Fourth Durango

This novel, from the get-go, promised a big surprise. A hundred pages in and I was sure I was on the verge of that "big surprise." By the 200th page I realized that there were not going to be any fireworks and that the story was just going to float to the ground with a nice soft ending. Ross Thomas never shifted out of third gear and floored it with this book. So, I was disappointed in that. Also, and unlike some of his other works, Thomas really didn't develop any of his characters. I got no real sense of where his characters came from or where they were going. They lived only in the moment. On the other hand, Thomas, as always, has a nice way with brevity. He certainly tells a good story - albeit one here that never exceeds 45 mph. Weak 4 stars.

"rotten", Ross Thomas' characters would say. It's more rotten than the other 10 novels I've read so far.

THE FOURTH DURANGO isn't so much a plot-driven crime thriller: it feels more like a half-dozen clever characters playing the same game of chess (whether they know it or not). The book begins with a disgraced judge leaving prison as well as a trail of bodies behind as he and his son-in-law/disbarred attorney flee to the quiet town of Durango, California. The sexy, savvy mayor and her lover/Chief of Police make a shady deal to hide them...but the killers who want the judge dead already appear to be in the town limits. I've never read anything else by Ross Thomas but I did like his wit and economy. You really feel like you're in the hands of someone who knows where he's going and the best way to get there.

Already accused of taking a bribe that he never did, former State Judge Jack Adair hides in Durango, California, a place where people voluntarily vanish to when others want them silenced anyway they can. Durango accommodates its "tourist" trade. His world is already is a cesspool due to his family trials. His daughter is a guest of a mental hospital, his son-in-law is a disbarred attorney and his son apparently committed suicide though the Judge believes murder occurred. Jack's appearance in town leads to a murder spree. Desperate to stop the killings, sometime lovers Mayor Barbara Huckins and Chief of Police Sid Fork seek a serial killer who poses as a priest or as a plumber. The culprit will have no problem eliminating the two locals if they get in the way of killing the Judge.This reprint of a powerful Ross Thomas thriller is an exciting tale that will please the fans of the great suspense writer as well as introduce his wonderful repertoire to new readers. The story line is action-packed as the heroes try to stop a killing machine from further homicides. Though not quite at the level of some of Mr. Thomas' other works (see the reprint of TWILIGHT AT MAC'S PLACE), THE FOURTH DURANGO is a terrific tale better than much that is offered today.Harriet Klausner

Another pearl of the Ross Thomas oeuvre, two protagonists wish to seek refuge in Durango, a town that makes its income with a very curious illegal enterprise. Again Thomas used his knowledge of political chicanery to imbue his characters (a disbarred lawyer, a crooked chief of police, a convicted state judge) with real life hubris. Lots of fun from the late Grand Master.