There is a particular skill to writing novelizations, tie-ins or sequels involving characters that are not of your own devising. It’s tricky: The writer is building upon a world that has already been created by someone else, and that someone else has developed a legion of fans. The author has to be cognizant of all the crazy-ass devotees out there who will remember whether a certain character likes their cigarette with two gold bands or three, but at the same time, the author has to welcome new readers into the literary character’s world and introduce them to why that world is so interesting to begin with.
There’s a reason people don’t like John Gardner’s novels about James Bond and instead prefer Ian Fleming’s. There’s a reason why Doyle’s novels about Sherlock Holmes still outsell every follow-on author’s attempts: It’s hard to beat the original. But – and this is a big but – if you can manage to build off that original, having new authors create fresh material that appeals to both newbies and old-time fans – well, then, my friend, you have a goldmine.
It doesn’t happen often. Bond, Holmes, Dorothy of Oz, Nancy Drew – these characters stand the test of time. The Pink Panther? Perhaps. It’s an interesting conceit that after all the Peter Sellers movies, and the completely disastrous Steve Martin remake (I love Martin, but the movie was dreadful in so many aspects), we can find Pink Panther mystery novels.
The one I’m looking at now is THE PINK PANTHER’S JUST DESSERTS, written by the husband-and-wife team of Marc Cerasini and Alice Alfonsi. This is their second book in the series (the first being THE PINK PANTHER GETS LUCKY), and it’s all a follow-up to noted author Max Allan Collins’ start, simply called THE PINK PANTHER.
First of all, this book gets most of the characters and the worldview right. Inspector Clouseau (and it is impossible to read this book without thinking of Sellers saying these lines, which is a good thing) is just as dimwitted, just as imperious, just as effective as Sellers played him onscreen. His boss, Inspector Dreyfus, has the very same eye twitch that Herbert Lom displayed so well in all the original movies. So we’re on familiar ground in many ways.
But two of the most charming aspects of the original movies are extraordinarily difficult to put across in print: the slapstick comedy and the vocal effects jokes. Watching Sellers pronounce a word in his oddly accented French and reading about the same thing is just not workable. And while Cerasini and Alfonsi try valiantly to include a bit of physical humor in their story, it’s never as funny as watching an actor dismount from the parallel bars and fall down a set of stairs.
To top all that off, the humor in the book isn’t up to snuff. There are some delicious moments, such as when Clouseau is talking about two very comely twins and how he will enjoy partaking of their loins (pork loins, that is), but overall, you’ll find more duds than gems.
Pair that off with a hackneyed plot that involves killing a whole bunch of top-notch chefs (yes, I know you’re thinking of the film WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE?) and ridiculous and annoying set pieces (such as the German group who, of course, is interested in taking over a restaurant franchise in the most Nazified way possible – yawn), and one would think this isn’t worth reading.
Okay, bad stuff done with now, because in the end, I enjoyed the book. Why? Because Cerasini and Alfonsi understand the Pink Panther character, especially as expressed by Sellers. Oh, he’s more sexual here and there’s no Kato, but you really can feel the character in their dialogue. That’s an impressive accomplishment. And if you like the original Pink Panther movies, then I think you’ll like this book. Martin tried to extend the franchise, but his movie was very poorly written (and as co-screenwriter, he’s partly to blame). Perhaps if the Cerasini-Alfonsi team had worked on it, the film might have been better.
But if Hollywood can’t make the Pink Panther live on, you can do so in your own head with this book as inspiration. All the warnings noted, if you like the Blake Edwards films, then you may want to pick up JUST DESSERTS. It’s light and entertaining, and a damn sight more fun than most of the grisly murder mysteries you see on today’s bookshelves. –Mark Rose
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OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• 24 DECLASSIFIED: OPERATION HELL GATE by Marc Cerasini
• 24 DECLASSIFIED: TROJAN HORSE by Marc Cerasini
• WOLVERINE: WEAPON X by Marc Cerasini
Related posts:
- TV’s 24 hits the books
- 24 Declassified: Operation Hell Gate
- Wolverine: Weapon X
- 24 Declassified: Trojan Horse
- Chenoweth strips for FHM
