The Killer Elite by Robert Rostand

 

(pb; 1973)

From the back cover 

“The day of the assassins.

“There were three of them, the best in the business. All were in England now, three free-lance professional assassins hired by the same power, three specialists in sudden death closing in one the same target.

“Just one man stood between them and the success of their murderous mission. A man with past failure to atone for; a blood to settle. A man whose almost insane pride would prefer death to another defeat. A man named [Michael] Locken, with nothing left to lose and no one left to trust as the faced the killer elite.”

 

Review

Killer is a tautly written, effectively character sketched action novel with a lot of character-based twists, some of them likely familiar to genre-knowledgeable readers, but many of them still-effective and masterful. This is a great action-genre read, one worth seeking out.

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Two film versions resulted from this Rostand novel.

The PG-rated first version, The Killer Elite, was directed by Sam Peckinpah. It was released stateside on December 19, 1975. Killer‘s screenplay was penned by Marc Norman, Stirling Siliphant, and Robert Syd Hopkins.

James Caan played Mike Locken. Robert Duvall played George Hansen. Arthur Hill played Cap Collis. Bo Hopkins played Jerome Miller. Mako played Yuen Chung.

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The second version, Killer Elite, was released stateside on September 23, 2011. Gary McKendry directed it, from Matt Shering and Ranulph Fiennes’s screenplay.

Jason Statham played Danny [cinematic stand-in for Mike Locken]. Clive Owen played Spike. Robert DeNiro played Hunter. Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje played Agent. Dominic Purcell played Davies.  

Widows by Lynda La Plante

(pb; 1983)

From the back cover

“When a security van heist goes disastrously wrong, three armed robbers are burnt to death─and three women are left widows.

“Then gang boss Harry Rawlins’s wife, Dolly, discovers his bank deposit box. It contains a gun, money─and detailed plans for the failed hijack.

“Dolly has three options: she could hand over Harry’s ledgers to Detective Inspector Resnick; she could pass them to the thugs who want to take over Harry’s turf; or she and the other widows could finish the job their husbands started.

“As they rehearse the raid until it’s pitch perfect, the women realize that Harry’s plan required four people, not three. But only three bodies were discovered in the carnage of the original hijack. So who was the fourth man and where is he now?”

Review

Widows is a good heist story with effective twists, solid characters and pacing and an ending that suggests a possible sequel (but does not necessitate one). It is worth borrowing from the library, owning if purchased for a few dollars.

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It has been filmed three times.

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The first filmic version is a British television/ITV six-episode miniseries that aired in 1983. Ian Toynton directed it, from a screenplay by source-book author Lynda La Plante.

Ann Mitchell played Dolly Rawlins. Maurice O’Connell played Harry Rawlins. Maureen O’Farrell played Linda Perelli. Fiona Hendley played Shirley Miller. Eva Mottley played Bella O’Reilly. Stanley Meadows played Eddie Rawlins.

Michael John Paliotti played Joe Perelli. Terry Stuart played Terry Miller. John Rowe played Brian Miller.

David Calder played D.I. George Resnick. Carol Gillies played Alice. Paul Jesson played D.S. Alec Fuller. Peter Machin played D.C. Robin Andrews.

Jeffrey Chiswick played Arnie Fisher. George Costigan played Charlie. James Lister played Carlos Moreno. 

Eddie Meadows played Eddie Rawlins. Catherine Neilson played Trudie Nunn. Thelma Whiteley played Kathleen Resnick. Judith Fellows played Mother Superior.

Its follow-up miniseries, Widows 2, aired in 1985. A second follow-up, She’s Out, aired in 1995. These sequel “series”─as they’re called in England─cover material not shown in the first book.

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An American remake-miniseries aired in 2002. Geoffrey Sax directed it, from a screenplay by Lynda La Plante. The plot in this version is notably different than its British counterpart.

Mercedes Ruehl played Dolly Rawlins. Brooke Shields played Shirley Heller. Rosie Perez played Linda Perelli. N’Bushe Wright played Bella.

Nigel Bennett played Harry Rawlins. Roman Podhora played Joe Perelli. Neil Crone played Eddie.

Jay O’Sanders played Detective John Maynard. Aidan Devine played Mike Resnick. Jayne Eastwood played Audrey. Colm Feore played Stein.

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The American theatrical film version is scheduled to be released stateside on November 16, 2018. Steve McQueen directed and co-scripted the film. Gillian Flynn was the other co-screenwriter.

Viola Davis played Veronica Rawlins [cinematic stand-in for Dolly Rawlins]. Michelle Rodriguez played Linda. Elizabeth Debicki played Alice. Cynthia Erivo played Belle.

Liam Neeson played Harry Rawlings. Jon Bernthal played Florek. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo played Carlos. Coburn Goss played Jimmy Nunn.

Robert Duvall played Tom Mulligan. Colin Farrell played John Mulligan. Lukas Haas played David. Kevin J. O’Connor played Bobby Welsh.

Jacki Weaver played Agnieska. Carrie Coon played Amanda. Ann Mitchell, who played Dolly Rawlins in the British miniseries versions, played “Amanda’s mother”.

The Outfit, by Richard Stark

(pb; 1963: third book in the Parker series)


From the back cover:

"When the Outfit tries to kill him, Parker declares war. Ripping off the syndicate is easy, but going one-on-one with Bronson, the Outfit's big boss, is the hard part. Hard for anyone but Parker, because the entire underworld understands that whatever Parker does -- he does for keep."


Review:

Outfit, which takes place three months after the events of The Man with the Getaway Face, is as word-lean, intense, entertaining and character-intrinsic as its preceding novels, achieving that last warm-familiar effect by featuring characters from them, namely: Handy McKay (from Getaway) and Bronson and Fairfax (from The Hunter).

Outfit's ending is a direct, promising lead-in to the next Parker novel, The Mourner.

This series is worth owning thus far.

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The resulting film was released stateside in October 1973.  John Flynn, who directed the film, also wrote the screenplay for it.

Robert Duvall played Earl Macklin (cinematic stand-in for Parker).  Karen Black played Bett Harrow.  Timothy Carey played Jake Menner. 

Joe Don Baker played Jack Cody.  Robert Ryan played Mailer.  Joanna Cassidy played Rita Mailer.  Robert Jaeckel played Kimmie Cherney.  Bill McKinney played Buck Cherney.

Marie Windsor played Madge Coyle.  Elisha Cook Jr. (billed as Elisha Cook) played Carl.  Jane Greer played Alma Macklin. 

Sheree North played "Buck's Wife".  Henry Jones played a "Doctor".  Tom Reese played a "Hit Man".   An uncredited Lee De Broux played Walter Kinney.  Army Archerd played Butler.  Roy Jensen played Al.

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

(hb; 2006)

From the inside flap:

"A father and son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands taht stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food -- and each other."

Review:

McCarthy writes in a stark, often monochromatic way, forsaking apostrophes (can't = "cant") and quotation marks. Aside from a drawn-out, Hollyweird-convenient denouement, this masculine-toned and touching novel hooked me. It has an addictive rhythm to it: you won't soon forget this stripped to the core, quickfire read.

The film version, scheduled for a November 25, 2009 stateside release, stars Viggo Mortensen as "The Man". Charlize Theron plays "The Wife". Guy Pearce plays "The Veteran". Robert Duvall plays "Old Man". Molly Parker plays "Veteran's Wife".

John Hillcoat directs, from a script by Joe Penhall.