tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3314114175276248509.post1205590786422642812..comments2023-08-07T08:28:56.965-07:00Comments on The Sexton Blake Blog: W Howard Baker - Espresso Jungle - Sexton Blake LibraryHoonaloon Collectableshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12555714371054226781noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3314114175276248509.post-47534331333921151242016-11-04T10:12:52.984-07:002016-11-04T10:12:52.984-07:00I was interested in your mixed reception of "...I was interested in your mixed reception of "Espresso Jungle", having recently read several Blakes with a pop theme and talked about them to a meeting of London Old Boys' Book Club.<br />Yes, thriller writers can be ignorant as to other aspects of popular culture! But I don't think you are fair to W.H.B., a great hero of mine. Yes, I think he uses 'beatniks' once when he probably should be saying 'teddy boys'. But at the time the likes of Jeremy Thorpe (!) were still saying 'jazz' meaning pop. The Louis Armstrong number and Stupid Cupid (I think Baker misquotes the chorus) were both playing in the background, not selected by the gang. And the story - as you admit - becomes Baker at his best. Hard and exciting. Blake here is essentially Baker's character, moving away from the pipe-smoking pre-New Order protagonist. Moving towards being Richard Quintain, in fact, whose case this subsequently became. Good stuff from WHB.<br />Best wishes, good reading - Roger Sansom Roger Sansomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14881203843931816816noreply@blogger.com