The New Vigilantes

by James D. Horan

The New Vigilantes are a small group of Vietnam vets, bound together by their years as POWs and by their loyalty to their charismatic millionaire leader, Stuart Harlow. Dismayed by the disintegration of the society they return to, ""The Hounds,"" as they are dubbed, undertake their own war against drug traffic in the U.S. Sponsored by Harlow's millions, they work with N.Y.C.'s mayor and the police department as a private investigatory' force. But once betrayed by the politicos, their resolution to carry on alone leads them to sources in Indo-China, Corsica, Marseilles, and eventually to a fabulous hideaway in New Jersey.

Genres: Thriller

437 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

James David Horan was an American newspaper editor, author and novelist. Born in New York City, he studied at Drake College in Jersey City and at the New York University Writing Center. He wrote more then 40 books, primarily history or historical fiction, and was employed as Special Events Editor for the New York Journal American for many years. He was the recipient of numerous awards for his books, and a member of many organizations of writers and historians.

He and his wife, Gertrude Dorrity, had four children.

Reviews

[Checkman · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those you care (or have noticed) I've been going back to books from the seventies in the past year. Partially due to nostalgia and partially out of boredom with much of the newer publications. I suppose there is a natural tendency for people to dislike what is new as they get older ,but whatever the reason(s), I have been scouring used bookstores, thrift shops and yard sales.

In the past several weeks I've found many books that I can recall seeing on my parent's shelves when I was kid back in the Disco Era. I've been pleased that in a few cases I've located books whose covers interested me, but exceeded my reading ability at the time. The New Vigilantes was one of those books. The cover shows seven very pretty people with guns and great hair styles. Combine that with the provocative title and I couldn't help, but be intrigued by it. Unfortunately when I finally went looking for it in the late Eighties I learned that my parents had reduced their book inventory a couple years earlier. I was unable to read those books that I remembered from my childhood. Oh well life went on. Marriage, kids, career, mortgage and all that other adult stuff came along and I forgot about those books. Until the past year when my "discovery" of Goodreads coincided with my attack of nostalgia.

Okay so now that the whole back-story is out of the way lets get into the book itself shall we?

To begin with The New Vigilantes is an interesting artifact.By the middle part of the seventies it was brutally apparent that crime was out of control in the United States - especially in our larger urban areas. This novel is about seven former Vietnam War P.O.W.'s who return back to a very different United States in 1973 and the course of action they gradually come around to after trying to work within the system.

It's actually a well researched book that does not offer simple minded solutions. Contrary to what one might think the book is not a simplistic hairy-chested actioner in which all is made right by our heroes shooting everything in sight. James D. Horan was an investigative journalist and it's apparent that he did his research.

The book covers corruption (both corruption brought about from collusion between criminals and government and the corruption of self-interest), the importance of the media in the United States, and how money and spin were controlling perception as well as the apathy of people and the rapid changes that the society of the United States had undergone since the sixties. It also shows that ,despite what one might believe, a modern society functions by laws and structure. While vigilantism might initially seem very satisfying in the long run it can just lead to more complications and create as many problems as it solves. Cut one knot and it only creates three more. I have to admit this was not what I was expecting when I started reading this novel.It was a more complex book than the cover would lead you to expect and it has an ending that can be described as ambivalent at best.

Now the book wasn't perfect. While Mr. Moran did write a few novels he was predominately a journalist and it comes out. Most of the characters aren't very fleshed out. A few sentences to describe them and they then serve more as props. The dialogue tends to drag out at times - as if one was reading an unedited transcript. One of the vigilantes is conveniently rich which ensures that they have access to the highest levels of government and can handle logistics without any effort, the women are beautiful, and drugs are shown to be the primary reason for the rapid rise in crime - which we now know isn't entirely accurate. Finally Mr. Moran's writing style feels rather archaic. Now that isn't a bad thing. I found the lack of profanity and explicit sex scenes to be rather refreshing, but at the same time the edge that a Quentin Tarantino can bring to such a story does have it's place. However these things are evolutionary and this book is thirty-eight years old. So that's a minor quibble at best.

So a surprising novel. Not a simple minded novel providing easy solutions courtesy of a bloodbath brought about by righteous gun-wielding veterans. It looks at a very real and complex problem and shows that there are no easy answers.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

never heard of this book or author before, but I found it somewhere in a used bookstore, and it has become a favorite. I've read it several times already.

Just read this again, and still liked it. It is getting outdated now for thrillers though, as the technology that is so prevelant with today's modern thriller always involves mind blowing computer and military technology, and these guys are still using land lines for phones.