C.G.EBERLE

Let me start this suggestion(s) by telling you all what happened this past November, maybe a half-a-week before Thanksgiving. It was a miserable, cold, & wet late fall Saturday afternoon, and I was channel surfing, seeing what was on, and in the cable listings I saw coming up on Turner Classic Movies was The First Deadly Sin, starring Frank Sinatra, Faye Dunaway, James Whitmore, & Brenda Vaccaro. I read what the movie was about, half a breath later I knew I going to watch. This was a sure bet for two reasons; 1 it’s no secret I’m a huge mystery fan, and 2 it’s also no secret I’m a huge Sinatra fan, both as a singer & actor. What I didn’t realize back on that late November afternoon was I’d be re-acquainted with favorite mystery author of mine.

​

Lawrence Sanders was a reporter for over twenty years, but had a passion for fiction writing, and  wrote articles for Mechanics Illustrated and Science and Mechanics, but continued to write his fiction, where he churned out short stories and articles for various magazines, then his real break came with the publication of his first novel in 1969. The Anderson Tapes deals with a plot by a group of criminals to rob a luxury apartment building, then the following year Sanders won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for best first novel, and eventually the story was adapted into a movie starring Sean Connery and Dyan Cannon. Also, the novel introduced a character Sander’s would resurrect for four sequels, NYPD Detective Edward X. “Iron Balls” Delaney.

 

Sanders went on to write more than forty mystery novels, numerous series, various memorable fan favorite characters, all while become a New York Times Best Selling author. Then in 1998, at age 78 we lost a remarkable talent. By this point I was already familiar with Lawrence Sanders thanks to my Mom, who introduced me to his Archie McNally series, which debuted in 1991, with McNally’s Secret.  The series revolves around Archie McNally, a Palm Beach insurance investigator, who is surrounded by high society and murder.

 

But for me this re-acquaintance with Sanders really started with Sinatra and what would be his final movie. In 1980 The First Deadly Sin was made into a major motion picture, as they say, and I admit back in November I was hooked from the word go, but if it wasn’t for this accidental viewing, I’d never had made an impulse buy at a local library back in February. Like several public libraries, this branch sells off older, used and donated books, and on this particular day The Third Deadly Sin and The Fourth Deadly Sin were for sale. When I saw the titles I did a Bugs Bunny-esque  double take, and after some fast research, I learned the books were sequels to the movie I’d recently seen, so I paid the $2 for the hardcover, first editions, and dived into the world of “Iron Balls” Delaney head on.

 

In his novels Sanders was able to bring the grittiness of a 1970s New York City to life in these pages, a New York I’ve only seen in movies and television, but ‘seeing’ through a veteran detective’s eyes is something else. In The First Deadly Sin Delany has two major problems; a madman is running around the Big Apple killing men at random, by plunging an ice hammer in through the tops of their skulls. Delany, close to retirement, is assigned to the case, then approached by NYPD officials to work the investigation in secret for them, because a powerful official, who takes the case away from Delany, is looking to advance his political career, at the expense of the department, and is using the murders to his advantage. At the same time Delany’s wife, Barbara is ill in the hospital, and at one point her kidney must be removed, then her condition gets worse.  With the investigation being done secret Delany gains assistance from several civilians who want to aid Delany, or in a few cases needs to help him, which in turn helps them and betters their lives, or a few officers who are only told so much for their own protections.

 

Now I have to stop here and without giving any spoilers away, I gotta be honest and say I found Sanders & The First Deadly Sin (novel that is) a bit long and drawn out periodically. What I mean is Sanders broke the novel in parts, and they alternate from the Killer’s story to Delany’s, and this goes back & forth. I’ve to admit I was never a fan of this style too much, because for me you get into a rhythm of reading one character’s perspective, then it switches. The only other author I’ve read who did this was Sue Grafton, when she wrote T is for Trespass , where Grafton split the points-of-view between her protagonist Kinsey Millhone and the villain, a woman who was a nursing aide, who was stealing from her elderly patients, and was involved in number of deaths, one being a neighbor of Kinsey’s.  I think in looking at the two books what I have an issue with is in Sanders’ case he wrote in the third person, Grafton wrote in the first person, so for me that makes more sense.

 

Despite my feelings on how Sanders wrote the, I admit that the novel is compelling and getting the killer’s side of the story does make the story wholly complete, as opposed to the movie. I’m not saying the film is bad, but like the majority of movies that started out as books, this too came out watered down, which is a crime in my opinion. There really isn’t full character development, except for Delany, to a point, nor full story development. So many points were left out, as were supporting characters that either aided Delany or became part of the Killer’s life. And like a lot of novels made into a movie, the ending was completely different.

 

Don’t let my criticism of the movie and Sanders scare you off, both the novel and film are worth tracking down. If you got some time to kill and are looking for a solid thriller the movie is a great escape, but if you’re looking for a fuller, more complex story I do recommend the novel.

 

One point I feel I need to make here is the follow up novels are not as drawn out as The First Deadly Sin,  even though Sanders follows the same pattern in The Third Deadly Sin, where as in The Second Deadly Sin & The Fourth Deadly Sin the stories follow Delany’s investigations, with the help he gets, because at the end of the first he turns in his papers and retires from the NYPD, but gets called back to help them.   The only real negative thing I’d have to say is I’m a bit disappointed that Sanders ended the Delany Series after 4 (or 5) novels. I’d have loved to seen more of him and his family.

 

It took a little time to hunt down the two Deadly Sin novels and I’ve yet to get The Anderson Tapes, but I will, and as of this writing, I’m halfway done with The Second Delany Sin, I can whole heartedly recommend this saga, believe me it’s worth the hunt. Enjoy.

 

 Till next time, C.G.E.