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Chinaman's Chance I happened upon Ross Thomas by chance and not design. As my local library had only Out on the Rim and The Fourth Durango on its shelves, I read them first. I was hooked. Through the library's inter- library loan program I have now read from Cold War Swap through Chinaman's Chance. I'm only 50 and admittedly have a lot of reading ahead of me but I can not remember enjoying reading someone's work as much as I do reading Ross Thomas. I cannot imagine that he will ever be out of my top 10 favorites. The Best Of "Wu & Durant".... Of the Ross Thomas books containing the Wu & Durant characters, this one is arguably the best. A great story with twists and turns that keep the pages turning with very little effort. The characters are so well developed only a photograph would offer any more insight. If a picture is worth a thousand words, Thomas has the ability to modify that statement to paint a picture using very little wordage. If your a Thomas fan this book shoud definitley be high on your list of "next" reads. Enjoyable, but Not the Masterpiece I expected I've heard a lot about Ross Thomas, who is considered by many people to be one of the most underrated thriller novelists out there. Thomas died in 1995, and most of his books are either out of print or difficult to find. Many people consider CHINAMAN'S CHANCE to be Thomas' best novel, so I thought I would give it a shot. In short, I liked this book but didn't love it. This is a book brimming with wit and intelligence. It was obviously written by a highly intelligent, perceptive man -- Thomas is a highly skilled wordsmith. However, I found the plot remarkably convoluted. The blurb from the NEW YORKER for this book states that CHINAMAN'S CHANCE has "enough plot to overwhelm a trilogy" and I agree with that statement. Unfortunately, too much plot is not necessarily such a good thing. I ultimately found the storyline confusing and the twist-filled ending kind of ridiculous. Also, there are too many colorful characters in this novel to keep track of. Every couple of pages, Thomas changes the point of view. Virtually every character is eccentric and over-the-top. This can be fun, but I thought it was overdone here. There was no one in this book I related to, and I never found myself emotionally invested in the storyline. In the end, CHINAMAN'S CHANCE is okay if you like witty, humorous caper novels. But if you're looking for a book with genuine thrills and characters you genuinely care about, you may want to look for something else. The ultimate Los Angeles caper novel This was the first of Thomas' Wu and Durant novels, and in my opinion, the best. Two things make this novel memorable. First, there is the remarkable array of supporting characters, many of them sleazebags, most of them bizarre, all of them memorable. Second, at some level, Los Angeles is the main character, especially the South Bay. Thomas' descriptions of the cities, the neighborhoods, buildings, the marginal businesses, are absolute gems. I have spent a great deal of time trying to match the places, especially the coastal cities, to actual locations in Los Angeles, without much success, but who cares. I don't know if the Los Angeles he described ever really existed, but it should have. Laugh out loud funny I really enjoy a well-written book that makes me laugh out loud, and this book is certinly that type. Right from the beginning the plot ensnares you, and you just go along with all of the strange and loony doings of the extremely well-drawn characters. The author plays fair with the reader: there are no hidden shocks that change the ending, or plotlines left unconnected at the end. It's unfortunate Mr. Thomas is deceased, for more new books from him would be quite welcome in my house! See also:
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