The Cold War Swap [Paperback]

Ross Thomas (Author), Stuart M. Kaminsky (Author), Stuart Kaminsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 16, 2003

At the height of the Cold War, two Americans are runnng a bar in the West German capital, called Mac's place. One of the pair, Michael Padillo, isn't around a lot; he keeps disappearing on "business trips." McCorkle, his partner, wisely doesn't ask questions; he knows Padillo has a second job -- he's a (reluctant) US agent. But McCorkle is ready to answer a call for help from Padillo, and he joins his friend in a blind journey with no inkling of what they will encounter at the turn of each dark and dangerous corner.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"America's Best Storyteller."-New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Ross Thomas is ranked as one of the very top thriller writers by his fellow authors, and his readers loudly agree. Two Edgar Awards, and other prizes, only complement the abundant praise that Thomas has received.

Thomas died in 1995, and since then all but one of his twenty-five novels have gone out of print. This should never have happened to the man of whom The New Yorker has said "Very few...are as consistently entertaining...even fewer can match him for style and power." Minotaur is proud to remedy this situation by reissuing Thomas's novels. So start reading, and prepare to join Ross Thomas's legions of admiring fans.

Product Details

• Paperback: 127 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books (May 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312315813
• ISBN-13: 978-0312315818
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #697,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Cold War Swap... Ross Thomas at his finest!, April 10, 2000

By 

Kevin J. Giltrud - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cold War Swap (Paperback)

When I saw this book at the local library years ago, the title made me reach out; and I've been glad that I did ever since. Saloon owner 'Mac' McCorkle runs a popular bar in Bonn, Germany. And becomes the cloak and good friend of a very suave, multi lingual, and lethal dagger named Mike Padillo. Late of the OSS, Padillo is the man they send out on the little 'jobs' that never make the papers. His assignment in the 'Swap', is to bring back two defectors from the NSA (No Such Agency, at the time) through Checkpoint Charlie. Unfortunately, anything that could go wrong does, and McCorkle is soon on his way to help Padillo through assorted mayhem, kidnapping, murder, and the odd double and triple cross. The plot is exquisite, the dialogue, believeable, and the travelouge, tension, and sense of surroundings, superb. You may want to look for a character named Cook Baker, who's a dead ringer for Dr. Hunter Thompson. And probably the finest description of a favorite watering hole, bar, or saloon, in print: Comprising only three sentences! Ross Thomas had a splendid talent for words. With Hammett's brief, juicy, four course descriptions and Chandler's eye for noir and mysterious mood and humor. 'The Cold War Swap' was his first offing into literatue, and very likely his best. If you see a title from Ross Thomas, pick it up. I guarentee you won't be sorry. But don't blame me if you begin to seek high and low for his 24 later novels. Four of them under the pseudonym Oliver Bleeck.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First and Maybe the Best, June 27, 2004

By 

Derald Porter (Western Washington, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cold War Swap (Hardcover)

The Cold War Swap is the first in a long series of excellent mystery/thrillers by Ross Thomas. Thomas's first novel was written during his career as a newsman and public relations expert in many parts of the world. As with all first novels there are a few holes - the one that sticks out most in my mind is the biographical anomaly of main character Michael Padillo - alleged to have been born in 1926 - who after a variegated upbringing by his multi-lingual mother, enters the US Army and "in late 1942 was happily running the bar of an officers' club..." As a veteran myself I found it extremely unlikely that a 16 year old kid would be "running" anything in the US Army. Padillo gets picked for undercover work after someone "browsing through his records" learns that he can speak and write six languages. I'm kind of surprised they didn't discover that he was underage for enlistment at the same time.. In any case the novel is extemely well-written, with sharply defined characters in a classic 50's-60's Cold War "us against them" espionage story. Most of the characters are neither wholly good nor completely evil, and you have some fun trying to figure out which way some of them might bounce. A very satisfying read, well worth checking out from your library if available - a good introduction to the shadowy and shady worlds of money, politics, espionage and government about which Ross Thomas wrote so well during his writing career.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cold-war novel set before most of us knew there was one., December 24, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cold War Swap (Paperback)

McCorkle, Bonn Saloon-keeper, meets the mysterious Padilla, and becomes a reluctant spy. Chase back and forth across the Berlin Wall. Good guys win. One of the first Ross Thomas novels. Sets the standard. Fast paced. Witty dialog.