An interesting article. It inspired me to get a used copy of Sutton for a young relative who likes heist stories. (She enjoyed it; if you can recommend any more on that theme, please do so!) I was drawn back here, because it reminded me of some other 1970s crime novels. They may not have been explicitly set in 1975, but they all carry an air of the decade, for lack of a better term.
In the 1970s, I was too young to be actually reading any crime fiction. However, many years after, when I was in high school, my local library sold their hardcover discards for a quarter apiece. I bought a considerable number, dreaming of a life more exciting than polynomial equations and term papers. It took me a while to realize that a quiet life meant that nothing was going wrong. Three in particular stand out. I would be curious if you have read any of them; if not, I do recommend them to a student of that decades' crime fiction
The Nixon Recession Caper , by Ralph Maloney, was published in 1972. Four businessmen in a posh Connecticut find that life is not going as planned. The decade has hit hard for the scion of a prominent WASP family for whom the assurances he grew up with no longer apply, the fashion designer who went all in on the midi skirt, and the advertising exec whose trade was the TV cigarette ad. (I may not have been around at the time, but I read enough about the decade to know what went wrong.) The solution to their problems is, of course, bank robbery. It is a story, not of professional criminals, but of professionals who turn to crime. It has been made into a movie twice, in, of all places, Germany, under the title Four Against The Bank, and with a setting change. It was a TV movie in 1976, and remade as a theatrical release in 2016. Both were directed by Wolfgang Peterson, who presumably really likes the book.
The Seven Day Soldiers, by Tony Kenrick, was published in January 1976, and was presumably written in 1975, so there's that. The theme is similar- three businessmen hit some tough times and decide that doing something illegal (against a deserving target) will set things right. As might be guessed from the title, it doesn't quite go as planned, and they must learn to protect themselves. There are two things about it that remind me of the decade. The first is the theme above. The second is that it includes a major plot twist that I won't spoil, but shortly afterward I would find it repeated in three other thrillers of the decade, leaving me wonder if there was just something in the water. From a quick Google, it appears that there have been a few attempts over the years to make it into a movie, as recently as 2002. It could be interesting if it does. The plot of established civilians having to learn to defend themselves quickly could carry weight in a society where military experience is much less common than it was in the 1970s.
The Great Free Enterprise Gambit, by James Baar was published in 1980 and thus, as every nitpicker likes to point out, technically the last year of the 1970s. Not sure if this should really be called a crime novel. There is plenty of illegality going on, but it is really a comic novel, and a darn good one, wherein a corporate power struggle reaches new heights. I think of it as a very 1970s book in the sense of a time in which a lot of respect for traditional institutions has clearly been lost. The author was a successful businessman so he knew his subject. I can't imagine this being made into a movie; too much of the humor is background commentary that does not really translate to film. However, it was reprinted in 2000, so it evidently made an impact somewhere.
If memory serves, all of these are in the 200 to 300 page range, and probably wouldn't take more than a couple of evenings. If you are not interested, sorry for taking up your time. But thanks again for the chance to ramble about books.
Wow! Thanks so much for this. I like to think that I know a lot about the pop fiction of the 1970s, but not only have I never read any of these, I’d never even heard of them before. In fact I’d never heard of any of these authors at all. I’ve spent the last hour Googling all three of them. They sound like fascinating men, particularly Tony Kenrick, who wrote quite a few books, including one that was turned into a film starring Madonna!
Dylan Thomas once said that “The memories of childhood have no order and no end.” The same seems to be true of 1970s fiction. Just when I think I’ve encountered every single pop fiction title of the era, I discover a whole trove of stuff I never heard of before. I will have to check these guys out.
As far as other weird books of the era, you might want to check out Denny Hatch’s novel Cedarhurst Alley, which is about (wait for it) airplane noise. Another favorite is Sunflower by Marilyn Sharp. Sharp was the wife of an Indiana Congressman and a very accomplished woman in her own right. The opening chapter of Sunflower is a virtual clinic on how to hook a reader. But from there the plot becomes so insanely over the top that it’s hard to take seriously (although not to enjoy). It involves an attempt by the CIA to kidnap the President’s young daughter and sneak her out of the family compound inside ( wait for it) a giant stuffed panda bear.
After Watergate, pop fictioneers began churning out all kinds of crazy political thrillers. America’s real life politics had become so bizarre that pop novelists figured that the public could swallow just about any crazy plot as long as it involved the White House, the CIA, and various villainous rogues.
Thanks again for the recommendations. I will definitely get hold of those books, although god alone knows when I will get around to reading them. My TBR pile is so high right now that I won’t live long enough to scale its heights.
