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Philip St. Ives #2
Protocol for a Kidnapping
Asked by the United States government to rescue a U.S. ambassador kidnapped by Yugoslavian radicals, professional go-between Philip St. Ives finds himself trapped in Eastern Europe. Reprint.
189 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 9, 2018
Even lesser Ross Thomas is still entertaining and fun, and I enjoyed it for what it was worth. It was simultaneously interesting and kinda sad in its depiction of communist Yugoslavia.
October 22, 2024
Back to Ross Thomas and book 2 of the Philip St. Ives series, Protocal for a Kidnapping. If you enjoy wry and sardonic commentary and a bit of cynicism on the world’s systems in play then Thomas is the guy for you, and St. Ives is his man observing in the field.
Start with the protocol of government bureaucracies, “Department of State is a large and cumbersome bureaucracy, perhaps only slightly less wieldy than that of our friends in the Pentagon across the river. In such a bureaucracy nothing gets done until it is too late—or virtually too late. If it is actually too late, then obviously nothing should be done and the bureaucracy sighs its collective relief and returns to its beloved routine.”… “a bureaucracy such as State, I’m sure you realize, there is nothing more difficult than reaching a decision, unless it is reversing that decision once it has been reached.” Or the other side of bureaucracy, this a CroatSerb Nobel poet, “called an epic,” I said. Bjelo snorted and used both his mouth and nose to do it. “If ten thousand lines of doggerel can be described as an epic then, yes, that is what it was. But its imagery was fatuous; its narrative redundant; its meter impossible; and its theme naive to the point of mawkishness.”
There’s a taste of that which St. Ives must perform his middle man act, accompanied by his pals, Wisdom and Knight, the coupling with a couple of ethnic wenches, henchman from Tito’s enforcement organization and you have the element of another foreign intrigue which St. Ives wants no part of, but accepts after threats against his wellness and the negotiation of suitable fee, the games begin. If in trouble he’s on his own but he can always… “Hamilton R. Coors, director, Office of Intelligence for USSR and Eastern Europe. It said that he lived at 3503 South Whitney Road in MacLean, Virginia, I wrote it down in case I ever needed to send him a postcard.”
Hi wish you were here perhaps?
Enjoy 😉 nothing too serious, it’s just the world at large in the eyes of Thomas.
Start with the protocol of government bureaucracies, “Department of State is a large and cumbersome bureaucracy, perhaps only slightly less wieldy than that of our friends in the Pentagon across the river. In such a bureaucracy nothing gets done until it is too late—or virtually too late. If it is actually too late, then obviously nothing should be done and the bureaucracy sighs its collective relief and returns to its beloved routine.”… “a bureaucracy such as State, I’m sure you realize, there is nothing more difficult than reaching a decision, unless it is reversing that decision once it has been reached.” Or the other side of bureaucracy, this a CroatSerb Nobel poet, “called an epic,” I said. Bjelo snorted and used both his mouth and nose to do it. “If ten thousand lines of doggerel can be described as an epic then, yes, that is what it was. But its imagery was fatuous; its narrative redundant; its meter impossible; and its theme naive to the point of mawkishness.”
There’s a taste of that which St. Ives must perform his middle man act, accompanied by his pals, Wisdom and Knight, the coupling with a couple of ethnic wenches, henchman from Tito’s enforcement organization and you have the element of another foreign intrigue which St. Ives wants no part of, but accepts after threats against his wellness and the negotiation of suitable fee, the games begin. If in trouble he’s on his own but he can always… “Hamilton R. Coors, director, Office of Intelligence for USSR and Eastern Europe. It said that he lived at 3503 South Whitney Road in MacLean, Virginia, I wrote it down in case I ever needed to send him a postcard.”
Hi wish you were here perhaps?
Enjoy 😉 nothing too serious, it’s just the world at large in the eyes of Thomas.
October 8, 2012
I remember when I read, in 1995, that Ross Thomas had died. I was shocked and greatly saddened. His books were eagerly anticipated events. I would rush to the book store (still had those then!) on the first day it went on sale to buy it.
