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| "Don't forget to floss." |
Yesterday
Publishers Weekly Daily ran a special on Mulholland Books with a crapload of original content from its authors, including
Michael Robotham on the top robberies of all time,
Lawrence Block on Matthew Scudder,
Mark Billingham on the perils of writing a series,
Marcia Clark and Sebastian Rotella on how their previous day jobs influenced their writing, and then finally me with a quick rundown of
"Great (Hit) Men I Have Known." I know I forgot a bunch of favorites (Thomas Perry's own "Butcher's Boy," comes to mind, as well as Block's Keller and Allan Guthrie's Park, the hitman who is afraid of blood). But that's the problem with these kinds of lists. You remember half a dozen more the moment you hit "send."
So help me out here, before some creators send their creations after me. Who are your favorite fictional hit men?
(Photo from the wonderful Mr. Peel's Sardine Liqueur.)
13 comments:
Barnes from Jason Pinter's "The Mark" always stuck with me and who could ever forget Brother Mouzone from "The Wire."
Block's Keller has always been way up there. Can't believe the TV series is still "in development".
Did you mention Collins's Quarry? How about Estleman's Macklin?
Since you covered movies what about Ken (Brendan Gleeson) and Ray (Colin Farrell) from the movie "In Bruges"?
first glance I thought that photo was John Lithgow closing in on Nancy Allen in Blow Out
Bill Crider mentioned that two that immediately spring to my mind (along with Keller). There have also been THIS GUN FOR HIRE, Graham Greene; the SILVER BEAR novels (two), Derek Haas; THE KILLER'S GAME, Jay Bonansinga; AN HOUR TO KILL, Edward Wellen; and...well, seems like I've read a number of others, but those are the ones that come to mind. Like you, Duane, it's a favorite genre niche of mine.
~ Ron C.
Oh, and THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE loose trilogy by David Morrell (includes FRATERNITY OF THE STONE and LEAGUE OF NIGHT AND FOG)...though these tend to be less crime-centric and more in the thriller/espionage vein.
~ Ron C.
And if you want to get into film, one of my all-time favorite movies is John Cusak's GROSSE POINTE BLANK, a sentimental coming-home flick that fuses romance, humor and hitmen. How can you go wrong with that?
~ Ron C.
I just so totally dig Alena/Drama from Greg Rucka's wonderful Atticus Kodiak series. What a great character arc.
Come on, now. Anton Chigurh from No Country For Old Men. Vincent (Tom Cruise) from Collateral.
How could you forget?
Macklin would certainly get my vote because of the black humour. In one of the early novels Estleman builds up to a confrontation between his hit man and an oriental martial artist. The tongue-in-cheek resolution echoes the bullwhip v scimitar scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Talking of movies I'd have to mention "Kind Hearts & Coronets" with Dennis Price as a kind of hit man acting on his own behalf and the wonderful Sir Alec Guinness as all 8 of his victims.
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