The Mordida Man
Written by Ross Thomas
Narrated by R. C. Bray
4/5
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About this audiobook
Ross Thomas
The winner of the inaugural Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award, Ross Thomas (1926–1995) was a prolific author whose political thrillers drew praise for their blend of wit and suspense. Born in Oklahoma City, Thomas grew up during the Great Depression, and served in the Philippines during World War II. After the war, he worked as a foreign correspondent, public relations official, and political strategist before publishing his first novel, The Cold War Swap (1967), based on his experience working in Bonn, Germany. The novel was a hit, winning Thomas an Edgar Award for Best First Novel and establishing the characters Mac McCorkle and Mike Padillo. Thomas followed it up with three more novels about McCorkle and Padillo, the last of which was published in 1990. He wrote nearly a book a year for twenty-five years, occasionally under the pen name Oliver Bleeck, and won the Edgar Award for Best Novel with Briarpatch (1984). Thomas died of lung cancer in California in 1995, a year after publishing his final novel, Ah, Treachery!
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Reviews for The Mordida Man
24 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Recently while waxing enthusiastic about my latest Ross Thomas acquisitions, I happened upon the perfect description for the kinds of books he wrote. They’re ‘caper’ novels. A mix of espionage, politics, the con, a heist; sometimes with an assassin and a pair of buddies driving the action. I can’t classify them as thrillers exactly since they’re too tactical; too precise. It’s not that they aren't thrilling, they are, but you see more deeply into the workings of the plot to have many doubts about what’s happening and therefore you don’t hang in suspense. Also not to say that Thomas laid everything bare; he didn’t, he only told you what he thought was good for you. Need to know. He’d tell you when he was ready.
In this one there isn’t a pair of buddies as good guys, but a pair as baddies. One is ex-CIA and one is ex-FBI and amusingly pseudonymed Mr. Arnold and Mr. Benedict. The Mordida Man (one who furnishes bribes) has to take them down to rescue the brother of the President of the United States. He’s got some help in the form of the usual rogues; some inside the law, some just outside. The plot is Byzantine even for Thomas, so those who can’t follow complex shenanigans need not apply. There is violence and Thomas isn’t afraid to kill off a character we’ve grown to like, but the violence isn’t gory or gratuitous. This isn’t torture porn.
Overall I think this one lacks the appeal of the buddy-driven stories because those relationships and the dialog; full of cryptic byplay and inside jokes, add heart to what without them is just a tiny bit hollow. In this one, Chubb Dunjee (the Mordida Man) is appealing, but he has no one to appeal to outside the reader so he has less opportunity to do so. Still a terrific book and I’ll say it again - everyone should read more Ross Thomas.