ahearn@convexs.UUCP (12/08/85)
So after a year, I finally read the Robert Ludlum thriller my brother gave me. Within a few pages I'm completely hooked, I wind up taking the blasted book to work, staying up until 2:00 AM to finish it, etc. etc. Now, I am completely unfamiliar with this ...um, genre. And I'm hooked. Anybody out there got any recommendations? I can't wait `til my next score. (The book I read, incidentally, is _The Bourne Identity_. I went out and bought another Ludlum, _The Gemini Contenders_, but it just didn't do the job--except for the last few pages it just didn't have the intensity of _Bourne_.) I should add that I've looked through the shelves of a few bookstores, trying to find what I'm after. Mostly, I keep getting directed to the Mystery section, to look through old Agatha Christie and Bond books. What I'm really looking for is the heavily political new-wave espionage superthriller, hopefully done in a craftsmanlike way. If you have _any_ suggestions, let me know. Thanks, Joe Ahearn allegra!convex!ahearn
clewis@mnetor.UUCP (Chris Lewis) (12/10/85)
In article <6000011@convexs> ahearn@convexs.UUCP writes: >I should add that I've looked through the shelves of a few bookstores, >trying to find what I'm after. Mostly, I keep getting directed to the >Mystery section, to look through old Agatha Christie and Bond books. >What I'm really looking for is the heavily political new-wave espionage >superthriller, hopefully done in a craftsmanlike way. If you have _any_ >suggestions, let me know. My wife and I aren't usually into the standard super-spy books or movies (Rhinemann Exchange? Ostermann Weekend? I think they're Ludlums. etc.), but we do go into something very similar. A couple of suggestions (these might not be quite your taste): - my wife and I eagerly await every new Clive Cussler book. Eg: "Raise the Titanic!" (the movie was really bad) They are a little hokey (the hero's name is "Dirk Pitt" for g** sake) - but there's no accounting for *our* taste! :-) They are set in the 80's, but frequently have quite a bit of historical detail (eg: the sinking of the CP Empress of Ireland at the beginning of this century). Cussler is a "techie", so expect somewhat more technology than usual - mostly Oceanography. The Russians usually get involved somewhere. Old standbys. I think we have just about everything they've written, and that's quite a bit!. They've pretty well kept up to the times. - Helen MacInnes - Alastair MacLean eg: Ice Station Zebra - movie was good too, "Golden Gate", "Bear Island" (loved the scenery in the movie) Lots of his books are set in WWII (eg: "Partisan", or "Eye of the Needle" (a "can't put down")), or the 50's, or involve details from those periods ("Bear Island"). Other good writers: - Colin Forbes eg: Avalanche Express, The Stone Leopard (something wierd going on in the Elysee Palace). His books tend to be very intense. If you want a first one to try, I'd suggest "Ice Station Zebra" or one of Forbes'. A couple of specific books (can't remember the authors): - The Hamlet Warning (somebody wants to blow up the Aswan High dam) - The Prometheus Crisis (basis for the Jack Lemon Movie "China Syndrome") - The President's Plane is Missing Then there's always (but a little off topic): - Lucifer's Hammer (Pournelle and Niven) - The Mote in God's Eye (ditto I think) -- Chris Lewis, UUCP: {allegra, linus, ihnp4}!utzoo!mnetor!clewis BELL: (416)-475-8980 ext. 321
dnichols@ti-csl (12/11/85)
My personal favorite by far of Ludlum's works is
"The Matarese Circle". It was the first of his
I read and it affected me the same way.
You might also try Robert Duncan. I have enjoyed
several of his books and they are along the same
vein.
