The Main [Paperback]

Trevanian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1977

The Main is Montreal’s teeming underworld, where the dark streets echo with cries in a dozen languages, with the quick footsteps of thieves and the whispers of prostitutes. It is a world where violence and brutality are a way of life. To the people of the Main, police lieutenant Claude LaPointe is judge and jury, father confessor and avenging angel. Montreal’s police force has changed over time, but LaPointe has not. His commitment to justice is total, as is his devotion to the Main and its underworld community. But when a cold-blooded murderer invades LaPointe’s territory, he is forced to examine his long-held beliefs and secrets and to confront his own loneliness and mortality. With a cast of unforgettable supporting characters and an unusual and remarkable hero, The Main is another gripping tale of death and danger, of action and mystery, by the incomparable Trevanian.



Look for these other Trevanian classics from Three Rivers Press: The Eiger Sanction, The Loo Sanction, Shibumi, and The Summer of Katya.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The Main held me from the opening page.”—Chicago Tribune Book World

“Trevanian’s sharply tuned sense of character and milieu gives the book a vivid life granted to only the finest of ‘serious’ fiction.” —Washington Post --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Trevanian’s books have been translated into more than fourteen languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. He lives in the French Basque mountains. His new novel, The Crazyladies of Pearl Street, is now available in hardcover. Visit his website at trevanian.com. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Jove (September 1, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515044105
• ISBN-13: 978-0515044102
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,879,579 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars not a Trevanian style, July 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Main (Paperback)

That book is pretty different from the other pieces of Trevanian. First of all, there is barely action. Well, there are, but these are only details. This is a story of a town, and its ordinary people. While reading it, I went like: "Hey, nothing's happening, yet I still want to keep on reading". That is how I usually react when reading a Steinbeck book. For those who liked Trevainian just by reading Hemlock's adventures, you may not like this one. Yet, it is a great novel. The best part was its conclusion. It suprised me. See, that surely ain't an action novel (other Trevanian book are not either. However someone can just read them as if they are, and miss the depth of the novels).

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fine, fun book, June 3, 2003

By 

Elsie Wilson (Aberystwyth, Cymru) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Main (Paperback)

This is perhaps the strongest of Trevanian's works; maybe it does not quite reach "Shibumi"'s heights of fancy and excitement, but the characterisation is better, the characters themselves are more believable, the plot is less absurd, and the descriptions of the Main and its inhabitants are delightful. The plot revolves around the policeman of the old school who benevolently watches over The Main, a street in Montreal, with an iron fist and a gentle touch. LaPointe, a lieutenant in a force which has changed around him, though he has not, is caught up in a murder, the events surrounding which, drag him back and forth through his inner self, as he is forced to confront his mortality, the lack of personal love (though he is generically loved in his rôle as protector of the street) in his life, and a number events of his past. Even the bit players in this story are real, with histories and personalities which dictate how they act; and the revelation at the end of the plot will be a nice surprise, well concealed, though the clues are fairly given. Trevanian did a fine job with "The Main".

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ambitious and thoughtful police procedural., April 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Main (Paperback)

Rod Whitaker's first novel took ten years to write and was preceeded to print by his bestsellers, The Eiger Sanction and The Loo Sanction, and his cowritten film of The Eiger Sanction. Better known as Trevanian, Whitaker's literate (albeit strikingly crass) and acerbic voice is here presented in an unusual third-person, present-tense format; this reveals Whitaker's earlier incarnation as a filmmaker. The story is familiar: an old, streetwise cop is matched with a n uptight, by-the-book rookie to solve a murder. The quality is in the details: the complex social strata of French Canada; a love of Zola; the moral grey areas of life as a beat cop. Fabulous texture and heart-rending sentiment that Trevanian was not to show again until his final novel, The Summer of Katya.