Espionage Aficionados discussion

Lawrence Sanders was a pioneer of the mass-market, supermarket-checkout aisle, best-selling thriller. His was the shrewd intellect who penned, "The Anderson Tapes" which hit the big screen with Connery and young Christopher Walken. He also conceived one of the first big serial killer yarns: "The First Deadly Sin", which also got a movie made.

His writing was always confident, lively, and poised. He often wrote series, but no two books were ever the same.

This title I'm suggesting to you is one of his standalone, one-off titles. These singular works were almost always bold and incisive. They varied in style; mixtures of espionage or crime often heaped with something else that was unsettling, sexual, and raunchy. Populated with cruel, unflinching characters.

Even among Sanders' quicksilver output, "The Loves of Harry Dancer" is unusual. It doesn't fit neatly into any category. You either like it or you don't.

It's not an actioner; more a tale of romantic and psychological deceit. It's moody and turbid, much below-the-surface; but it does not disappoint in briskness or pacing. Sanders was too talented a craftsman to allow a story to falter or flag.

Give it a try.

I heartily agree. His other very readable novels include 'Guilty Pleasures' and 'The Third Deadly Sin'. Psychological thrillers soaked in realism.

Thanks for the suggestions Feliks. Great review!

You're welcome. Sanders is always solid and reliable. You can't go wrong with any title of his.

His major serial-killer story, "First Deadly Sin" has a larger page-count than some of his others, and for good reason. Yes, many other authors have tried their hand at the same exercise but Sanders really takes you 'along for a ride' inside a sadist on a killing spree.

'Third Deadly Sin', is --as I recall --about a female serial killer. Another 'chewy' character who comes alive on the page.

Other ones I enjoyed:
The Case of Lucy Bending
The Seduction of Peter S.
The Passion of Molly T.
The Pleasures of Helen