================================================================
*hardcopy* *electr{onic, ic}*
Dan Nichols ARPA: Dnichols%TI-CSL@CSNet-Relay.ARPA
POB 226015 M/S 238 CSNET: Dnichols@Ti-CSL
Texas Instruments Inc. USENET: {ut-sally,convex!smu,texsun,rice}!waltz!dnichols
Dallas, Texas VOICE: (214) 995-6090
75266wilson_3@h-sc1.UUCP (bradford wilson) (12/11/85)
> So after a year, I finally read the Robert Ludlum thriller my > brother gave me. Within a few pages I'm completely hooked, > I wind up taking the blasted book to work, staying up until > 2:00 AM to finish it, etc. etc. > > Now, I am completely unfamiliar with this ...um, genre. And > I'm hooked. Anybody out there got any recommendations? I can't > wait `til my next score. > > (The book I read, incidentally, is _The Bourne Identity_. I went > out and bought another Ludlum, _The Gemini Contenders_, but it just > didn't do the job--except for the last few pages it just didn't > have the intensity of _Bourne_.) > > > Joe Ahearn > allegra!convex!ahearn Bourne Identity happens to be Ludlum's best book, and one of the best the genre has to offer. Nothing else he has written can compare, although The_Osterman_Weekend comes close in parts. You might try Craig Thomas -- he wrote the movie book "Firefox" and its sequel. Another of my favorite authors is Jack Higgins. He wrote The Eagle Has Landed and many other excellent books. You've probably alread read the good Alistair Maclean books -- Guns of Navarone, et. al., but have you read The_Black_Shrike? All his new stuff is terrible, but he was once a good and exciting author (but I STILL hate Ice Station Zebra!) Good luck! you might mail me to notify me of our success... A Wombat .:. (aka h-sc1!wilson_3@harvard) ---------------------- "Put down that axe, Mr. Scary!"
ccc@bu-cs.UUCP (Cameron Carson) (12/11/85)
The_Bourne_Identity quite overwhelmed me as well. For more
of the same elements (international manhunts, intrigue,
fortuitous luck and circumstances) I found the following to
be at or near the same level:
The Day of the Jackal - Fredrick Forsythe
The Odessa File - " "
Black Sunday - (don't remember)
Black_Sunday is a definite cut below the others, but satisfactory.
These are more straightforward then _Bourne_, that is, the story
line or main objective is fairly clear from the beginning, and the
excitement is in its unfolding. With The_Bourne_Identity the twists
took me by surprise; having read less than half the book it looked to
me that the story was nearing its end and I couldn't imagine what
the second half could possibly deal with. Silly me.
--
Cameron C. Carson
Distributed Systems Group
Boston University ACC
UUCP: ...!harvard!bu-cs!ccc
ARPA: ccc%bu-cs@csnet-relay.arpanunes@utai.UUCP (Joe Nunes) (12/12/85)
>I should add that I've looked through the shelves of a few bookstores, >trying to find what I'm after. Mostly, I keep getting directed to the >Mystery section, to look through old Agatha Christie and Bond books. >What I'm really looking for is the heavily political new-wave espionage >superthriller, hopefully done in a craftsmanlike way. If you have _any_ >suggestions, let me know. For my money the best espionage novels are those written by John Le Carre. I've read "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold", "Smiley's People", "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", "The Honourable Schoolboy", and "Little Drummer Girl". They were all excellent, far superior to any other espionage novels I've ever read. In second place, I would recommend Len Deighton. I've only read "The Ipcress File", and "SS GB". They too were excellent.
