Best Selling Books by Ross Thomas

"Booth Stallings, 60-year-old Washington expert on terrorism and perennial drunk," is fired from his job, but Georgia Blue plans to deliver $5 million to rebels in the Philippine jungle, and Stallings, Otherguy Overby, Artie Wu, and Stallings'' sidekick Durant "have other destinations in mind."--Audio cassette container.

Mac McCorkle and Mike Padillo team up to help twin bodyguards in a thrilling crime caper from "America''s best storyteller" ( The New York Times Book Review). The twins who walk into Mac McCorkle''s bar look identical, despite their differing genders. Their names are Wanda and Walter Gothar, and from the steel in their eyes it''s apparent that their business isn''t the friendly kind. They''ve come seeking help from Mac and his partner, Padilla, an ex-CIA agent who has skulked in the world''s darkest corners. Anxious for a big payday, the twins took an assignment out of their depth, working as bodyguards for a Saudi prince who came to Washington to sign an oil deal. The job fell apart, and now the twins are being pursued by the world''s two finest killers—who take out Walter without breaking a sweat. Now Mac and Padilla are faced with a choice: Save Wanda, or join her in the grave.

"Hain''t we got all the fools in town on our side? And ain''t that a big enough majority in any town?" -- Mark Twain When Lucifer Dye is released from three months in a Hong Kong prison, debriefed, handed a false passport, a new wardrobe and a $20,000 check, his haughty control makes it clear that Dye''s career with his country has been permanently terminated. But a good agent is always in demand, and just a few hours later Dye is being interviewed for a highly ingenious position. Victor Orcutt, although a not very good imitation of a British pre-war gent, has creative talents of his own. He has his sights a small southern city, with the ordinary run-of-the-mill corruption one would expect in such a place. The canny Orcott knows there''s no profit in that. His creed is "To get better, it must be much worse." He and his two associates have looked up Dye''s history, and he now offers the ex-spy a mission: for two and a half times the government''s bounty, Dye is to thoroughly corrupt the town. And the sly Dye takes the offer.

The son of a dead CIA agent is offered $100,000 for the rights to his father''s memoirs sight unseen.

The Fourth Durango is not your ordinary Durango. It''s not in Spain, or Mexico, and it''s not a ski town in the Colorado Rockies, although Durangos do exist in all of those places. This Durango has an industry, albeit a rather odd one-it is a hideout business, a place where people pay to find sanctuary from former friends and associates who are either trying to kill them, or have them killed. Into this Durango comes a former chief justice of a state supreme court, followed by son-in-law Kelly Vines to act as his emissary to the beautiful and savvy mayor. Following them come a false priest, and a run of murders. It takes a Ross Thomas to stir these characters into a witty and ingenious mix readers will not be able to- -and certainly would not want to--resist.

An old CIA connection brings trouble for a Washington, DC, barman in this thriller from "America''s best storyteller" ( The New York Times Book Review). As the saying goes, you can''t pick your friends. If you could, Mac McCorkle would disown Padilla. They owned a bar together in Bonn, the West German capital, and stayed partners even after Padilla''s sideline as a CIA operative got the bar blown up. Padilla was thought to be dead and erased from the CIA''s files—but now he''s back on the agency''s turf. Mac moved to Washington, DC, after the trouble in Bonn to get married and open his bar anew. His new bride is beautiful, the bar is a success, and Padilla''s reappearance threatens everything. A group of African terrorists want Padilla to assassinate the prime minister of their small sub-Saharan republic—and they''ve kidnapped Mac''s wife to use as leverage.

An ex-spy and his sidekick hunt for a rogue assassin of Nazi war criminals—"Thomas is without peer in American suspense" ( Los Angeles Times). Nicolae Polscaru, a three-and-a-half-foot-tall dwarf, is tossed into a Hollywood swimming pool by four drunken screenwriters, who take bets on how long he can tread water. Minor Jackson, his OSS training still fresh a year after World War II''s end, beats the bullies senseless and pulls Nicolae from the water. A friendship is born. Jackson is broke, his spying days over, and Nicolae offers him a job. A former spy himself, the globetrotting Romanian has a commission to find Kurt Oppenheimer, an expert assassin of high-ranking Nazis. Kurt won''t stop killing, no matter what the bloodshed will do to the fragile world peace, and the Soviets, the British, and the remains of the Nazi High Command all want his head. Jackson will beat them all to finding Kurt—unless his new friend betrays him first.

A union boss fights for his job—and his life. "What Elmore Leonard does for crime in the streets, Ross Thomas does for crime in the suites" ( The Village Voice). Born to a steelworker but harboring theatrical aspirations, Donald Cubbin grew up tempted by two careers. A Hollywood scout finally notices him, but Cubbin has already taken a job with the local union boss. He''s always regretted that decision—especially now. After decades climbing the ranks, Cubbin runs the show as the union''s president. An election looms, and his opponent proves to be a dangerously loose cannon. Cubbin made dozens of enemies over the years, and one has just engaged a hired killer. The fight for Cubbin''s job starts with muckraking but could end in murder.

A rare book disappears—and so does the detective who was guarding it—in a novel by an author who is " without peer in American suspense" ( Los Angeles Times). Philip St. Ives has no love for New York''s drafty, broken-down Adelphi Hotel, but he is in no mood to be evicted from it. His cash dwindling, he is happy to learn about a job that calls for his specific talents as a mediator between thieves and their victims. It sounds like the set-up to a bad joke: A thief, an insurance salesman, and the Library of Congress call Philip''s lawyer to ask about a stolen copy of Pliny''s Historia Naturalis. To find it, Philip will risk becoming history himself. The book was stolen on its way from the Library of Congress to California, and the detective guarding it vanished as well. Mired in snow-choked Washington, DC, St. Ives must arrange for a pair of ransoms to avoid becoming a victim of book collectors who value a nice first edition over an investigator''s life.

