Missionary Stew

By Ross Thomas

Book Overview

"Missionary Stew" follows political fundraiser Draper Haere on a quest to uncover the secret behind a right-wing coup in an unnamed Central american country. Haere seeks the information in order to get dirt on his boss's opponent in the 1984 US Presidential election. Haere's pursuit of the truth repeatedly puts Haere's life in danger, as the powers-that-be stop at nothing to keep the episode buried. Along the way, Haere carries on an affair with the wife of his candidate and enlists the aid of Morgan Citron, an almost-Pullitzer winning journalist who has recently been released from an African prison where the prisoners where fed human flesh--the titular missionary stew. Together Citron and Haere face up against cocaine traffickers, Latin American generals, corrupt US officials, and Citron's estranged, tabloid-publisher mother.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140074139
• ISBN13: 9780140074130
• Release Date: December 1984
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Keeping a lot of balls in the air

Ross Thomas just had the knack of creating unusual situations, and unusual characters, and then having everything interact toward a satisfying conclusion. This book is another one of his well-crafted thriller-type writings, where you are introduced to a disparate cast of characters who seem totally unrelated to each other but, by the end of the book, all fit nicely into the confines of the plot. This one is a bit more gruesome than some of his, for there are several deaths, but they are all in the service of advancing the plot line. Read this book and see a master of the genre at work!

Fast and oh, so smooth...

This is my favorite Ross Thomas novel and that's really saying something, the competition is fierce. The writing is spare and tight and the dialog is first-rate, nobody writes (wrote?) with such a keen ear for the way people speak. Thomas is funny and cynical, this complex story unfolds at breakneck speed. Thomas had an interesting history, working for a union, in business and as political consultant (slipping in time to write some fine novels and a couple of screenplays, one for the interesting movie Bad Company). How did he accomplish so much in this novel in only 70,000-odd words? Pure magic. Ken Coffman is the author of Steel Waters, Alligator Alley, Twisted Shadow and other novels.

excellent

This book is extremely interesting -- not at all in the style of most mysteries, it offers a surprisingly introspective look at the key characters. The beginning is rather bizarre. Get through it, and you will really enjoy the rest.

Nothing is what it seems

Like all of Thomas's books, this one presents the reader with a world where just beneath the surface of ordinary reality danger and betrayal lurk just waiting for the hapless figures he creates to step in whatever new qucksand he has perpared. This book is vintage Thomas with believable characters, great dialogue, memorable lines, a convoluted but engrossing plot - full of surprises and ultimate satisfactions.I just can't believe that most of his books are out of print. This stuff is great reading. There is nothing else like it.

Savvy, sharp, and funny political thriller/mystery

This book is one of the most curious political thrillers that I've read. It's a byzantine kind of world in which the hero doesn't really want to be involved, but he gets dragged into successively stranger and deeper situations--yet none seem contrived. Its Elmore Leonard with a political twist. Says one character of a bad guy, "he's called Hallmark. He's who they send when they want to send their very best."