The Brass Go-Between (Perennial Library)

Rating:
Summary: Ross Thomas was the best.
Review: Maybe you have to read a lot of dreck to appreciate what a good, solid storyteller Ross Thomas was. In this book you have the perfect example of how a master performs his craft. He draws real characters because he has considered that how people behave, speak, dress and think defines who they are. The protagonist Philip St. Ives is never described in any of the novels, but, though his first-person narrative Thomas gives the reader a clear picture of who this person is. The action, violence and greed in this novel is very real. Since the book involved a "kidnapping" of sorts it is not short on chicanery or action, both of which keep the action humming along. But Thomas keeps the characters real all along. That made me concerned about the outcome of the violence (I even wanted some of the "bad guys" to survive).