amcy@adelie.UUCP (Anthony Yeracaris) (12/12/85)
In article <6000011@convexs> ahearn@convexs.UUCP writes: > > >So after a year, I finally read the Robert Ludlum thriller my >brother gave me. Within a few pages I'm completely hooked, >I wind up taking the blasted book to work, staying up until >2:00 AM to finish it, etc. etc. > >Now, I am completely unfamiliar with this ...um, genre. And >I'm hooked. Anybody out there got any recommendations? I can't >wait `til my next score. > I couldn't send my reply through mail, so: Another excellent Ludlum is _The Chancellor Manuscript_. -- LIVE: Anthony M. C. Yeracaris, (617) 965-8480 x16 USPS: Adelie Corporation, 288 Walnut St., Newtonville, MA 02160 UUCP: harvard!adelie!amcy ARPA: emacs!adelie!amcy@cca-unix.ARPA
citrin@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU (Wayne Citrin) (12/13/85)
His books may require more effort on the reader's part than Ludlum's, but John Le Carre writes excellent spy novels. "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" may be the best spy thriller ever written, and I also highly recommend "The Looking Glass War" and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy." Len Deighton is also well thought of as a spy novelist, although the only book of his that I have read is "SS-GB." It was very good. Wayne Citrin (ucbvax!citrin)
steiner@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU (Dave Steiner) (12/13/85)
> From: clewis@mnetor.UUCP (Chris Lewis) > Message-ID: <2769@mnetor.UUCP> > - Alastair MacLean eg: Ice Station Zebra - movie was good too, > "Golden Gate", "Bear Island" (loved the scenery in the movie) > Lots of his books are set in WWII (eg: "Partisan", or > "Eye of the Needle" (a "can't put down")), or the 50's, > or involve details from those periods ("Bear Island"). Alastair MacLean might have a book called "Eye of the Needle" and if he does, ignore this message, but I think you are talking about the book of the same name by Ken Follett. There was a movie made of this with Donald Sutherland. Both very good. Ken Follett is good, in general. ds -- uucp: ...{harvard, seismo, ut-sally, sri-iu, ihnp4!packard}!topaz!steiner arpa: Steiner@RUTGERS or Steiner@RED.RUTGERS.EDU
hankb@teklds.UUCP (Hank Buurman) (12/13/85)
In article <2769@mnetor.UUCP> clewis@mnetor.UUCP (Chris Lewis) writes: >In article <6000011@convexs> ahearn@convexs.UUCP writes: >>I should add that I've looked through the shelves of a few bookstores, >>trying to find what I'm after. Mostly, I keep getting directed to the >>Mystery section, to look through old Agatha Christie and Bond books. >>What I'm really looking for is the heavily political new-wave espionage >>superthriller, hopefully done in a craftsmanlike way. If you have _any_ >>suggestions, let me know. "Day of the Jackal", and "Six Days of the Condor" are terrific but I can't remember the authors off the top of my head. Both were best sellers made into good movies. Hank Buurman Tektronix Inc. ihnp4!tektronix!dadlac!hankb ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Firey, the angels fell. Deep thunder rolled 'round the shores, burning with the fires of Orc." -- Roy Baty, Nexus 6, Combat Model, N6MAA10816 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
chris@minnie.UUCP (Chris Grevstad) (12/13/85)
clewis@mnetor.UUCP (Chris Lewis) says: > - Alastair MacLean eg: Ice Station Zebra - movie was good too, > "Golden Gate", "Bear Island" (loved the scenery in the movie) > Lots of his books are set in WWII (eg: "Partisan", or > "Eye of the Needle" (a "can't put down")), or the 50's, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > or involve details from those periods ("Bear Island"). 'Eye of the Needle' was an excellent book and movie. It was not written by Maclean, however. The author was Ken Follet who also wrote 'Key to Rebecca', 'Triangle' and 'The Man from St. Petersburg'. -- Chris Grevstad {sdcsvax,hplabs}!sdcrdcf!psivax!nrcvax!chris ucbvax!calma!nrcvax!chris ihnp4!nrcvax!chris If things don't change, they will probably remain the same.
bob@scgvaxd.UUCP (Bob Guernsey) (12/13/85)
Lets not for get Alister MacClean (sp?). His novels include The guns of
Naverone, Dusty Road, etc. Another good author is Clive Cussler. I have
enjoyed all of his Pitt novels and am anxiously waiting for the next one.
Good Reading,
Bob Guernsey
bob@scgvaxd.UUCP
See the USA in your GM-HUGHES chevrolet!marria@diablo.ARPA (12/13/85)
:
Dick Francis has 3-5 books out that are excellent.
Try THE DANGER.
