I'm a real sucker for trashy novels, especially in the action genre. There's something incredibly enticing about books with bullets shot into the cover, simple plots with a twist you'll never expect, and simple clichéd characters. My new favourite page-turner of all time is Frederick Forsyth's The Dogs of War. Yeah, that's right, pull out your booming movie trailer voice and say that again with huge emphasis on the word 'Dogs'.
The whole book is summed up in bold manly text on the back page in case you just want to jump to the end... The Mission: To topple a government and set up a puppet dictatorship. The Plan: Invade the country with a band of savage, mercenary soldiers, the dogs of war. The Men: Cat Shannon, the brutal leader, an expensive professional... And so on and so forth. I mean, the protagonist is a loveable mercenary named Cat, what more could you want?
All sarcasm aside, I really did enjoy this book. I finished it in two days flat. Also, apparently they made it into a movie back in 1981 featuring Christopher Walken as none other than the wily Cat Shannon. Guess what I'm renting this weekend. Any recommendations from your trash pile for furthing reading?
Update: I watched the film last night. Let's just say - not so good. Despite Christopher Walken's quirky performance it just wasn't a very good film and deviated significantly from the book.
Comments
Rob - October 28, 2004 11:00 pm
I guiltily enjoyed <i>The Blue Nowhere</i> which is a thriller about an evil hacker who kills people and the OTHER hacker they pulled out of prison to help track him down before he kills too many more people. But that one's really a hacker with a heart of gold. Best parts include the grumpy cop who hates technology and has to work with the hacker (whose manly name is Gillette) and the 4 consecutive twists leading up to the absurd climax.
John Boylan - October 29, 2004 11:16 am
Any die-hard fan of trashy adventure novels will, I'm sure, be familiar with the fine works of Jack Higgins (The Eagle has Landed, et.al.).
My favorite of his is called "Solo". If memory serves it's about a murderous concert pianist who makes the mistake of offing the daughter of an IRA hitman. Pure genius.
Lisa - November 1, 2004 9:36 am
My trashy tendencies veer towards science fiction rather than action (no double entendre intended) ... if you have the inclination, Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars is a great read. His subject is the colonization of Mars, and while it begins with a group of scientists grappling with the practicalities of fashioning an existence there, it rapidly moves towards the sociopolitical ... should Mars be "terraformed" into something more habitable to humans and Earthlike, or would that be a horrible perversion of the ecosystem, etc etc. I liked it. Other guilty pleasures ... Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash (which has action like moments involving pizza delivery ... and features an online Librarian) , Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry series (which begins in Toronto), Ian Rankin's detective fiction.
Nathan - November 2, 2004 2:12 am
I would never consider the Red Mars/Green Mars/Blue Mars trilogy as trashy!
I really enjoy balancing heavy duty stuff with lighter fair. This months (well, October) lighter fair consisted of a few Dirk Pitt and Kurt Austin adventure novels from Clive Cussler. I also enjoyed the thoroughly cheesy "Saucer" and it's sequel from a fairly good author of mainstream books, Steven Coonts.
Heavyier duty stuff I've been working on, re-reading the Steven R Donaldson "White Gold Wielder - Thomas Covenant" chronicals. Very engrossing books.