You knew a book by Thomas would be funny, witty, cynical and a bit of a brain twister.His strength was in his characters, usually outlandish, but somehow believable.
You knew a book by Thomas would be funny, witty, cynical and a bit of a brain twister.His strength was in his characters, usually outlandish, but somehow believable.
October 10, 2019
Worum geht es?
Besser als im Klappentext kann man das fast nicht zusammenfassen, man möge mir also verzeihen, dass ich hier mal frech davon klaue: „Der amerikanische Botschafter in Belgrad will eine zukünftige Nonne heiraten und wird zur Strafe von seinem eigenen Geheimdienst gewaltsam entführt, der für seine Freilassung eine Million Dollar zahlt – an sich selbst!“
Bombe – bei der Beschreibung, wer kann da schon widerstehen?
Einer wie der andere?
Ja, auch hier versucht Philip St. Ives, Vermittler zwischen Verbrechern und Opfern sowie der Held der Geschichte, sich wieder weitgehend aus allem rauszuhalten und die Übergabe der Million glimpflich zu überstehen. Als Vermittler muss er neutral sein, doch diesmal fällt ihm das nicht nur schwer, sondern er wirft am Ende seine Neutralität sogar über Bord, versucht die Entführer zu übertölpeln und Leben zu retten.
Eine weitere Besonderheit ist, dass St. Ives seine beiden Freunde, Henry Knight, einen Schauspieler, und Park Tyler Wisdom III., einen Erben und Lebemann, mit nach Jugoslawien nimmt. Mal ganz abgesehen davon, dass die beiden schon ein ulkiges Pärchen sind (nur platonisch), ergeben sie mit St. Ives ein Trio Infernale und ein Kalauer jagt den nächsten. Ob die beiden in Jugoslawien allerdings tatsächlich nützlich sind… hm.
Opfer, Tat und Täter
Hm, der Botschafter ist kein so richtiges Opfer. Schon eher die Nonne, eigentlich ein junges Mädchen, dessen Großvater als Schriftsteller politisches Hausarrest bekommen hat, und beide sollen als Zugabe zu der Million gegen den Botschafter getauscht werden. Und noch eigentlicher ein Jugoslawe, ehemalige rechte Hand und Geheimnisträger. Die Täter? Jugoslawien und die USA, genauer gesagt, die CIA.
Themen
Geheimnisse, verratene Geheimnisse und ein alter verliebter Depp. Aber als zweiter Protagonist: Jugoslawien in den Siebzigern, Tito, viele Nationalitäten und doch ein Land. Vielleicht ist es Einbildung, denn man weiß ja, wie es dann gekommen ist, aber es läuft einem schon ein leichter Schauer über den Rücken, wenn fast kein Jugoslawe im Buch sich als Jugoslawe sieht, sondern als Serbe, Kroate, Bosnier…
Was war gut?
Der Einblick in das Jugoslawien der 70er Jahre hat mir gut gefallen, aber um ehrlich zu sein, hätte St. Ives auch nach Timbuktu reisen können – es wäre trotzdem eine spannende, verwickelte Geschichte gewesen, bei der man keinem hätte trauen können und jeder ein doppeltes Spiel spielt. Nach einigen solchen Begegnungen, schnappt sich St. Ives seine Freunde, die angehende Nonne, seine CIA Aufpasserin und den Jugoslawen und begibt sich auf eine wilde Autofahrt, die nach einem gefährlichen Ritt an einer verschneiten Berghütte endet. Ein turbulentes, eiskaltes Finale sozusagen.
Was war schlecht?
Hm, ja, na ja, tatsächlich hat mir „Der Messingdeal“ ein klitzekleines bisschen besser gefallen. Zwar ist man bei beiden Stories seitenlang herrlich unwissend und fragt sich, was da eigentlich dahinter steckt, doch die Auflösung beim ersten Teil hat mir besser gefallen. Vielleicht wegen dem Schild. So, ein Schild mit 1m Durchmesser ist schon ein beeindruckendes Diebesgut (siehe hier)
FAZIT:
Auslandseinsatz für St. Ives – doch auch in Jugoslawien ist keiner wie er auf den ersten Blick erscheint und bis St. Ives das Ganze entworren hat, ist es fast schon zu spät. Vermittler St. Ives gefällt mir immer mehr und ich drücke jetzt schon die Daumen, dass der Alexander Verlag recht bald den dritten Teil der Serie neu auflegt.
