As I've mentioned here before, I've been read a lot of the same type of novel (mostly unintentionally, found in lots of books I've bought): the post-war thriller novel, often called "men's action" or "men's suspense" novels. There were a lot of them, beginning in the late 40s, through about the very early 70s, and then they almost entirely disappeared, replaced by more modern thrillers. And while the novels themselves are often very similar, despite being by various authors and often separated by decades, they have a lot in common.
Generally, these novels follow the same pattern: an American man abroad, almost inevitably a veteran of WWII or Korea, involved in a high-stakes adventure involving international crime or sometimes very high-stakes politics (revolutions in South America and Africa are the most common). Sometimes, he's the criminal, sometimes he's trying to stop the criminal - but it doesn't really matter because the result is the same, either way. The hero nearly always comes out on top, with his skin intact and usually with the girl and the loot, as well.
These novels, while entertaining in their way, are the macho equivalent of high-camp. Some of them are kind of ridiculous, actually. Every woman is stunning, every situation is deadly or sexy, every foe is impossible to overcome and yet the hero is always able to squeak by somehow.
These novels, while entertaining in their way, are the macho equivalent of high-camp. Some of them are kind of ridiculous, actually. Every woman is stunning, every situation is deadly or sexy, every foe is impossible to overcome and yet the hero is always able to squeak by somehow.
But that's fine once in a while and not all of these novels are like that. Most I've run across, sure, but not all of them. There are exceptions.
One is the Gordon Davis (a pen-name of E. Howard Hunt) novel, I CAME TO KILL.
One is the Gordon Davis (a pen-name of E. Howard Hunt) novel, I CAME TO KILL.
The set-up fits the pattern to a T: man wrongfully convicted of a murder flees the US. With no money and no skills to fall back on besides his army sniper training, he agrees to assassinate a South American dictator for a group of revolutionaries. The difference is in how it's all handled. The main character is very detached at the beginning, thinking of it only as a means to get back to the US and clear his name (by using the money to hire the best lawyer he can find), but somewhere along the way he becomes more invested in this revolution than most of the revolutionaries and the insight into the way his mind changes is fascinating as it's quite subtle. The actual prose can be ponderous at times, but the story is unusual for the genre.
At any rate, after reading this, once again I thinking about this type of novel's pattern and its origins and it hit me immediately: almost an entire generation of American men went to war in Europe and Asia, in WWII and the Korean War, then came home, most settling down to marriage, families, jobs. But even years later, in the 50s and 60s, many were still relatively young (the average age of a US serviceman in WWII was 19, I've read), and probably, let's be frank, many were probably bored as so many of us are with our own monotonous lives today.
But unlike many of us today, many of these men had literally deadly experiences in foreign countries, places that probably seemed both foreign and familiar after years away, and a certain nostalgia probably developed - a sort of what might have been. I'm sure that these characters in the novels I've mentioned, and likely thousands of other books, were intended to be a sort of every man for that generation - a "this could have been YOU, reader" kind of thing. Of course, these readers knew that wasn't so, and most probably wouldn't want it to be so, but it's always nice to dream of adventure, right? It's certainly a lot safer than living it.
Maybe I'm off base, but this makes a lot of sense to me
At any rate, after reading this, once again I thinking about this type of novel's pattern and its origins and it hit me immediately: almost an entire generation of American men went to war in Europe and Asia, in WWII and the Korean War, then came home, most settling down to marriage, families, jobs. But even years later, in the 50s and 60s, many were still relatively young (the average age of a US serviceman in WWII was 19, I've read), and probably, let's be frank, many were probably bored as so many of us are with our own monotonous lives today.
But unlike many of us today, many of these men had literally deadly experiences in foreign countries, places that probably seemed both foreign and familiar after years away, and a certain nostalgia probably developed - a sort of what might have been. I'm sure that these characters in the novels I've mentioned, and likely thousands of other books, were intended to be a sort of every man for that generation - a "this could have been YOU, reader" kind of thing. Of course, these readers knew that wasn't so, and most probably wouldn't want it to be so, but it's always nice to dream of adventure, right? It's certainly a lot safer than living it.
Maybe I'm off base, but this makes a lot of sense to me
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