Death of a Thin-skinned Animal

by Patrick Alexander

Book by Alexander, Patrick

Genres: Fiction, Crime

230 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Dan Downing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Put this one on the same shelf with LeCarre, early Forsythe, and Graham Greene's 'entertainments'. A story of revenge, espionage, love, friendship, the utter amorality of government and redemption, this tale grabs you on page one and doesn't let go until well after the last sentence is read.
Highly Recommended.

[jeremy dierst · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author created the template for so many other authors to base their own series on. Just with their own personal twist. A spy left out in the cold by his government and left out to die and be forgotten. But the intrepid spy pursues to ultimately finish the mission. No matter the obstacles or hindrances placed before him, the mission always comes first. From the beginning all the way thru to the last page, the author grabs the reader's attention and does not let go. For the time period, in which this novel was written, it was very creative and original. The plot moves along at a pretty good pace, and the character introduction and back story really give feeling and meaning to the plot. It sets the stage for whom to root for and against, with a lot of political intrigues thrown in for good measure. This novel is a great starter for what is to come in the spy genre for years ahead of its time.

[Ingo]

The french movie Le professionnel (1981) was based on this book, reviews are few, but not too good (amazon.com). Not sure wether I will try to get it used.
The movie stars Jean-Paul Belmondo, with a haunting score by the late Ennio Morricone, one of my favourite scores by him. The movie is highly recommended, watch it in french with subtitles, if possible.

[Garry Nixon · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I've remembered it right, the central figure of the book was based on Idi Amin, (still alive then) and had something of our own age's braggarts about him, imagine a black Trump.