On Thu, 3 May 2001 22:20:12 -0700 (PDT) you wrote:
>
> <Which of THE DAVIDIAN REPORT, THE SO BLUE MARBLE
and THE
> FALLEN SPARROW
> would make the best first Hughes to
read?>>
>
> The Fallen Sparrow is my favorite. Not strictly
hardboiled,
I would affirm Mario's recommendation here. The So-Blue
Marble is still very much in the Buchan (39 Steps) tradition,
though the assassin twins (as I remember) have the polish of
Eric Ambler at his best. Believe Hughes dedicated one or more
of her early fictions to Ambler. The Fallen Sparrow is where
she makes a move to a tough male protagonist (away from
ingenu characters), who has psychic wounds (imprisoned in
Spain) and returns to find who murdered his friend. It still
has Ambler qualities, but a much darker tone and (I think) a
very satisfactory ending. After Sparrow, I would recommend,
in order of publication, Ride the Pink Horse (very powerful),
In a Lonely Place, and possibly The Expendible Man--though I
haven't finished that one yet. The Davidian Report is
disappointing, to my reading, as a throw-back to her earlier
spy-thriller fiction.
And, yes, In a Lonely Place was softened by Ray, with Bogart
playing an established scriptwriter who has uncontrollable
anger and is under suspicion. As I remember, the protagonist
in Hughes' novel only claims to be a writer.
Bill Hagen
billha@ionet.net
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