The Golden Gate – Alistair MacLean, 1976 ★½

Hijackers with Manners

This is a singularly strange action yarn where the bad guys are more likable than the good guys and the crime scene includes jape-filled press conferences and hostage-takers who pause for photographs.

“I’ve never been responsible for anybody’s death in my life,” says the top hijacker, a fellow named Branson. It’s a kind of villainous boast you don’t expect, but he really means it.

In the opening chapter, Branson and his henchmen execute a plot that nets him not only the President of the United States and two Arab oil potentates but also the Golden Gate Bridge. His price to release them: half a billion dollars, as well as pardons for him and his team.

Death In The Afternoon – Ernest Hemingway, 1932 ★★★★

Baedeker of Blood

Imagine the life of a Spanish bullfighter, circa 1931. You risk life and limb in an era before modern medicine can treat your worst injuries or video can immortalize your finest kills. There’s a depression on, civil war looming and a fanbase that tends to throw things at you when annoyed.

Now add to all this pain some know-it-all American who wants to immortalize you by calling the world’s attentions on your shabby technique in the ring, your homely face, and even your lack of courage at doing something no sane person would try.