Customer Reviews

Twilight at Mac's Place

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It is a testiment to Ross Thomas's skill at invention that my wife and I have frequently lamented that there really isn't such a bar as Mac's Place. After reading the several novels in which it figures, along with its owners, McCorkle and Padillo, I have a hard time believeing that the dark and excellent establishment, with its distintive staff and quiet mysterious air, can't actually be found if one were to look hard enough among the side streets in D.C.'s Northwest quandrant. But alas, it's all made up. Yet what a great invention. Thomas makes every aspect of the fictional world he presents to the reader totally believable. This book, like most of his others, has enough plot elements to fuel three or four books by any lesser author, yet he binds these together in a compact story that both surprises and satisfies. McCorkle and Padillo may be older and slower, but the world they inhabit is as dangerous, treacherous and interesting as ever.

This is a later McCorkle and Padillo adventure set in Washington, D.C. Thomas again uses their bar and grill as a focal point. The real hero of the story is Granny Haynes, former LAPD detective and now aspiring actor. I consider this book to be one of Ross Thomas' better efforts, full of insights on maneuverings within the CIA and the Washington power elite.

Readers familiar with Ross Thomas' work are likely to recognize a few of the characters in Twilight at Mac's Place from some of the author's other novels. Most notably, Mac McCorkle and Mike Padillo, the restaurant owning duo with more than a passing knowledge of the dark arts associated with international espionage.
Twilight at Mac's Place transpires in and around Washington, DC during the month of January, 1989. George H.W. Bush has just been sworn in as President. The third person narrator helpfully reminds us that Mr. Bush is the first President to have previously served as Director of Central Intelligence. That interesting bit of information helps to set the mood for the tale of cloak and dagger intrigue that is about to unfold.

A man named Steady Haynes dies suddenly of natural causes the evening before the inauguration. Though never officially an agent of the CIA, Haynes has spent most of his career unofficially facilitating the carrying out of some very nasty things on the Agency's behalf all over the world. When Granville Haynes, Steady's son and a former LAPD homicide detective, comes to Washington to attend his father's funeral, he learns that Steady had let it be known that he had recently written his memoirs.

It soon becomes very apparent that there are people out there who do not want Steady's manuscript to ever see the light of day. And they are not above commiting murder to see that it doesn't. The complex plot of Twilight at Mac's Place revolves around the younger Mr. Haynes, with the help of McCorkle and Padillo, uncovering who the anonymous literary suppressors are.

This very appealing book contains plenty of the byzantine twists and turns Thomas is famous for. Moreover, there are plenty of interesting characters and the dialogue is unfailingly smart and entertainingly clever. Recommended to those readers who like their political mysteries laced with sophisticated humor and an insider's view of the way Washington does business.

Unofficial CIA fixer Steadfast Haynes dies of a heart attack. To the shock of his clandestine buddies, word is out that good old trustworthy Steady has done the unthinkable and written a memoir of his unrecognized covert operations. This tome that allegedly exposes many folks has been inherited by his son Granville.

Everyone remotely involved with Steady wants possession of his book though their reasons vary without knowing what the pages expose for all fear the Cold War secrets Steady knew and bared. Someone murders Steady's beloved Isabelle and retired CIA agent and "friend" Undean, and steals the book. Though Granny knows his father's memoirs were mostly blank pages, he wants it back especially since he has two competing large cold cash offer to purchase his dad's memoirs. As a former homicide detective Granny knows how to investigate a crime and where to get cold war help.

The reprint of Ross Thomas' delightful TWILIGHT AT MAC'S PLACE should bring the late great writer new fans of thrillers. The story line is action-packed and filled with incredibly exciting twists and turns. However, as is usually the case in a Mr. Thomas tale it is the cast from the deceased to the hero to a waiter, et al that makes for a superb reading experience. That will send readers seeking other master novels by this great author.

Harriet Klausner

When a former government agent, Steadfast Haynes, dies after telling everyone about a book he had written that would expose many top government agencies to past misdeeds the story just begins. When murder victims begin to appear and the thread that joins them is their connection to Steadfast Haynes the intrigue grows more intense. Steadfast Haynes' son Granville enters the picture and inherits a missing manuscript sized package. Granville brings in old friends of his father to help him determine what is really going on and who has the most to loose.As murder victims pile up and their common link is their connection to Steadfast Haynes, the plot becomes so intense it vibrates with it's own life. What secrets are so extreme that people are willing to commit murder to keep the information hidden? Written at a time of political upheaval and conspiracy theories, Ross Thomas breathes a soul into his tale. The twists and turns hit head-on, one after the other. His ability with dialect gives you the feeling that you are listening in to the real conversations. His characters are complex and alive. This is Ross Thomas at his best.

If Ross Thomas had written epitath's I would have died just to have him pen my tombstone. Yeah, he's that good. I have read all of his twenty plus books and most of them two or more times. He never achieved the name recognition he deserved but those in the know (and there are many) have always considered him to be one of the masters of the genre.

The key to Thomas's writing was his effortless dialogue. Smooth and colorful you'd pay to have a cup of coffee or a beer with anyone of his characters just to hear them talk. His plots are always complex and in the end you never quite know if good triumphed over evil becaus in the world of Ross Thomas no one is pure of heart or free from temptation.

One of the more interesting characters we encounter in this story is Tinker Burns, a spry old ex-French Foreign Legionnaire and maybe the only living American veteran of Dien Bien Phu. TWILIGHT AT MAC'S PLACE is one of the best novels I have read about espionage and Washington intrigue.

What can I say that's different? I was determined to own every book that Ross Thomas had ever written. I really like his books! Now I own ALL of them.

This was good but not the author's best work. Its still enjoyable.