The Backup Men
A Mac McCorkle Mystery

This is another very satisfying entry in Ross Thomas's series featuring Washington, D.C. saloon owners, Mac McCorkle and Michael Padillo. McCorkle appears to be born for the job of running a saloon, but Padillo was formerly employed by a shadowy government agency and his past life continues to intru......more

it was my first Ross Thomas thriller and i enjoyed every minute of reading. so should give 4.5 4.7as 5 i give only to old classics. if you look for a serious plot forget it. it seems like any plot will do here but the language, the characters wow. sometimes i felt to compare to great old Chandler as......more

Ross Thomas has long been on my authors-to-read list, but I've only managed a few of his titles. For audiobook fans like me it's wonderful to discover these new recordings of classic crime titles, books by Thomas among them. Brian Holsopple reads well with multiple accents and a great appreciation f......more

McCorkle and Padilla are the backup men. They run an upscale restaurant in DC and both have backgrounds working off the books for the U.S. government or even shadier people. The job here is to guard a Middle Eastern king about to come into a fortune in oil leases. Padilla is the serious and athletic......more

Not sure how I could have missed Ross Thomas over the years. I have read two of his books now and both were excellent. Padillo and McCorkle are recurring characters in Thomas’s novels. An unlikely pair of sidekicks, they partner in owning a bar in Washington. Both have somewhat shady but apparently......more