Besser als im Klappentext kann man das fast nicht zusammenfassen, man möge mir also verzeihen, dass ich hier mal frech davon klaue: „Der amerikanische Botschafter in Belgrad will eine zukünftige Nonne heiraten und wird zur Strafe von seinem eigenen Geheimdienst gewaltsam entführt, der für seine Freilassung eine Million Dollar zahlt – an sich selbst!“
Bombe – bei der Beschreibung, wer kann da schon widerstehen?
Einer wie der andere?
Ja, auch hier versucht Philip St. Ives, Vermittler zwischen Verbrechern und Opfern sowie der Held der Geschichte, sich wieder weitgehend aus allem rauszuhalten und die Übergabe der Million glimpflich zu überstehen. Als Vermittler muss er neutral sein, doch diesmal fällt ihm das nicht nur schwer, sondern er wirft am Ende seine Neutralität sogar über Bord, versucht die Entführer zu übertölpeln und Leben zu retten.
Eine weitere Besonderheit ist, dass St. Ives seine beiden Freunde, Henry Knight, einen Schauspieler, und Park Tyler Wisdom III., einen Erben und Lebemann, mit nach Jugoslawien nimmt. Mal ganz abgesehen davon, dass die beiden schon ein ulkiges Pärchen sind (nur platonisch), ergeben sie mit St. Ives ein Trio Infernale und ein Kalauer jagt den nächsten. Ob die beiden in Jugoslawien allerdings tatsächlich nützlich sind… hm.
Opfer, Tat und Täter
Hm, der Botschafter ist kein so richtiges Opfer. Schon eher die Nonne, eigentlich ein junges Mädchen, dessen Großvater als Schriftsteller politisches Hausarrest bekommen hat, und beide sollen als Zugabe zu der Million gegen den Botschafter getauscht werden. Und noch eigentlicher ein Jugoslawe, ehemalige rechte Hand und Geheimnisträger. Die Täter? Jugoslawien und die USA, genauer gesagt, die CIA.
Themen
Geheimnisse, verratene Geheimnisse und ein alter verliebter Depp. Aber als zweiter Protagonist: Jugoslawien in den Siebzigern, Tito, viele Nationalitäten und doch ein Land. Vielleicht ist es Einbildung, denn man weiß ja, wie es dann gekommen ist, aber es läuft einem schon ein leichter Schauer über den Rücken, wenn fast kein Jugoslawe im Buch sich als Jugoslawe sieht, sondern als Serbe, Kroate, Bosnier…
Was war gut?
Der Einblick in das Jugoslawien der 70er Jahre hat mir gut gefallen, aber um ehrlich zu sein, hätte St. Ives auch nach Timbuktu reisen können – es wäre trotzdem eine spannende, verwickelte Geschichte gewesen, bei der man keinem hätte trauen können und jeder ein doppeltes Spiel spielt. Nach einigen solchen Begegnungen, schnappt sich St. Ives seine Freunde, die angehende Nonne, seine CIA Aufpasserin und den Jugoslawen und begibt sich auf eine wilde Autofahrt, die nach einem gefährlichen Ritt an einer verschneiten Berghütte endet. Ein turbulentes, eiskaltes Finale sozusagen.
Was war schlecht?
