Synopses & Reviews
"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
Ross Thomas chose the quotation from Huckleberry Finn as the text of his post World War II story as well as for the title. 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's 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.
Review
"America's Best Storyteller." New York Times Book Review
Review
"America's Best Storyteller." --
New York Times Book ReviewSynopsis
A background of espionage and betrayal makes Lucifer Dye the perfect person to team up with an ex-call girl, a devious chief of police, and other sleazy partners in crime to corrupt a mid-sized Gulf Coast city and deliver it into the hands of evil. The Fools in Town are on Our Side is a masterwork of passion and power in a small Southern town, a solid blockbuster which rips open the secret lusts of men and women as no other novel of our time.
Synopsis
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.
About the Author
Ross Thomas is ranked as one of the very top thriller writers by his fellow authors, and his readers loudly agree. Two Edgar Awards, and other prizes, only complement the abundant praise that Thomas has received.
Thomas died in 1995, and since then all but one of his twenty-five novels have gone out of print. This should never have happened to the man of whom The New Yorker has said "Very few...are as consistently entertaining...even fewer can match him for style and power." Minotaur is proud to remedy this situation by reissuing Thomas's novels. So start reading, and prepare to join Ross Thomas's legions of admiring fans.