The Cold War Swap

Rating:
Summary: A cold-war novel set before most of us knew there was one.
Review: McCorkle, Bonn Saloon-keeper, meets the mysterious Padilla, and becomes a reluctant spy. Chase back and forth across the Berlin Wall. Good guys win. One of the first Ross Thomas novels. Sets the standard. Fast paced. Witty dialog.

Rating:
Summary: The Cold War Swap... Ross Thomas at his finest!
Review: When I saw this book at the local library years ago, the title made me reach out; and I've been glad that I did ever since. Saloon owner 'Mac' McCorkle runs a popular bar in Bonn, Germany. And becomes the cloak and good friend of a very suave, multi lingual, and lethal dagger named Mike Padillo. Late of the OSS, Padillo is the man they send out on the little 'jobs' that never make the papers. His assignment in the 'Swap', is to bring back two defectors from the NSA (No Such Agency, at the time) through Checkpoint Charlie. Unfortunately, anything that could go wrong does, and McCorkle is soon on his way to help Padillo through assorted mayhem, kidnapping, murder, and the odd double and triple cross. The plot is exquisite, the dialogue, believeable, and the travelouge, tension, and sense of surroundings, superb. You may want to look for a character named Cook Baker, who's a dead ringer for Dr. Hunter Thompson. And probably the finest description of a favorite watering hole, bar, or saloon, in print: Comprising only three sentences! Ross Thomas had a splendid talent for words. With Hammett's brief, juicy, four course descriptions and Chandler's eye for noir and mysterious mood and humor. 'The Cold War Swap' was his first offing into literatue, and very likely his best. If you see a title from Ross Thomas, pick it up. I guarentee you won't be sorry. But don't blame me if you begin to seek high and low for his 24 later novels. Four of them under the pseudonym Oliver Bleeck.