Hm, ja, na ja, tatsächlich hat mir „Der Messingdeal“ ein klitzekleines bisschen besser gefallen. Zwar ist man bei beiden Stories seitenlang herrlich unwissend und fragt sich, was da eigentlich dahinter steckt, doch die Auflösung beim ersten Teil hat mir besser gefallen. Vielleicht wegen dem Schild. So, ein Schild mit 1m Durchmesser ist schon ein beeindruckendes Diebesgut (siehe hier)
FAZIT:
Auslandseinsatz für St. Ives – doch auch in Jugoslawien ist keiner wie er auf den ersten Blick erscheint und bis St. Ives das Ganze entworren hat, ist es fast schon zu spät. Vermittler St. Ives gefällt mir immer mehr und ich drücke jetzt schon die Daumen, dass der Alexander Verlag recht bald den dritten Teil der Serie neu auflegt.
August 20, 2023
This 1971 novel is the second Philip St. Ives story. The series was written by Ross Thomas under the pseudonym of Oliver Bleeck.
St. Ives is a professional go-between who makes payoffs for stolen goods or persons. The American ambassador to Yugoslavia gets kidnapped. The kidnappers contact the embassy to arrange his return for $1 million dollars, and the US government wants St. Ives to do the switch. He is reluctant but he gets pressured into agreeing to the job.
He travels to Yugoslavia with two buddies as back up. Henry Knight is a Broadway actor between plays. Park Tyler Wisdom II is a trust fund kid who ended up doing two tours in Vietnam. The three of them are buddies who love acting out dialog from old Hollywood westerns, war movies or adventure films as commentary for the madness they are in the middle of.
Bleeck/Thomas seems to have a very good feel for 1970s Yugoslavia. He captures the drabness and fear in the country combined with a few cracks starting in the country. The refusal of the various ethnic groups to act as if they are all one nation keeps popping up.
Bleeck constructs a wonderful story of double-cross, lies and facades. The American government, the Yugoslavian security, the Ambassador, a rogue Yugoslavian agent, an American sleeper agent, a famous Yugoslavian poet and his beautiful granddaughter, the young State Department minder for St. Ives and more, are all playing double or triple games.
There are some good action scenes, a good dose of clever patter and a satisfyingly cynical ending. This is another solid book in this series.
St. Ives is a professional go-between who makes payoffs for stolen goods or persons. The American ambassador to Yugoslavia gets kidnapped. The kidnappers contact the embassy to arrange his return for $1 million dollars, and the US government wants St. Ives to do the switch. He is reluctant but he gets pressured into agreeing to the job.
He travels to Yugoslavia with two buddies as back up. Henry Knight is a Broadway actor between plays. Park Tyler Wisdom II is a trust fund kid who ended up doing two tours in Vietnam. The three of them are buddies who love acting out dialog from old Hollywood westerns, war movies or adventure films as commentary for the madness they are in the middle of.
Bleeck/Thomas seems to have a very good feel for 1970s Yugoslavia. He captures the drabness and fear in the country combined with a few cracks starting in the country. The refusal of the various ethnic groups to act as if they are all one nation keeps popping up.
Bleeck constructs a wonderful story of double-cross, lies and facades. The American government, the Yugoslavian security, the Ambassador, a rogue Yugoslavian agent, an American sleeper agent, a famous Yugoslavian poet and his beautiful granddaughter, the young State Department minder for St. Ives and more, are all playing double or triple games.
There are some good action scenes, a good dose of clever patter and a satisfyingly cynical ending. This is another solid book in this series.
September 22, 2019
I started reading this book around 4 a.m. while I was feeling sick and couldn't sleep, and finished it less than 12 hours later, with breaks for a couple of naps. That's how good a thriller Ross Thomas could write.
This is the second in his series about former newspaper columnist turned professional go-between Philip St. Ives, who makes his living handing over ransoms for jewelry, paintings and kidnap victims who have been swiped by various New York crooks. The first one saw St. Ives get mixed up in international intrigue involving a shield from an African nations that was wanted by its government and the rebels trying to overthrow the government. After that, he swears off any more international work -- until this case comes up and the State Department blackmails him into taking it on.
The kidnap victim is the American ambassador to Yugoslavia, who gave St. Ives his first newspaper job -- and then fired him a year later. Before long the plot involves two friends of St. Ives' who make corny jokes, a sexy CIA agent, an elderly poet and his gorgeous granddaughter and a guy who looks so much like St. Ives that he could be his son, among others.