An interesting article. It inspired me to get a used copy of Sutton for a young relative who likes heist stories. (She enjoyed it; if you can recommend any more on that theme, please do so!) I was drawn back here, because it reminded me of some other 1970s crime novels. They may not have been explicitly set in 1975, but they all carry an air of the decade, for lack of a better term.
In the 1970s, I was too young to be actually reading any crime fiction. However, many years after, when I was in high school, my local library sold their hardcover discards for a quarter apiece. I bought a considerable number, dreaming of a life more exciting than polynomial equations and term papers. It took me a while to realize that a quiet life meant that nothing was going wrong. Three in particular stand out. I would be curious if you have read any of them; if not, I do recommend them to a student of that decades' crime fiction
The Nixon Recession Caper , by Ralph Maloney, was published in 1972. Four businessmen in a posh Connecticut find that life is not going as planned. The decade has hit hard for the scion of a prominent WASP family for whom the assurances he grew up with no longer apply, the fashion designer who went all in on the midi skirt, and the advertising exec whose trade was the TV cigarette ad. (I may not have been around at the time, but I read enough about the decade to know what went wrong.) The solution to their problems is, of course, bank robbery. It is a story, not of professional criminals, but of professionals who turn to crime. It has been made into a movie twice, in, of all places, Germany, under the title Four Against The Bank, and with a setting change. It was a TV movie in 1976, and remade as a theatrical release in 2016. Both were directed by Wolfgang Peterson, who presumably really likes the book.
The Seven Day Soldiers, by Tony Kenrick, was published in January 1976, and was presumably written in 1975, so there's that. The theme is similar- three businessmen hit some tough times and decide that doing something illegal (against a deserving target) will set things right. As might be guessed from the title, it doesn't quite go as planned, and they must learn to protect themselves. There are two things about it that remind me of the decade. The first is the theme above. The second is that it includes a major plot twist that I won't spoil, but shortly afterward I would find it repeated in three other thrillers of the decade, leaving me wonder if there was just something in the water. From a quick Google, it appears that there have been a few attempts over the years to make it into a movie, as recently as 2002. It could be interesting if it does. The plot of established civilians having to learn to defend themselves quickly could carry weight in a society where military experience is much less common than it was in the 1970s.
The Great Free Enterprise Gambit, by James Baar was published in 1980 and thus, as every nitpicker likes to point out, technically the last year of the 1970s. Not sure if this should really be called a crime novel. There is plenty of illegality going on, but it is really a comic novel, and a darn good one, wherein a corporate power struggle reaches new heights. I think of it as a very 1970s book in the sense of a time in which a lot of respect for traditional institutions has clearly been lost. The author was a successful businessman so he knew his subject. I can't imagine this being made into a movie; too much of the humor is background commentary that does not really translate to film. However, it was reprinted in 2000, so it evidently made an impact somewhere.
If memory serves, all of these are in the 200 to 300 page range, and probably wouldn't take more than a couple of evenings. If you are not interested, sorry for taking up your time. But thanks again for the chance to ramble about books.
Wow! Thanks so much for this. I like to think that I know a lot about the pop fiction of the 1970s, but not only have I never read any of these, I’d never even heard of them before. In fact I’d never heard of any of these authors at all. I’ve spent the last hour Googling all three of them. They sound like fascinating men, particularly Tony Kenrick, who wrote quite a few books, including one that was turned into a film starring Madonna!
Dylan Thomas once said that “The memories of childhood have no order and no end.” The same seems to be true of 1970s fiction. Just when I think I’ve encountered every single pop fiction title of the era, I discover a whole trove of stuff I never heard of before. I will have to check these guys out.
As far as other weird books of the era, you might want to check out Denny Hatch’s novel Cedarhurst Alley, which is about (wait for it) airplane noise. Another favorite is Sunflower by Marilyn Sharp. Sharp was the wife of an Indiana Congressman and a very accomplished woman in her own right. The opening chapter of Sunflower is a virtual clinic on how to hook a reader. But from there the plot becomes so insanely over the top that it’s hard to take seriously (although not to enjoy). It involves an attempt by the CIA to kidnap the President’s young daughter and sneak her out of the family compound inside ( wait for it) a giant stuffed panda bear.
After Watergate, pop fictioneers began churning out all kinds of crazy political thrillers. America’s real life politics had become so bizarre that pop novelists figured that the public could swallow just about any crazy plot as long as it involved the White House, the CIA, and various villainous rogues.
Thanks again for the recommendations. I will definitely get hold of those books, although god alone knows when I will get around to reading them. My TBR pile is so high right now that I won’t live long enough to scale its heights.