Voodoo, Ltd.

I enjoyed works of the author. It is a good read.

Kind of crazy and fun.

The New York Times Book review has described Ross Thomas - as the master of the crime thriller.They are exactly correct, nobody writes plots with the characters and humour of Mr.Thomas.In this book we have Arty Wu and Quincy Durant ( WuDu Ltd) as Private Investigators who solve -big problems for big bucks - something they are a bit short of at the moment, bucks that is not problems.They are hired to find two missing hypnotists who are needed to prove the innocence of a movie star charged with killing her ex-fiancee. All run of the mill stuff until things get a bit more complicated.To complete the job they enlist several of their associates; - who happen to be terrorism experts, con men and con-women. None of these people have any scruples or morals , basically they are all crooks and this makes for a rollicking story set in southern California.Like all of his books this rocks along with double crosses, triple crosses and other numerous twists which keep you busy to the end.This is an absolute joy to read.Also recommended are - The Eighth Dwarf and Twilight at Mac's Place.Just as good as the novels written under the name Ross Thomas are several under the Pseudonym Oliver Bleeck.Thomas's books are difficult to get in New Zealand, so any that you find are gems and to be looked after or they are all available through Amazon. There won't be any more as Mr. Thomas passed away in 1995

This was my first Ross Thomas book, and it will likely be my last. There was very little incentive to finish this terrible little novel, but I found two reasons: 1) for the sake of completing what I started, and 2) so I could log onto Amazon and tell you how awful it was. That was enough, barely, for me to force myself to slog through it, tempted as I was to put it back on the book exchange shelf where I found it. I'm so glad I didn't actually pay money for it.The novel started out promising: a delectable whodunit, as a drunken Ione Gamble comes across the body of Billy Rice, Hollywood producer and Gamble's ex-fiance who suddenly spurned her. Gamble seems the most likely suspect, particularly since she passes out with the smoking murder weapon in her hands. Sounds like good reading to me.But then, for reasons that escape me, Thomas goes off on a lengthy tangent which has almost nothing, even remotely, related to the plot of this story. I found myself wondering if he was EVER going to get back to Ione Gamble's problem. It brought to mind the character of Christopher Sly in Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." An interesting enough character who opens the play but Shakespeare carelessly forgot about him by the time he finished writing the comedy and we never find out what happens to him.Mercifully, Ione Gamble is not forgotten and eventually the story returns to her problem of being the chief suspect in Billy Rice's murder. However, after being bored to exasperation after Thomas's diversion following the second chapter, the story fails to satisfy. The hypnotists seem like interesting if rather perverse characters, but after revealing interesting tidbits about them throughout this story, we never get to meet them. And by the time Wudu Limited catches up, they've both been shot and killed.What compounds the frustration of disposing of these two characters, intricately related to the plot, is that Thomas spends an inordinate length of time on characters who have no involvement in the plot whatsoever.Just a bad, bad experience. Possibly the most unsatisfying novel I've ever forced myself to sit through. There was just so little to like in this story.Thomas has a decent turn of phrase, but that's about the only positive thing I can say for him as a writer. The plot was only mildly interesting, too much time is spent on unrelated events and characters, and his handling of exposition (a necessary evil in storytelling) is atrocious.Will not be picking up another Ross Thomas any time soon.

I read Ross Thomas's "Chinaman's Chance" a few years back and ran into it on CD at my library. "Read" it again and it is great. Ross Thomas is a master of the English language, the books are paced terrifically well, and the characters interesting, multi-layered and inviting. One of the interesting things about Thomas and his characters it that you just never know what they are going to say next. I am about 80% of the way through Voodoo Ltd., and have no idea how it is going to end. To me, "Chinaman's Chance" is the best of this series featuring Wu and Durant, probably because it was first. "Voodoo Ltd.," is better than the second book, "Out on the Rim," however, I do recommend reading them in order if you have the opportunity. Another great book by Thomas is "Missionary Stew." It does not feature Wu and Durant, but it is loads of fun.

The book's title, Voodoo, Ltd., derives from a mispronounciation of Wudu, Ltd., a London based detective agency run by two Americans, Artie Wu and Quincy Durant. Early in the course of this smartly written dark comedy, a wealthy German businessman with the improbable name of Enno Glimm hires Wu and Durant to locate a pair of British hypnotists who have suddenly gone missing in Southern California. Glimm suspects that the hypnotists are about to blackmail Ione Gamble, a Hollywood actress-director, who has been charged with murdering her ex-fiance. Which is to say that Voodoo, Ltd. is the granddaddy of all shaggy dog stories. And what an entertaining one it is! Before descending onto the Los Angeles scene, Wu and Durant hire three former colleagues to assist them. They are; Booth Stallings a 65 year old counterterrorism expert, Georgia Blue, a statuesque former Secret Service agent who has spent the last five years in a Manila prison, and Maurice Otherguy Overby, an adventurer with dubious ethical standards. Together, these five very colorful and supremely resourceful characters use every trick in the book to solve the mystery while at the same time making sure that one or more of them doesn't double cross the others. This is a deliciously witty, irreverent novel. Believable? Not for a minute. It's not meant to be. It is meant to be a hilariously funny, over the top, comedic novel. And by that standard, it is an overwhelming success. Read Voodoo, Ltd., you'll love it.

This is quite a zippy atmospheric thriller, but not much of a mystery - would while away a long journey, but I'm not really tempted to read much more by him. It rather depends on you having read the first one in his Chinese detective series.

The usual Ross Thomas combination of good characters, great dialogue and a plot that keeps the reader guessing.Combine that with subtle comments on politically deviant motives and actions, that may have no direct bearing on the story itself, and you have one entertaining read. Much better than a large proportion of current crime fiction in my view.