I kept up with it all pretty well except for right near the end, where I couldn't remember who someone was. But it was a great ride up until that point, including a mountainside rescue that had me holding my breath. I am really looking forward to reading the third one in the series.
This is the second in his series about former newspaper columnist turned professional go-between Philip St. Ives, who makes his living handing over ransoms for jewelry, paintings and kidnap victims who have been swiped by various New York crooks. The first one saw St. Ives get mixed up in international intrigue involving a shield from an African nations that was wanted by its government and the rebels trying to overthrow the government. After that, he swears off any more international work -- until this case comes up and the State Department blackmails him into taking it on.
The kidnap victim is the American ambassador to Yugoslavia, who gave St. Ives his first newspaper job -- and then fired him a year later. Before long the plot involves two friends of St. Ives' who make corny jokes, a sexy CIA agent, an elderly poet and his gorgeous granddaughter and a guy who looks so much like St. Ives that he could be his son, among others.
I kept up with it all pretty well except for right near the end, where I couldn't remember who someone was. But it was a great ride up until that point, including a mountainside rescue that had me holding my breath. I am really looking forward to reading the third one in the series.
April 26, 2021
So who you gonna call when you've got an embarrassing problem with a foreign dignitary and you need to bring him home secretly? Philip St. Ives, of course. St. Ives, the former newspaper reporter turned professional go-between, usually gets caught in the crossfire between rival US government agencies. This adventure in Tito-era Yugoslavia is no exception.
Ambassador Amfred Woodrow Killingsworth (as the "worth killing?" name might suggest) is a pompous ass, what a later Thomas British character might call "a right bastard." To St. Ives, who has a contentious relationship with him from a past encounter, he's "Dunce Designate." Killingsworth's inconveniently enamored with the much younger granddaughter of a Yugoslav dissident poet, and has become a political liability but won't leave his post.
Because it's not in the DNA of bureaucracies to do things simply, the US government announces to the press that he's been kidnapped and held for ransom - although both the kidnapping and ransom are bogus. St. Ives' job is to extract him and bring him home where he can be forced to retire quietly. St. Ives is not particularly interested in the job, but as usual, the powers-that-be blackmail him into it because of a past job. Blackmail always being an occupational hazard for St. Ives, he's off to the "rescue" with two other aptly-named American buddies, Wisdom and Knight.
A typical outing that can make the Croats, Serbs, and Bosnians look like they share a harmonious brotherhood.
Ambassador Amfred Woodrow Killingsworth (as the "worth killing?" name might suggest) is a pompous ass, what a later Thomas British character might call "a right bastard." To St. Ives, who has a contentious relationship with him from a past encounter, he's "Dunce Designate." Killingsworth's inconveniently enamored with the much younger granddaughter of a Yugoslav dissident poet, and has become a political liability but won't leave his post.
Because it's not in the DNA of bureaucracies to do things simply, the US government announces to the press that he's been kidnapped and held for ransom - although both the kidnapping and ransom are bogus. St. Ives' job is to extract him and bring him home where he can be forced to retire quietly. St. Ives is not particularly interested in the job, but as usual, the powers-that-be blackmail him into it because of a past job. Blackmail always being an occupational hazard for St. Ives, he's off to the "rescue" with two other aptly-named American buddies, Wisdom and Knight.
A typical outing that can make the Croats, Serbs, and Bosnians look like they share a harmonious brotherhood.
March 19, 2024
Writing under his own name, Ross Thomas authored a number of very good hard boiled novels of political corruption, international intrigue and various other complicated schemes. Under the pseudonym Oliver Bleeck, he wrote a series of much lighter novels featuring Philip St. Ives, a professional go-between. Say, for example, that a valuable piece of art has been stolen and the thieves offer to sell it back to the rightful owners. The owners or their insurance company might hire St. Ives to deliver the money and recover the stolen property.
This is the second novel in St. Ives series, and already the pattern has been established. St. Ives will accept the assignment and inevitably something will go wrong and the go-between will have to extricate himself from a very dangerous and complicated mess, while attempting to still fulfill his mission.