Also I recomend CONGO by Michael Crichton (?)chk@purdue.UUCP (Chuck Koelbel) (12/15/85)
In article <1386@teklds.UUCP>, hankb@teklds.UUCP (Hank Buurman) writes: > > "Day of the Jackal", and "Six Days of the Condor" are terrific > but I can't remember the authors off the top of my head. Both were best > sellers made into good movies. > > Hank Buurman Tektronix Inc. ihnp4!tektronix!dadlac!hankb _Day_of_the_Jackal_ is by Frederick Forsyth; I don't know who wrote _Six_ _Days_of_the_Condor_. Incidentally, I would like to recommend anything by Forsyth. His other books include _The_Odessa_File_ (hunting down former Nazis), _The_Dogs_of_War_ (mercenaries in central Africa), _The_Devil's_ _Alternative_ (high-level English-Russian-US spies), and _The_Fourth_ _Protocol_ (don't know - haven't read it yet). All are very detailed, well written novels. Chuck Koelbel
reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (12/15/85)
A recent book along these lines that I would recommend is Tom Clancy's "The
Hunt for Red October". It's about the officers of a Russian missile sub who
are trying to defect, taking the sub with them. It works nicely as a thriller,
and is also very technically interesting. Clancy apparently knows a great
deal about many interesting subjects. Unusual for this genre, he also has a talent
for creating characters who have the feel of reality. He's particularly adept
at the quick sketch of a character who will only appear briefly, but has an
important role to play.
"The Hunt for Red October" has been a best seller for some time now, and isn't
yet out in paperback. It should be
available at libraries, except in areas with large numbers of Navy personnel, who have taken the book to their hearts.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiherutrupin@yale.ARPA (12/15/85)
Summary: Expires: Sender: Followup-To: Distribution: Keywords: ********************************************** Chris: I agree that Eye of the Needle was a very good book. There was one serious problem with it, however: the last two pages were so totally unnecessary and anti-climactic that they ruined the whole mood created by the book. I have no idea what Follet was doing, or why he wanted to do that to a book which otherwise stood quite well by itself. -Josh Trupin utrupin@yale-cheops (BITNET: TRUJOSE@YALEVMX)
cdrigney@uokvax.UUCP (12/17/85)
/* Written 12:27 pm Dec 13, 1985 by bob@scgvaxd.UUCP in uokvax.UUCP:net.books */ >Lets not for get Alister MacClean (sp?). His novels include The guns of >Naverone, Dusty Road, etc. I believe that's A Road to Dusty Death. His early books are quite good, but tend to a formula; his last few books are so heavily formula that you know exactly what is going to happen, and aren't written well enough for you to care anyway. But you can't go wrong with _The Satan Bug_ and his other books before 1980 or so. --Carl Rigney USENET: {ihnp4,allegra!cbosgd}!okstate!uokvax!cdrigney "Don't worry about that piece of tape on my gun muzzle, it's there to protect the delicate workings. The bullet will go through it, through you, and if you had a twin brother standing behind you it would go through him too.."
marko@tekecs.UUCP (Mark O'Shea) (12/17/85)
In article <1043@utai.UUCP> nunes@utai.UUCP (Joe Nunes) writes: >>I should add that I've looked through the shelves of a few bookstores, >>trying to find what I'm after. Mostly, I keep getting directed to the >>Mystery section, to look through old Agatha Christie and Bond books. >>What I'm really looking for is the heavily political new-wave espionage >>superthriller, hopefully done in a craftsmanlike way. If you have _any_ >>suggestions, let me know. > >For my money the best espionage novels are those written by John Le Carre. >I've read "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold", "Smiley's People", "Tinker, >Tailor, Soldier, Spy", "The Honourable Schoolboy", and "Little Drummer Girl". >They were all excellent, far superior to any other espionage novels I've >ever read. In second place, I would recommend Len Deighton. I've only read >"The Ipcress File", and "SS GB". They too were excellent. Two more good books by Len Deighton are "Funeral in Berlin" and "Bomber". The latter is not an espionage tale. It is about the effects of the bombing raids in World War II. Mark O'Shea
leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (12/18/85)
One thriller I haven't seen mentioned is getting very good word of mouth. The book is "The Search for Red October" by Tom Clancy. I have read only a few chapters and like what I have read and I am told it gets MUCH better. Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper
slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (12/18/85)
>"The Hunt for Red October" has been a best seller for some time now, and isn't >yet out in paperback. > Peter Reiher Saw it in paperback the other day at Waldenbooks. I may yet pick it up, although thrillers are not my usual reading, because I've heard good things from several people about this one. -- Sue Brezden ihnp4!drutx!slb ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To search for perfection is all very well, But to look for heaven is to live here in hell. --Sting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
oyster@uwmacc.UUCP (Vicious Oyster) (12/18/85)
In article <8056@ucla-cs.ARPA> reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (Peter Reiher) writes: > >A recent book along these lines that I would recommend is Tom Clancy's "The >Hunt for Red October". >"The Hunt for Red October" has been a best seller for some time now, and isn't >yet out in paperback. It's a book I enjoyed as a break from my usual diet. So as not to be so ill-mannered as to post merely a one-line agreement, I have a minor correction and a major flame. Firstly, the paperback version has been swamping area bookstores (chain variety) for at least 6 weeks now, so you can get it cheaply if you want to. The other item on my agenda is the TERRIBLE spelling and/or grammatical errors in the book (and in more and more books in general these days). Can publishing companies no longer afford proofreaders? Is the output from a word-processing program being accepted as is because it professes to correct spelling errors? It seems that way to me, and I (at least) am severely distracted when I encounter these errors while reading. When I want to be immersed in a book, I read a book; when I want to take the time to puzzle out words and meaning, I do crossword puzzles (or read Proust :-). The examples from this book are too numerous to list, but one sticks in my mind. It went something like "he was teached at the University...". Now, what does that mean? Was it "he was *taught* at the University", or was it "he was *teaching*..."? Or maybe something else entirely? I can just see the chapters churning through the word-processor's spelling- checker. *Churn-churn*... HE... *churn-OK*...*Churn*...WAS...*churn-OK*... .. TEACHED... *chug-churn-OK*... well, you get the idea. Does anybody else notice these things (and get as annoyed I as do)? Well, enough raving for today. - Joel ({allegra,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!oyster)
leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (12/18/85)
Peter says that HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER is not out in paperback. It is. Berkley published it. Cost is $4.50.
mathur@alberta.UUCP (Ambrish Mathur) (12/18/85)
> - Alastair MacLean eg: Ice Station Zebra - movie was good too, > "Golden Gate", "Bear Island" (loved the scenery in the movie) > Lots of his books are set in WWII (eg: "Partisan", or > "Eye of the Needle" (a "can't put down")), or the 50's, > or involve details from those periods ("Bear Island"). >- >Chris Lewis, "Eye of the Needle" is a book by Ken Follet. The movie version was shown a few months back on TV. While Alistair Maclean was a very popular author in the late 60's and the early 70's, his popularity seems to have declined since then, after a series of books which were very much a rehash of his earlier books. I myself notice a decline in the quality of his books after "Caravan to Vaccares(sp?)". I find much that is common in "Bear Island", "Ice Station Zebra", and "Night Without End". He seems to enjoy setting his stories in extreme climates. He really makes one feel the cold in the above mentioned books. In another book(I forget the name) he switches to extremely hot conditions faced by characters marooned at sea. I would include "HMS Ulysses" among his best. "Caravan..." was also very enjoyable as it was quite different from his earlier works and also laced with some humor. However, I think Alistair Maclean, Robert Ludlum, Helen McInnes, etc. all fade against John Le Carre. I think he is way ahead of them in spy genre writings. One of his "classics" is "The spy who came in from the cold". The "trilogy": "The Honorable Schoolboy", "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", and "Smiley's People" (I hope I have the order correct) is totally enthralling. Not so very good was "A Little Drummer Girl". --Ambrish Mathur ...ihnp4!alberta!mathur
stu16@whuxl.UUCP (SMITH) (12/19/85)
Hunt For Red October has been available in paperback for at
least 2 months. I bought it a a local supermarket before
Halloween.
