Yellow-Dog Contract

By Ross Thomas

An ace campaign operative comes out of retirement to investigate a chilling disappearance.

There are few jobs that Harvey Longmire hasn't had. He's been a crime reporter, Louisiana state legislator, foreign correspondent, and -- briefly -- a decoy for the CIA. 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. The trail is not as cold as Harvey thought. Soon he'll either find Mix -- or suffer a disappearance of his own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Jun 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784088750

Ross Thomas

The winner of the inaugural Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award, Ross Thomas (1926–1995) was a prolific author whose political thrillers drew praise for their blend of wit and suspense. Born in Oklahoma City, Thomas grew up during the Great Depression, and served in the Philippines during World War II. After the war, he worked as a foreign correspondent, public relations official, and political strategist before publishing his first novel, The Cold War Swap (1967), based on his experience working in Bonn, Germany. The novel was a hit, winning Thomas an Edgar Award for Best First Novel and establishing the characters Mac McCorkle and Mike Padillo.  Thomas followed it up with three more novels about McCorkle and Padillo, the last of which was published in 1990. He wrote nearly a book a year for twenty-five years, occasionally under the pen name Oliver Bleeck, and won the Edgar Award for Best Novel with Briarpatch (1984). Thomas died of lung cancer in California in 1995, a year after publishing his final novel, Ah, Treachery!

Reviews for Yellow-Dog Contract

[bookmarque · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Well I don’t know if it was the damnedest adventure but it sure was convoluted. Turns out that Harvey’s Uncle Slick is really behind the disappearance and eventual killing of Arch Mix, the union boss. He dreamed up the whole foundation thing to launder money through. Pay the ‘ransom’ and then take the proceeds. Overall, the humor was a bit less than in some of the other Ross Thomas novels I’ve read. Harvey was a pretty wry dude though. I think I’ll try a few more.