In this case. the U.S. ambassador to Yugoslavia has been kidnapped. The kidnappers demand a million dollars for his safe return and, for whatever reason, the State Department retains St. Ives to bring off the exchange. The story fairly quickly dissolves into farce and the plot is all over the map, but there's a great cast of characters involved and a lot of entertaining if improbable scenes. These books do not rise to the level of Thomas's better works and they can be hard to find. But like this one and the others I've managed to get a hold of provide a fun evening of light entertainment.
This is the second novel in St. Ives series, and already the pattern has been established. St. Ives will accept the assignment and inevitably something will go wrong and the go-between will have to extricate himself from a very dangerous and complicated mess, while attempting to still fulfill his mission.
In this case. the U.S. ambassador to Yugoslavia has been kidnapped. The kidnappers demand a million dollars for his safe return and, for whatever reason, the State Department retains St. Ives to bring off the exchange. The story fairly quickly dissolves into farce and the plot is all over the map, but there's a great cast of characters involved and a lot of entertaining if improbable scenes. These books do not rise to the level of Thomas's better works and they can be hard to find. But like this one and the others I've managed to get a hold of provide a fun evening of light entertainment.
January 20, 2018
The American government now has some leverage on St. Ives after his involvement with the African shield in the first book. They use that leverage to get our man to Yugoslavia to negotiate the release of the American Ambassador being held hostage. The complexities of the plot sputter the story in the second half, but the humor is there in abundance. That seems to be the point really. Let's just see what St. Ives gets himself into and out of. Ross Thomas does a fine job with the setting of Yugoslavia. You get a feel for the country and people. You also get a description of the ethic differences in Yugoslavia between the Croats, Serbians, and Bosnians, something that would burn up the country after the end of the cold war. He does a good job with tone where the overall feeling is of resignation from the people living in a communist country. It feels like a country of apathy. Not bad enough to revolt and not good enough to find any happiness.
January 7, 2021
Ross Thomas wrote 25 novels. I have now read 22 of them. This is the worst one by far. Mr. Thomas' authorial prowess is such, however, that I still enjoyed it.
I won't get into the characters or the plot but there's too much of both and most of them don't do anything. The dialog is too slapstick and the plot ultimately doesn't hang together--it feels like 25 rather important pages were excised from somewhere in the middle-late fifth of the book. Not that Protocol for a Kidnapping couldn't have lost 25 pages elsewhere.
Hard to believe but i can't recommend a book where a portion of the plot involves "weekend at bernies" with a nobel laureate poet in communist yugoslavia. This could have been much better.
I won't get into the characters or the plot but there's too much of both and most of them don't do anything. The dialog is too slapstick and the plot ultimately doesn't hang together--it feels like 25 rather important pages were excised from somewhere in the middle-late fifth of the book. Not that Protocol for a Kidnapping couldn't have lost 25 pages elsewhere.
Hard to believe but i can't recommend a book where a portion of the plot involves "weekend at bernies" with a nobel laureate poet in communist yugoslavia. This could have been much better.
February 1, 2021
Intrigue, double crosses, McGuffins and dated atttitudes abound. The setting of Tito-era Yugoslavia for a delivery of a ransom to a kidnapping (did that transfer happen?) was nice to illuminate the simmering tensions between its now different countries/ethnic groups and no one does wry prose like Ross Thomas. Ultimately it's second-tier Thomas which is still a great read.
June 13, 2025
Typical sophomore book of a series in that the plot was all over the place, twists were too numerous, setup was a bit beyond the pale, etc. Expected better from Ross Thomas, but perhaps he did, too, and thus the pseudonym.
September 19, 2022
A grim one, as far as the Philip St Ives stories go.
January 29, 2021
The second Phillip St. Ives book, in this one he gets dragged to Europe to be the go-between on the kidnapping of an American diplomat that also used to be his boss. I felt this one got to spun up in its twists and turns. It’s a balancing act for sure and this one just didn’t hook me as deep. The characters are still good, Thomas’s dialogue still crackles, the plot is just a little too convoluted and the momentum suffers a. It for it.