How was Ludlum's The Aquitane Progression? That's been
hanging around the house for a while now, and I just haven't
gotten around to reading it yet.
BTW, yes, Stephen King refers to himself in the hardcover
version of THINNER several times. (More meta-humor).
>
--
whuxl!stu16
(mamawitch)julian@osu-eddie.UUCP (Julian Gomez) (12/19/85)
> A recent book along these lines that I would recommend is Tom Clancy's "The > Hunt for Red October". It's about the officers of a Russian missile sub who > are trying to defect, taking the sub with them. It works nicely as a "The Hunt for Red October" has been out in paperback for a couple of months from Berkley Books. If you want a copy you can have mine. The book gets jingoistic at times; it proceeds on the assumption that the USA is always right and the USSR is always wrong. Clancy did take pains, however, to attempt to make the Russian persons human. -- "If Chaos himself sat umpire, what better could he do?" Julian "a tribble took it" Gomez Computer Graphics Research Group, The Ohio State University {ucbvax,decvax}!cbosg!osu-eddie!julian
leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (12/20/85)
>>Lets not for get Alister MacClean (sp?). > >But you can't go wrong with _The Satan Bug_ and his other >books before 1980 or so. Interesting thing about SATAN BUG, he did not write it under his own name. That and THE BLACK SHRIKE were published under the name Ian Stuart. I only found out well after I read the book that it was by MacLean. I read it shortly after the film came out (1965). Incidentally, I was a little disappointed with the book in the motive for what was going on. The film was in some ways not as good as the book, but I thought that at least the villians' motive for the goings on was more satisfying in the film, but the book was a better story overall. At that time people thought that nuclear weapons were pretty much the ultimate weapons and the film was a real eye-opener as to how much more dangerous (powerful, easy to smuggle, easy to place) something like the Satan Bug or the other weapons from Morden (in the film Research Station #?) would be. Incidentally, H. G. Wells wrote the oldest story I know about the idea of SATAN BUG (He said, carefully avoiding saying exactly what SATAN BUG is really about. Anyone who already knows what SATAN BUG is about will recognize which Wells story I am referring to from its title alone). It lacked a good ending, but all the other essentials were there. Much of what Wells wrote was well ahead of his time. (I haven't traced it down, but I have heard that in THE WORLD SET FREE, he also described bombs that would destroy whole cities. I think I heard that he called these "atomic bombs." Both of these stories would probably have been written before 1920. Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper
lazarus@sunybcs.UUCP (Daniel G. Winkowski) (12/22/85)
As far as Thrilers go, I have lately read a number of Eric Van Lustbader's novels (The Ninja, Black Heart, The Miko, and his latest Jian). His plot development is often superb, and his characters are mostly believable. His novels for the most part deal with the Orient or with characters who have ties to the Orient. - Highly recommended ------------------------------------ Dan Winkowski @ SUNY Buffalo Computer Science (716-636-2193) UUCP: ..![bbncca,decvax,dual,rocksanne,watmath]!sunybcs!lazarus CSNET: lazarus@Buffalo.CSNET ARPA: lazarus%buffalo@CSNET-RELAY [] Today we live in the future, Tomorrow we'll live for the moment, But, pray we never live in the past.
krantz@csd2.UUCP (Michaelntz) (12/25/85)
/* csd2:net.books / ahearn@convexs.UUCP / 10:19 am Dec 8, 1985 */ > So after a year, I finally read the Robert Ludlum thriller my > brother gave me. Within a few pages I'm completely hooked, > I wind up taking the blasted book to work, staying up until > 2:00 AM to finish it, etc. etc. > Now, I am completely unfamiliar with this ...um, genre. And > I'm hooked. Anybody out there got any recommendations? I can't > wait `til my next score. John LeCarre's The_Little_Drummer_Girl. I read this genre very rarely, but this one is a killer of a novel. Make haste to the store. Yours In Espionage, but only occasionally, Michael Krantz Courant Institute 251 Mercer St. New York, NY 10012 - - - - - "The text reveals the process of its own production."