Showing results by author "Ross Thomas" in All Categories

Renowned psychologists describe the most useful insights from social psychology that can help make you "wise": wise about why people behave the way they do, and wise about how to use that knowledge in understanding and influencing the people in your life. When faced with a challenge, we often turn to those we trust for words of wisdom. Friends, relatives, and colleagues - someone with the best advice about how to boost sales, the most useful insights into raising children, or the sharpest take on an ongoing conflict.

The twins who walk into Mac McCorkle's bar look identical, despite their differing genders. Their names are Wanda and Walter Gothar, and from the steel in their eyes it's apparent that their business isn't the friendly kind. They've come seeking help from Mac and his partner, Padillo, an ex-CIA agent who has poked around in the world's darkest corners.

Clinton Shartelle doesn’t seem like a good choice to run a political campaign in Albertia. For one thing, he’s American, and Albertia is a small coastal republic in Africa, about to be cut loose from the English Crown. For another, Shartelle is Southern and fiercely proud of it, and his ideas about racial politics veer unpredictably from progressive to rigidly old-fashioned. But Shartelle is the best, and the political future of Albertia is too important to be left to anyone else.

American agents abduct a high-profile terrorist in broad daylight on the streets of London, subduing him with a tranquilizer. He dies a few hours later on a flight back to Washington, DC, and the body is dropped into the ocean. Hours later, the President's brother - a political powerhouse in his own right - boards a plane to Las Vegas that doesn't land in Nevada. Libyan radicals are at the controls, and he is their prisoner. The only man who can save him is Chubb Dunjee.

Two pirates do battle on an old junk ship in Singapore Harbor. They leap nimbly from deck to rigging, crossing swords like fencing masters. And then one surprises the other, slicing a rope and sending the unfortunate pirate tumbling into the bay. This is how stuntman Angelo Sacchetti dies. Edward Cauthorne was his opponent, a fellow stuntman whose career died along with Sacchetti. He’s selling used cars when two thugs approach him.

Shadowy and well-financed interests need a resourceful and gutsy team to engineer the transfer of funds to fund a revolt against a new government. And what a team it is! There's Booth Stallings, a terrorism expert, the only man the rebel leader trusts as a liaison. And there's Georgia Blue, a colorful statuesque lady bodyguard. Their point man: Otherguy Overby, so called for his skill in making sure whenever he's in trouble, that the other guy did it.

As the saying goes, you can't pick your friends. If you could, Mac McCorkle would disown Padilla. They owned a bar together in Bonn, the West German capital, and stayed partners even after Padilla's sideline as a CIA operative got the bar blown up. Padilla was thought to be dead and erased from the CIA’s files - but now he's back on the agency's turf. Mac moved to Washington, D.C., after the trouble in Bonn, to get married and open his bar anew. His new bride is beautiful, the bar is a success, and Padilla's reappearance threatens everything.

Born to a steelworker but harboring theatrical aspirations, Donald Cubbin grew up tempted by two careers. A Hollywood scout finally notices him, but Cubbin has already taken a job with the local union boss. He's always regretted that decision - especially now. After decades climbing the ranks, Cubbin runs the show as the union's president. An election looms, and his opponent proves to be a dangerously loose cannon.

Nicolae Polscaru, a three-and-a-half-foot-tall dwarf, is tossed into a Hollywood swimming pool by four drunken screenwriters, who take bets on how long he can tread water. Minor Jackson, his OSS training still fresh a year after World War II's end, beats the bullies senseless and pulls Nicolae from the water. A friendship is born. Jackson is broke, his spying days over, and Nicolae offers him a job.

There's the Durango in Colorado, the one in Mexico, and the one in Spain; then there's the fourth one—the California town where god and the Franciscans forgot to found a mission. Now all it has going for it is climate—and splendid isolation. Kelly Vines, a disbarred attorney, and his father-in-law Jack Adair, a former judge just released from prison, are in the market for some isolation, since whoever put Adair in jail seems to have a continuing interest in putting him out of commission.

A veteran CIA agent dies unexpectedly, and officials panic when they discover that foul play may be afoot. The victim's son takes it upon himself to uncover the startling facts behind the mystery.

Deutschland, 1946: zerstörte Gebäude, Besatzungsmächte, Schwarzmarkt, Entnazifizierung und untergetauchte Kriegsverbrecher. Minor Jackson hat gerade den Zweiten Weltkrieg überstanden, als ihm "der Zwerg" Nicolae Ploscaru, kleinwüchsiger rumänischer Aristokrat, Genie und gewohnheitsmäßiger Lügner, einen "fast legalen" Job anbietet: Er soll den verlorenen Sohn einer jüdischen Familie aufspüren.

There are few jobs that Harvey Longmire hasn't had, but he made his name as campaign trail fixer, an expert in the art of exploiting an enemy's secrets. For nearly a decade, Harvey was the sharpest man in the Beltway, but he quit in 1972, trading political dirty work for a quiet life on a farm. Now two old friends want him back in the game. A millionaire named Vullo has started a foundation to investigate conspiracies, and Harvey happens to be the expert on the most prominent case: the infamous disappearance of a man named Arch Mix.

Camoha, die Insel der Kleinen Antillen, kommt nicht zur Ruhe. Michael "Digger" Digson, ein begnadeter junger Forensiker, muss seiner Kollegin und Seelenfreundin Miss Stanislaus beistehen: Sie hat einen Mann in Notwehr erschossen ‒ ihre Vorgesetzten glauben, dass es Mord war, denn der Getötete ist Miss Stanislaus' persönliche Nemesis, Juba Hurst, der sie als Jugendliche vergewaltigte, und er ist der Vater ihrer Tochter. Digger und sie haben nur sechs Wochen Zeit, um ihre Unschuld zu beweisen. Und das alles mitten in einer Welle von Gewalt gegen Frauen, die sich zunehmend gegen diesen permanenten Terror zur Wehr setzen.

In the Intentional Soul Podcast with Tom Ross, Tom explores the world and ourselves through the lens of higher consciousness. In addition to Tom’s spiritual perspectives, Intentional Soul regularly features accomplished and highly effective guests from all walks of life and industries to share inspiring stories of personal transformation. Hey, life can be beautifully complex and sometimes a bit messy. These stories will be a lighthouse for you, equal parts tactical and inspiring, as you navigate the waters of your own personal journey. Subscribe and join us every week.

Camoha, eine Insel der Kleinen Antillen: Dort wird der junge Michael "Digger" Digson, zunächst gegen seinen Willen, von dem mysteriösen Detective Superintendent Chilman für eine Polizeitruppe rekrutiert, die gegen alle Korruption und alle politischen Widerstände effektive Polizeiarbeit leisten soll, und sei's mit eigenwilligen Mitteln. Digger lässt sich zum Forensiker ausbilden und wird ein Virtuose des "Knochenlesens". Zudem ist er auf der Suche nach seiner Mutter, die spurlos verschwunden und vermutlich ermordet worden ist.