Only one man can save the president''s kidnapped brother in this propulsive thriller from the author "without peer in American suspense" ( Los Angeles Times). American agents abduct a high-profile terrorist in broad daylight on the streets of London, subduing him with a tranquilizer. He dies a few hours later on a flight back to Washington, DC, and the body is dropped into the ocean. Hours later, the President''s brother—a political powerhouse in his own right—boards a plane to Las Vegas that doesn''t land in Nevada. Libyan radicals are at the controls, and he is their prisoner. The only man who can save him is Chubb Dunjee. A former United Nations operative with skills in every aspect of political negotiation, Chubb became famous for solving problems with well-placed bribes. Saving the President''s brother should be no trouble for him. But the Libyans don''t want a bribe. They want blood.

From the Edgar Award–winning author: "[A] highly readable novel of political adventure . . . a cracking good story and the Africa mentality is fascinating" ( Kirkus Reviews). 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.

A cop is car-bombed in Texas—and her brother comes from Capitol Hill to investigate—in this Edgar Award winner by "one of the best storytellers around" ( The New York Times Book Review). A long-distance call from his small Texas hometown on his birthday gives Benjamin Dill the news that his sister Felicity—born on the same day exactly ten years later—has died in a car bomb explosion. She was a homicide detective who had perhaps made one enemy too many over the course of her career. Unwilling to let local law enforcement handle the investigation, Dill, a consultant for a Senate subcommittee, arrives in town from DC that night to begin his dogged search for his sister''s killer. What he finds is no surprise to him as he begins to unravel town secrets, because Benjamin Dill is never surprised at what awful things people will do. "Taut . . . a superior piece of work." — The New York Times Book Review "Expert prose, penetrating social commentary and . . . a marvelous sense of humor. [Thomas] does what only the best writers can: he leaves you wanting more." — The Washington Post "A master of the crime thriller." — Publishers Weekly Includes an introduction by New York Times–bestselling author Lawrence Block

An ex-political operative is a master of dirty tricks, but now he''s mixed up in something far worse: "Ross Thomas is without peer in American suspense" ( Los Angeles Times). There are few jobs that Harvey Longmire hasn''t had. He''s been a crime reporter, Louisiana state legislator, foreign correspondent, and—briefly—a decoy for the CIA. But he made his name as campaign trail fixer, an expert in the art of exploiting an enemy''s secrets. For nearly a decade, Harvey was the sharpest man in the Beltway, but he quit in 1972, trading political dirty work for a quiet life on a farm. Now two old friends want him back in the game. A millionaire named Vullo has started a foundation to investigate conspiracies, and Harvey happens to be the expert on the most prominent case: the infamous disappearance of a man named Arch Mix. The trail is not as cold as Harvey thought. Soon he''ll either find Mix—or suffer a disappearance of his own.

Ah, Treachery!, the last novel Thomas wrote before his death, tells the story of one Captain Edd "Twodees" Partain, drummed out of the Army and hounded by rumors of his involvement in a secret operation in El Salvador. Twodees gets hired on to help a fundraiser for the "Little Rock folks" recover funds that were stolen from an illicit stash used to smooth over problems and pay off hush money. Meanwhile, Partain is involved in a storefront operation called VOMIT (Victims of Military Intelligence Treachery) trying to defend former intelligence operatives such as Partain from those who are trying to cover up the past permanently.

A tragic past traps a former Hollywood stuntman in a web of international intrigue—from "America''s best storyteller" ( The New York Times Book Review). Two pirates do battle on an old junk ship in Singapore Harbor. They leap nimbly from deck to rigging, crossing swords like fencing masters. And then one surprises the other, slicing a rope and sending the unfortunate pirate tumbling into the bay. This is how stuntman Angelo Sacchetti dies. Edward Cauthorne was his opponent, a fellow stuntman whose career died along with Sacchetti. He''s selling used cars when two thugs approach him. They''re emissaries from Sacchetti''s godfather, a Mafia don. Sacchetti is alive after all—alive enough to be blackmailing the don—and they firmly request that Cauthorne find him. The search takes Cauthorne back to Singapore, to risk his own life for the sake of the man he thought he''d killed.

To coincide with the paperback release of Voodoo, Ltd., here is Thomas''s classic Edgar-nominated political thriller--out of print for years. Investigator and ladies'' man Jake Pope is out to discover what shocking secret Crawdad Gilmore was planning to reveal before he was shot to death.

""It was while jogging along the beach just east of the Paradise Cove pier that Artie Wu tripped over a dead pelican, fell, and met the man with six greyhounds."""- "from "Chinaman''s Chance" Thus begins what may be the most popular of Ross Thomas''s unique stories. The combination of Wu, pretender to the Imperial throne of China, and Quincy Durant, who has his own colorful past, makes for a heady experience. After starting with the deceased pelican on a California beach, the plot mixes in the disappearance of a large sum of money that should have been buried in Vietnam, and the search for the missing member of a trio of singing sisters from the Ozarks. Only Thomas could have stirred this concoction with the style, humor, and suspense that captures the reader at the very beginning and doesn''t let go until the last word.