September 7, 2016
You can't go wrong with Ross Thomas (aka Oliver Bleeck in a handful of pseudonymous early novels); even his lesser works deliver a story steeped in real world awareness and adorned with sharp dialogue and wry, evocative description. ("The meal dragged on, prolonged by the indifference of the waiters, who showed up at odd times, looking as if they'd rather debate management policy than serve the coffee.")
This one, published in 1971, involves a somewhat contrived intrigue involving rival agencies in Washington and various murky factions in the Yugoslav government. The U.S. ambassador to Yugoslavia has been kidnapped; the kidnappers are demanding a million bucks and the release of a dissident poet ("...the only poet who improves in translation"). Philip St. Ives, the professional go-between featured in several Thomas novels, is called in to mediate the ransom payment. Nothing is as it seems and nothing goes as planned, from the back streets of Belgrade to the mountaintop castle where the climax plays out.
One of the lesser ones, maybe; there's some unfocused silliness with St. Ives's sidekicks, some gratuitous sex, and just a shade too much travelogue filler from Thomas's research trip, but none of it really spoils the read, because all the Thomas virtues are there.
This one, published in 1971, involves a somewhat contrived intrigue involving rival agencies in Washington and various murky factions in the Yugoslav government. The U.S. ambassador to Yugoslavia has been kidnapped; the kidnappers are demanding a million bucks and the release of a dissident poet ("...the only poet who improves in translation"). Philip St. Ives, the professional go-between featured in several Thomas novels, is called in to mediate the ransom payment. Nothing is as it seems and nothing goes as planned, from the back streets of Belgrade to the mountaintop castle where the climax plays out.
One of the lesser ones, maybe; there's some unfocused silliness with St. Ives's sidekicks, some gratuitous sex, and just a shade too much travelogue filler from Thomas's research trip, but none of it really spoils the read, because all the Thomas virtues are there.
July 26, 2020
This 1971 mostly forgotten thriller about politics and international intrigue is a grade-A example of how care and intelligence can elevate a premise. Ross Thomas puts imagination into seemingly every sentence: “They stood near the Pan Am counter at Kennedy International, their eyes protected from the dark February night by sunglasses, and talked to each other without moving their lips, like a couple of tired old cons in a prison run by Warner Brothers.” And: “They really should try as hard to keep sensitive people out of public relations as they do to keep embezzlers out of banks.” This care extends to the personalities of the characters, the mapping of the plot, and the humor, all of which are constantly surprising. But the best dimension may be the recurrent idea that “the system” under which the USA and other countries operate (a veneer of respectability hiding rampant rascality) is a corruption to resist at all costs and one that will probably still harm you. It occurred to me while reading this smart novel that some will certainly dislike it (as I would have at a younger age) for all the reasons that commend it. A book that embraces rather than avoids the easiest clichés of popular fiction, if written competently, can provide the Linus-blanket comfort of unreflective reading. Fortunately, that is not what we have here.
January 6, 2020
As with all of Thomas’ novels, this is fast-paced and full of twists and turns. The characters are fun, if pretty unlikely. But about halfway through I started to lose track of the plot, and in the end, i couldn’t figure out just who the winners and losers were.
I might figure it all out with a second reading, but it isn’t worth a second reading.
I might figure it all out with a second reading, but it isn’t worth a second reading.
July 20, 2014
When the American Ambassador to Yugoslavia is kidnapped the State department calls on professional go-between Philip St. Ives to handle the exchange. Smoothly written with just the right amount of cynicism and action.
July 24, 2012
Ross Thomas-- simply the best.
December 3, 2014
Clever, cynical humor interwoven throughout kidnapping and murder plots. Quirky characters, a few even likeable ...
June 11, 2015
Always good to go back to a Ross Thomas thriller. Enjoyable tale of an American fixer sent to ransom the American ambassador to Yugoslavia who has been kidnapped by parties unknown.
October 31, 2015
Convoluted but intriguing
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews