| Title | : | Black Sunday |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0451217411 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780451217417 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 320 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1975 |
Black Sunday Reviews
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Are you nostalgic for post-Vietnam, early Middle East conflict, height of the cold war espionage/terrorist thrillers? Well, then look no further because all of your interests will be satisfied with Black Sunday. I would say that that this story has not necessarily aged well in that a person not familiar with the political climate of the late 70s/early 80s may not get it, but as a representation of the world at that time I think it is a pretty good throwback. Now, I was only a little kid at that time, so most of what I remember of that time is from history class, but it seems like Harris did a pretty good job.
When it comes to pacing of the book, it is about 90% exposition and 10% action/climax/resolution. There are many very long chapters to tell the story of the main characters and how they got to be where they are. This is not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing – it is just a thing. If you like exposition and back story, you should be good to go. But, if that is not your thing, the first 75% of the book (or so) might drag.
I recommend this book to fans of James Bond, Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, etc. I don’t think you can go wrong here if you are a political thriller nut.
Side note: Harris is better known for his Hannibal Lecter books. There in not even a slight hint of that here. So, if you are a Harris fan because of those and are hoping for more – you will not find it in Black Sunday. -
Review of Kindle edition
Publication date: February 1, 2001
Publisher: Berkley
Language: English
ASIN: B002DMZ9U4
324 pages
Before serial killers Hannibal Lecter and Francis Dolarhyde there was terrorist and mass murderer Dahlia Iyad and madman Michael Lander. Before FBI agents Will Graham, Clarice Starling and Jack Crawford there was agent Sam Corley and Israeli Mossad agent David Kabakov. These are the main protagonists in Thomas Harris' first novel, BLACK SUNDAY. Published in 1975 after the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists and long before 9/11, this was a relatively early novel about Palestinian/Islamic terrorists and mass murder in the name of their cause.
The plot is to hijack the Aldrich Blimp, the novel's stand in for the Goodyear blimp, and convert it to what would essentially be a giant claymore mine. Then explode this giant claymore at the Superbowl thereby killing and maiming multiple thousands of people. Sam Corley and David Kabakov race against time to stop this monstrous plot.
The novel attracted little attention until it was adapted into a 1977 John Frankenheimer movie starring Robert Shaw. Since then, several editions have been published. It is one of only two Thomas Harris novels without Hannibal Lecter.
It is a well written, tense and exciting novel featuring Thomas Harris' usual insights into his characters and life in general. One of my favorites is this quote:
"And then he realized that he loved the eagle better than the sheep and that he always would and that, because he did, because it was in him to do it, he could never be perfect in the sight of God." Introspection by Mossad agent David Kabakov remembering seeing an eagle kill its prey. Of course Christians know that we can never be perfect, but can be forgiven. -
"Black Sunday" is one of the big thriller/suspense novels from the 1970's. It's up there with "Jaws", "The Exorcist" and "Marathon Man". I can remember seeing used copies at garage-sales and used bookstores for many years. Also, like the other novels I named, it was made into a big budget A-list movie during that decade. I was curious to see how it's aged over the past forty years. I was also curious to see how much Mr. Harris changed his writing style so I finally picked up a copy. I was pleased to see that the copy I acquired was printed in 1976; I have vivid memories of the Bantam book cover art from that time period. A blast from the past.
I find that it's aged very well though that might have something to do with my age (I'm forty-seven at the time of writing this review). It lacks detailed sexual encounters ,which I don't mind, and the violence isn't really that graphic. The details in the book showed that Mr. Harris did his research and ,of course, there is a prophetic aspect to the story that delivers a zing even forty years later. The villains are three-dimensional and it's easy to see some prototype modeling regarding Dr. Lector. One thing that I like as well is that his heroes are not perfect superior Human beings. They have flaws, they make mistakes, but they drive on. They also lack arrogance. Too many writers mistake arrogance for confidence and I don't like arrogant people - in fiction or real life.
Like most first novels Mr. Harris had not yet found his style, but I can detect aspects of his later writing in some parts. There are elements of "Silence of the Lambs" and "Red Dragon" in the writing. Especially in the character backgrounds and the focus on their peculiar habits, but the psychological details don't seem to be as refined. However that doesn't hurt the book. "Black Sunday" isn't a novel about serial killers. It is a novel about angry people who kill for reasons that are political and personal. They have much in common with Buffalo Bill and Dr. Lector, but they operate on a different stage.
A good novel that had the good fortune (or bad depending on how you look at it) to be more prophetic that anyone would have dreamed in 1975. As a result it's a novel that holds up very well and has a very modern feel to it. It has more character and plot than younger readers might expect from a suspense novel about terrorism, but if you can take the time it's still worth reading. -
I read this long ago, long before 9/11 I mean, and now that I read it again I find that reality has dismally caught up with the plot. Written and set in the middle of the 1970s I thought it might have become a little dated by now, but it isn’t. Even without all the technology and stuff that has been invented in the last 45 years or so the story is still captivating and the pace was just right for me. There are a few insertions that shed light on the past of the prota- and antagonists and help explain their motives, and I have to say the psychology of the characters is fleshed out rather well. Better than many “modern” thrillers I suppose.
This was Thomas Harris’ debut novel, and I’ll probably check out his new one called Cari Mora, which will be published later this month (after a break of 13 years).
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. -
Before the Hannibal Lecter’s books Thomas Harris wrote “the Black Sunday” in the 70’s. The book describes the terroristic group which is willing to strike the USA. They are planning to kill the president of the USA and 80.000 men along with him in the stadium by the blimp filled with the high explosive, plastid.
The terrorists, Dahlia and Najer recruit the American, Landen who suffered a lot in Vietnam War. He shows his willing to blast the blimp. Dahlia is expert in making people expendable, she’s psychologist. She feels that Larden is not bluffing. She suggests his candidature to the terrorists as a reliable person.
Mayor, Kabakov is sent from Israel to help Americans in catching ‘em. He’s skilled anti-terrorist agent of Massad. He killed Najer but hesitated to kill Dahlia as well, in hotel with Najer in Beirut. He thought she was his slut. Afterwards, he regretted very much for not killing her.
Dahlia killed lots of people who would have intervened with their plan of mass slaying. Kabakov doesn’t know in what way they want to strike.
But in the end when seeing approaching blimp in the air to the stadium he thought quick ad decided to use a chopper to intercept the blimp. He with the FBI agent kills Dahlia and turns the blimp to the riverside near the stadium. Laden could detonate the charge but in that time the blimp was not on the stadium so the casualties were only 512. Unfortunately, Mayor Kabakov was dead. But he saved thousands of people. -
I remember reading Thomas Harris's
Black Sunday in damn near one sitting. I got it when it first came out and it bowled me over. The movie did not disappoint either. I know I'll be drawn and quartered on some level here, but it remains my favourite Harris novel. -
I have to say that I really enjoyed this book.
This is a book about terrorism, fanaticism and retribution.
One has to read this book with an eye to how the world was in 1975, when the book was first published.
The Palestinians, PLO, hate the Jews. The Jews hate the PLO. Both hate with fatalistic fanaticism. The war in Vietnam is over and there are a lot troubled veterans back in the USA.
Michael Lander is one of these troubled vets. Troubled by PSTD Michael wants to die but in so doing want to take lots of people with him.
Arab terrorists know of Michael’s desire and encourage and help him to reach his goal. His goal is to fly a blimp packed with plastic explosives into the Super Bowl and kill himself along with 80,000 innocent bystanders.
Then there is the Israeli Mossad lead by David Kabakov. David Kabakov is every bit as fanatical in his hatred for the PLO. With all this hatred death has to be inevitable.
David’s main concern is to stop the terrorists from killing 80,000 people but more than anything he wants the head of the leader of the terrorist cell. A man he has been chasing for years.
The book is well written with lots of tension and pace.
Looking at the world today, forty years later, nothing has really changed.
Highly recommended as a page turning thriller. -
When your plot line involves a major terrorist attack, there are some plot elements which are unavoidable : the pace that builds up until the D-day, terrorists and law enforcement trying to outwit each other every step of the way, a couple of romantic flings on either side of the law and then the whole world goes to hell ! Black Sunday is no different and within the premise of the story, Thomas Harris brings the Israel-Palestine conflict to the heart of America.
When you set out to read this book, don't think of this as a work by the author of Silence of the Lambs ! This would seriously dampen your enjoyment levels but if you think of it as another thriller by an author who is as yet unknown to you. While the Israeli Mossad and the Palestinian Al Fatah battle it out on the streets of New Orleans, the American intelligence agencies are reduced mostly to bystanders. The climax is not one that is not anticipated but still a cliff hanger. You will get a whiff of Thomas Harris's later work only in one character and his name is Michael Lander and that perhaps is the only place where the story moves away from the realm of cliche.
A decent enough thriller. -
Welcome to Thomas Harris first and stand alone novel about a terrorist attack on US ground. For those interested this books has been filmed as well starring Robert Shaw (jaws, The Deep & From Russia with Love) and Marthe Keller (famous European movie star that never had a stellar career but a fascinating face nonetheless). The movie is worth your while due to actors more than the story.
This book actually tells you more about the motives and feelings of the "baddies" than the hero's. It is a very classic terrorism plot in perhaps an old school thriller that keeps you interested until the last page. The hero being an Israeli Intelligence officer on the hunt of the survivors of Black September (who were involved with the Munich massacre) who are this time aiming at the US because of their weapon deliveries to the state of Israel. In the opening of the book we find Israeli commandos attacking the lord of Black September (It felt like a flashback to the Spielberg "Munich" movie even if that one was filmed much later) and we find out about the okay given to an attack on the Superbowl by the terrorists who were approached by an American combat pilot who became an POW and felt his live was destroyed by his government. The baddies are more dimensional in their descriptions than the hero side of the story which feels like the average conflict between intelligence services.
Why 4 stars because like the early Lecter books Harris does show very much skill of telling a story which is difficult the put away. It is a well written book and its subject is not that old style but perhaps very much more actual than we would like.
I was glad to re-read this book as my paperback has long ago disappeared and I was glad to recover it Hardback version. Some books leave a memory behind and you want to recover them to see if they were really that good. I felt not short changed at any moment, perhaps since I prefer the old style thrillers the seventies and eighties when live seemed somehow easier. -
I have to admit first that the premise didn't sound exiting to me, but when I found out the author of the Hannibal series had an earlier book I just had to read it.
Harris' style is already noticable here, although it is improved in later books. It is actually a more quiet book for most of it than one would expect from the premise. It is also very character driven, which I enjoyed. The character moments and the way Harris discusses these people are the best things about the book. They are multilayered and interesting in the sense that I didn't really knew which, if any, side I wished to succeed. Obviously, the good guys, but I didn't "like" them and the terrorists were more fascinating to read about.
Like expected, I didn't get that much enjoyment from the actual plot, but I don't think that that's the authors fault for the most part. It's just not my topic. -
Lots of tension and suspense in this debut by the author which was published back in 1975. The terrorism plot was realistic, though sometimes it did becomes mired down in the technical details of the plan, and the characters and their motivations were well drawn. A good first effort though his later works were much more polished.
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A decent, if not by any means excellent, early thriller by the guy who would go on to write the Hannibal Lector books.
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Frankly I can't give a **** about the recent and far-fetched, 'Hannibal Lecter' saga. I think that though it is the more popular, it is clearly the less thoughtful or compelling work from Harris' career; it smacks of "pandering" (as do the works of Brett Easton Ellis) to the usual morbid American fascination with blood-and-gore. That's what the high sales of that franchise say to me.
Instead, I say the peak moment of Harris' writing career came with this novel, 'Black Sunday'. Why? Because its written with realism, the much more difficult task for the novelist. It was the most realistic novel of terrorism in its day; and in many ways still is.
At the time of publication, it was certainly head-and-shoulders above anything else anyone had ever done. Comparable technical detail was found only in one other work, Frederick Forsyth's 'The Day of the Jackal'. And that was it. Just these two titles. They held kingly court at the top of the hierarchy of 1970s thriller fiction...and that situation lasted for years. You used to see them in paperback carrels--distinctive from all other books--their tattered covers and well-thumbed pages indicating just how effective they were. 'Black Sunday' in particular, has one of the all-time best paperback artwork. Just look at it! Its as memorable as the cover for 'Jaws'.
Happily, both Harris' and Forsyth's tales were both turned into incredible, taut, tight, well-formed movie adaptations --both blessed with quality productions by two top directors--thankfully, reflecting the caliber of the books.
'Black Sunday' is disturbing then and disturbing now. It was prescient to the state-of-affairs we tolerate today (when every morning we awake, could find us confronted with yet another bloodbath in the headlines). The book is archetypical; containing a plot so singular and vivid, that no one else can ever copy it; and yet universal. We know that sooner or later something like this --stemming from the same raw elements--could always occur on our shores.
Its not simply a 'product of its time' --as so many thrillers are. The topicality in this thriller never goes away. It still makes people nervous and insecure. It raises questions and doubts in reader's minds: is the United States really *at fault* in our relations with other cultures? (Yes, we are). The motives of the books' villains can't be brushed aside; Harris' vision faithfully reflects what's out there in the real world. This novel is just one scenario of something which could conceivably occur at any time.
So: 'Black Sunday' is simply unique. Fiction which constantly straddles the junction between entertaining yarn and fearsome actuality. Its an important work; affording provincial Americans just the tiniest, briefest, glimpse of the international perspective. The contrast between our placid homefront-- and that of the political struggle of distant peoples--is vivid and sharp.
Sure, the action-rich plot is a nail-biter but there's this extraordinary extra dimension which underpins everything the entertainment. Its hard-hitting/visceral entertainment and thought-provoking political science, both. As I asserted at the start of this review: this cogency makes it far more formidable than Harris' other thriller about a lone, wacko, cannibal. It puts it in a class shoulder-to-shoulder with ...well, perhaps only Forsyth's Jackal.
Best moment in the book? When the Israeli agent asks the FBI chief, "What exactly is this..' Super-bowl'?" -
Фен съм на Томас Харис и въпреки че филмите по книгите му са страхотни (Мълчанието на Агнетата, Червения Дракон, Ханибал), книгите си остават дори още по-добри. Случайно на последния панаир на книгата открих на щанда на "Колибри" първия роман на автора - Черна Неделя. Заинтригуван си го купих, макар да няма нищо общо с Ханибал Лектър.
"Когато в неделя в Ню Орлиънс започне мачът за Суперкупата, 80 000 души най-добре да се приготвят да умрат. Защото Майкъл Ландър не само обича експлозивите, но е и много, много луд..."
Книгата излиза в Щатите още 1975. Въпреки че отношенията с Русия и Израел се позатоплят, в света все още хората са на тръни, особено в САЩ - войната във Виетнам тъкмо е приключила, преди три години е било мюнхенското клане, миналата година Уотъргейт, 73-а Войната от Йом Кипур и преврата на Пиночет... Психотрилърът, акцентиращ върху бомбен атентат и тероризма е особено актуален - не само за времето си, а и сега.
Едно не може да се отрече на Томас Харис - талантът му да опише личността на абсолютен аутсайдер и побърканяк, не само да те убеди в реалното му съществуване, а и да те пусне вътре в главата му, описвайки ти извратената логика на болното му съзнание. Какво се получава, когато странно малко хлапе има гаден, скапан живот? Психопат като Майкъл Ландър, разбира се.
Като започнем от дребните простотии, свързани с тормоз в училище и стигнем до няколкогодишния престой във Виетнам като военопленник, нищо чудно, че Майкъл е така откачен. Ала не могат да се отрекат и уменията му на отличен техник, на перфектен пилот и то не на какво да е, а на дирижабъл. През войната Майкъл пилотира военноморски дирижабъл, но тези машини вече са спрени от експлоатация. Нищо, дирижабли все още се използват, макар и по-малки, макар и за цивилни цели - например да се снима от птичи поглед футболен мач.
В болния мозък на Ландър вече се оформя план и той се среща с Далия Айяд - красива едрогърда терористка от Черният Септември, подразделение на Ал-Фатах, отговорно за убийството на израелски спортисти на олимпийските игри в Мюнхен. Далия прави невъзможното за Майкъл, една от причините за развода му - върнал се е от Виетнам импотентен, а с Далия отново може да вдига... дирижабъла.
Пъкленият план е да изтрепят всичките 80 000 и кусур хора, които ще са на стадион "Тюлейн", за да гледат мача за Суперкупата - включително и президента на САЩ. Майкъл има подкрепата на фанатици и специалисти като Далия и елитни терористи като Ал-Фатах. Срещу него обаче се изправят американското разузнаване, тайните служби, ЦРУ, ФБР и прочее. Изправя се и безмилостният майор Давид Кабаков от МОСАД, за когото добрият арабин е мъртвият арабин.
Ще успее ли прецизно подготвеният атентат? Разберете сами на страниците на "Черна Неделя". -
Although written in the early 70's, BLACK SUNDAY reads just like a season of the TV show "24," only with an Israeli version of Jack Bauer as the only thing standing between us and the terrorists. This is Harris' debut novel, and, as such, the writing stumbles here and there, but the story is exciting, deftly plotted, and surprisingly realistic. The most amazing thing about this book, though, is that, other than the occasional use of a telex, nothing in the novel stands out as being particularly dated. A very un-PC novel in this day and age, but remarkably prescient when one looks back on it. Harris also does a great job here with the psychology of his characters--a skill which would later come in very handy when crafting his magnificent SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.
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A solid international intrigue thriller. The fact that it was written in 1975 did wonders for the context considering that I read it in 2016. This book was on the ball ahead of its time.
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A disillusioned Vietnam vet gets in touch with Black September, the architects of the Olympic massacre in Munich in '72. He plans to kill as many innocents as possible in the USA, and the terrorists are happy to oblige with money and explosives.
Written in '77 during the fervor of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the author of "Silence of the Lambs" has crafted a most engaging action/adventure yarn. The main players are Kabakov, the Jewish commando who will do anything to take down the bad guy's plans and extract retribution. Dahlia and Fasil, terrorists. Lander, the former POW who's turned his back on his country.
The last 10 pages of this book are in my top 3 fictional literary chase scenes, along with those in "The Fifth Horseman" by Collins and "Darkfall" by Koontz. Funny, these were all written between '77 and '84. Maybe I'm just old? -
La historia logra su cometido, aunque no es mi tema favorito.
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Thomas Harris has only written five books. I had read four of them before picking up Black Sunday. Harris' only non-Hannibal Lecter novel, it concerns a plot to set off a bomb over the Super Bowl via an advertising blimp.
Black Sunday suffers in the same way that Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon do when read today in that Harris' books have been virtually strip-mined by Hollywood. I'm not just talking about adaptations into television and film… I'm talking the very DNA of Harris' work has wormed its' way into every procedural and crime story that exists in the 21st century. That makes approaching Black Sunday a little bit difficult - it reads somewhat like a taught knock-off of a lot of what's out there, until you realize… no, all that other stuff is aping Harris!
Getting beyond that, as I said, it's a taught thriller. Even at his earliest, Harris is so good at capturing little moments and details that tell you more about the characters than dialogue or narration ever could. I enjoyed the way Harris doesn't seem to give a shit whether or not you like Kabakov and Moshevsky until he builds up enough small details whereby you find yourself surprised by how much you like them. Harris is also deft at juggling perspectives and unlike many writers, when he shifts to a new character… you don't really get a trace of previous characters.
Having said that, Black Sunday has a few issues. There are a few "info dump" chapters which I felt slowed things down considerably. There were a couple of plot cul-de-sacs that did almost nothing for me; a late-in-the-story visit from Lander's wife seemed off-point, although I understand how Harris used her as motivation for Lander's sickness.
If I'm forced to choose between 3 and 4 starts on here… I choose 3. It's a solid suspense tale and a quick read. While those things sometimes proclaim "disposable", I found Black Sunday to be anything but. At the same time, there was weakness to this book I couldn't ignore. It's more like 3.5 stars for me. -
“An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth,” is mentioned in every religious base. Lex talionis or the rule of retribution is expounded in a multitude of antiquated documents and teachings. In the 1970’s the Palestinian, like a soon to be active volcano, began spewing hate (like ash) to the surface and covering the world. The kidnapping of Israeli 1972 Olympic athletes in Munich was just the beginning. United States policy was to supply Israel with the means to defend its property and people against outside aggression. It was time for this country to reconsider its foreign policies. If a nudge from Palestine was the necessary catalyst to affect this change then so be it; they were ready to take it to the next level. What better way to grab the attention of the American masses then to attack their greatest yearly event; the Super Bowl.
Is this a reader’s zenith of international intrigue, espionage and stratagem or is it the epiphany of some future unspeakable terror? This book was first published in 1975, a mere two years after the terrorists acts that marred the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Twenty-six years later, on September 11, 2001, the largest terrorist act was perpetrated in the United States. When collateral damage is the sole object of the act this fits the bill.
This is the second book written by Thomas Harris but no one then could foresee the laurels he would someday reap when he turns his attention from international intrigue to national terror in The Silence of the Lambs. -
Thomas Harris could never be considered prolific, but he almost became a household name when he had the fortune of publishing three of his five novels at a pivotal time in pop culture history. Film versions of his novels have permanently overshadowed his books, however, and even though some would argue that they are precisely as popular as they deserve to be, or perhaps even slightly overrated, I would offer that they are the teeny-tiniest bit underrated (I am holding my index finger and thumb approximately a half inch apart).
But six years before his big splash with serial murder, his first book, Black Sunday (published in 1975), was an efficient enough crime thriller about a novel way to drop a bomb on a Super Bowl, and it was just popular enough for him to quit his day job as a crime reporter. But in spite of a fairly successful film adaptation containing at least one iconic scene of the Goodyear Blimp sinking down on the 50-yard line during the game, Harris’ real superstar status was still to come. And while his Michael Lander is no Hannibal Lecter, Harris's first test-run with a book front-loaded with a focus on the crazy worked like crazy. -
I suppose this review will contain some pretty significant plot spoilers, but nothing a moderately astute reader won't see coming after reading the first quarter of the book.
I could go on for a while about the pros and cons of Black Sunday, but basically it would boil down to the book being dated and Thomas Harris being a damn good writer.
I did have one major problem with the plot that ruined the whole thing for me. -
Early on, you learn that the terrorists' goal is to arm a blimp with a bomb and detonate it at the Super Bowl. The story would be totally lame if the bomb never got to the blimp and the blimp never got into the air. Because of this, every plot twist and obstacle Harris throws at his bad guys is completely sucked-dry of tension. You know what the set-up for the final showdown is going to be, so it's just a lot of pointless scenes that go exactly where you expect. The climax of the story is well done, but overall I don't recommend this one. -
Opera prima di un grande
Ho iniziato a leggere questo libro nell'estate del 2001, ma poi dopo l'11 settembre non ce l'ho fatta ad andare avanti e l'ho messo da parte.
Harris è così bravo a farti entrare nella mente dei personaggi, in questo caso dei terroristi, che davvero è difficile non farsi coinvolgere.
L'ho ripreso anni dopo e l'ho finito in un baleno.
Sebbene scritto un bel po' di anni fa (1975) già in questo libro ci sono tutti gli elementi che caratterizzano le opere di questo autore e sono stata colpita da quella che chiamo la sindrome Harris (perché nessun altro autore mi fa questo effetto, che invece si è manifestato con tutti i suoi libri): cioè quella strana sindrome per cui sei così preso dal libro che sei costretto a portartelo dietro e leggere anche solo una paginetta nei tempi morti pur di andare avanti e sapere cosa succede dopo.
Fantastico. -
I see a lot of the reviewers finding this novel boring and cliche. I find that quite funny. Had Harris written this novel in 2005, those statements would perhaps have some merit. Give that the novel was written in the 1970s, it's more prophetic than cliche. It's also interesting that people see hate-filled stereotypes when the bad guys come from many corners and at least two of them elicit some pretty powerful sympathy during parts of the work. More evidence of sheeple allowing others to do their thinking, I suppose.
No, this isn't Hannibal Lecter, but I can see him lurking in the background. Don't read this because you are disappointed Harris hasn't churned out another Hannibal novel. Read it because he's written about the center of all violence: pain and misunderstanding and selfishness, leading to blind hate. -
i have been reading Thomas Harris books since I was 12 years old. I was the only 6th grader who could announce she had already read silence of the lambs twice before the movie came out. Since then I have revisited the novel Red Dragon so many times that I could read the lines from memory along with the actors of the movie. So i was excited to read Black Sunday as one of his ealier works, but was extremely disappointed. So much so that I can't even finish the book. The charcters are unbelieveable. Too much of the details are still left in Thomas Harris' mind, since they are definitely not on the pages. Obviously he hit a gold mine with Hannibal Lector and that is as far as his talent can be extended.
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It is hard to believe that the same person who wrote the Hannibal Lecter books wrote this book. Black Sunday is a well written run of the mill thriller about international and domestic terrorists. It was good, I liked the back stories of some of the main characters, you understand the motivations a bit better. There was a part in the book where the FBI says that a suspects clothes were American made which sent me scrambling for the copyright date. The book was written in the 70's, but doesn't seem overly dated. I hope I can find the movie, it has Quint, from Jaws, playing one of the main characters.
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This was pretty good. It was published in 1975 and doesn't seem overly dated apart from the lack of mobile phones and internet.
Books like this scare me more than 'horror' novels - the scary thing is, the factions that feature in this book are still here and this scenario is chillingly plausible.. -
Entertaining. Especially for those who enjoy crime thrillers. It indulges in the psychology between the antagonist-protagonist which would become a hallmark of Thomas Harris's books.
I most likely would not enjoy it as much on the re-read but when i read this I was going through a 1970s fiction a thon and this book fit in nicely. Expect to read some cliches.
65% -
The first offering (from 1975) of Hannibal-creator Thomas Harris is a suspenseful and relentless thriller about a terrorist attack. In its genre it is really good.
