. Please don't read this book. Go read Graham Greene or Simenon or anyone else with a decent sense of human nature. And for the love of God, please stop giving it good reviews.
September 5, 2018
When I finished reading The Seersucker Whipsaw by Ross Thomas, I made sure to also classify it under humor, because it is funny throughout. Clinton Shartelle and Peter Upshaw, working for an international public relations firm called DDT Ltd, go to Albertia in West Africa to consult with one of the candidates in a presidential election.
This book is a delightful record of political skullduggery as the two collaborate to have their candidate win. Along the way, both fall in love, Shartelle with a beautiful creole and Upshaw with a Peace Corps volunteer.
Very likely Thomas knew a great deal about West Africa, though I haven't been able to discover how he came about his knowledge. He manages to make the place sound almost liveable. Almost.
But his book is certainly readable and great fun.
This book is a delightful record of political skullduggery as the two collaborate to have their candidate win. Along the way, both fall in love, Shartelle with a beautiful creole and Upshaw with a Peace Corps volunteer.
Very likely Thomas knew a great deal about West Africa, though I haven't been able to discover how he came about his knowledge. He manages to make the place sound almost liveable. Almost.
But his book is certainly readable and great fun.
May 7, 2025
The novel is 50% character driven and 50% context driven; no much space for plot left here.
The characters are a bunch of westerners and Africans composing a rather picturesque gallery; the context is that of a fictional African country (Albertia) readying for independence after decades of British colonial rule.
The story revolves around the first democratic elections in Albertia, where two Americans work as consultants for the campaign of one of the local candidates.
The Albertia elites all speak English with BBC accents and drive big American cars; they are supposed to lead the country to independence but they look like a colonial sub-product.
As I said, there's no much of a plot here - at least until the very last few pages where events take a sudden, bitter turn - a few political intrigues mixed with some local folklore; but as always Ross Thomas' storytelling is such that the book ends up in a rather pleasant read.
The characters are a bunch of westerners and Africans composing a rather picturesque gallery; the context is that of a fictional African country (Albertia) readying for independence after decades of British colonial rule.
The story revolves around the first democratic elections in Albertia, where two Americans work as consultants for the campaign of one of the local candidates.
The Albertia elites all speak English with BBC accents and drive big American cars; they are supposed to lead the country to independence but they look like a colonial sub-product.
As I said, there's no much of a plot here - at least until the very last few pages where events take a sudden, bitter turn - a few political intrigues mixed with some local folklore; but as always Ross Thomas' storytelling is such that the book ends up in a rather pleasant read.
August 16, 2020
This is not a straight spy novel; that is more in the background.
This read to me as a moment in time locked in amber. While it is fiction, it provides a decent view of sub saharan Africa in the transition from post-colonial to post-post-colonial.
And, as it is Ross Thomas, it is very well written.
This read to me as a moment in time locked in amber. While it is fiction, it provides a decent view of sub saharan Africa in the transition from post-colonial to post-post-colonial.
And, as it is Ross Thomas, it is very well written.
April 7, 2019
A Political Consultant similar to James Carville goes to Africa to work on a race - great book and great read!
December 2, 2023
Some American flacks go to an African country on the eve of independence to run an election campaign. It's all fun and games, until suddenly it isn't.
April 16, 2025
Amazing book with well developed characters.
November 21, 2018
Liked this, wanted to really like it, but the empty female characters and white savior perspective made it dated, skewed, incomplete and unsatisfying in the end.
July 20, 2013
A short and simple novel about two American political operatives who are approached by a British firm to swing an election for a chief who is seeking the premiership of the, soon-to-be-independent African colony, Albertia. Clinton Shartelle is the cynical and experienced political operative extraordinaire, and Pete Upshaw is a slick public relations expert who could convince Eskimos that they needed to buy more snow. Although Ross Thomas's novel was written in 1967, it's clear that the 'behind the scenes political shenanigans' (as Clint remarks, "We're not in the truth business") have remained the same since the first elections were held, and the book certainly bears out the old adage that "you don't really want to know how this sausage is made". However, although the action is light and lively, I wish there was more depth to the story and the characters. I read the book in a couple of sittings, and it seemed like a first idea for a great book. It's an enjoyable read and not bad, by any means, I just hungered for a much more detailed development.
January 26, 2015
There are no thriller elements in this Ross Thomas story (Although there are a few murders). However, it is one of the wittiest and best written political novels out there. Clint Shartelle, bedecked in seersucker, is the American political strategist hired to run a campaign in a soon-to-be independent African nation. Blanketing the nation in campaign buttons and undercutting his candidate's opponents, Shartelle runs the best damn campaign of his career...but this is Africa. African politics are somewhat different than Shartelle's usual experience. Thomas did PR/Political work in Nigeria, and his background makes this novel richer and probably rather accurate. Were it not for some dated elements (Shartelle's use of a particular n word), this could have been written today. The death of British Colonialism and the rise of African nationalism are skewered in the most delightful way. Two trivial notes: One of the characters is the King of Obahma; Another character is probably Michael Padillo (see CAST A YELLOW SHADOW) doing his African gunrunning.
January 30, 2008
This is a marvelously witty political thriller, set a newly liberated West African country known as Albertia. Peter Upshaw is a former newspaperman who now works public relations for a major firm. Clint Shartelle is a Southern gentleman and one of the best political consultants known to man. They have been tasked with protecting the firm's interests in Albertia by making sure that the right candidate wins. They're up against another enormous firm and, it is rumored, the CIA, each backing their own candidates. The dialog crackles and the political machinations are so viciously clever that I found myself cackling out loud. The book was published in 1967 and this is of course somewhat evident, but that doesn't stop it from feeling extremely fresh and immediate. Highly recommended.
January 31, 2010
This was the first Ross Thomas mystery novel, and I thought it was one of his better efforts. The characters were clumsier than you see in later books like A Chinaman's Chance, but the interplay between ad men, inner intelligence and the CIA in the post-independence soup of an African nation gave me the sense of urgency that Thomas frequently thought he was providing in other works. As always with him, the high point was his almost absurd realism, down to drink-making instructions and the difficulty of getting a good hamburger in strife-torn Africa.
April 7, 2014
Another Best of Ross Thomas - a slick political operative hired by a PR firm, and the two experts he hires (a male speechwriter and a female number cruncher, who becomes lovers over the course of the story), come to a newly-liberated African country to help one of the tribal leaders become the country's first democratically-elected President. Other PR firms are backing other clients - as is the CIA, pretending to be an up&coming PR firm! Hilarious and dramatic by turns, it reaches an ironic but strangely earned conclusion....
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 11, 2016
This book, Mr. Thomas' second, is probably the least good Ross Thomas book I have read. The dialog isn't as fluid, the descriptions are too long and the action, once it finally begins, is over in roughly 15 pages.
That said, the book is still better than most other crime/spy fiction ever written. The characters dazzle, the plot is by turns humorous and romantic, the narrator is less-hardened than the narrators in his other books and the racial politics and geopolitics are treated with excellent care.
That said, the book is still better than most other crime/spy fiction ever written. The characters dazzle, the plot is by turns humorous and romantic, the narrator is less-hardened than the narrators in his other books and the racial politics and geopolitics are treated with excellent care.
October 16, 2008
The Seersucker Whipsaw is a quick read. While there were some passages (particularly the ones between the two main love interests) that were dull, the story itself was entertaining and good for a relaxing escape. I'll definitely read more Ross Thomas when I'm in need of another enjoyable and quick escape.
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