We’re taking a minor detour this week by covering three books that were all made into movies. Now to be honest, I’ve seen two of them recently. All three also star some pretty top-notch actors of whom everyone should be a fan.

THE ANDERSON TAPES by Lawrence Sanders – The whole of this 1969 novel is told through tape recordings and interviews, all from a time where it seems every apartment the characters were in were bugged, for reasons explained in each chapter. This book just cruises by and tells a thrilling page-turner, to the point where I read it a lot faster than I believed possible. The main “character” is John “Duke” Anderson, an ex-con fresh out of prison who has started seeing a wealthy woman living in a ritzy apartment. This gives Anderson ideas of a score like no other.

Instead of just robbing one apartment, he plans a caper to rob the whole building. As I said, ANDERSON is told mainly through transcribed tape recordings, so you don’t get any thought processes or inner monologues. But this does not take away from character development, as you are clearly painted a picture of all those involved, including bits that were never put into the 1971 movie, since it was mainly of a sex-fetish variety. I mean, can you see Sean Connery being whipped and chained? Perv.

THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE by John Godey – Long before it became a lyric for the Beastie Boys and a few years before Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau butted heads in the 1974 movie, this tight little thriller of a book was out there in 1973. (If you haven’t seen it, get it – it’s pure ’70s cinema that still works. But avoid the awful TV remake from 1998.) PELHAM deals with a subway train being hijacked by four desperate men. That’s really the whole book in a nutshell.

But what makes it stands out is that you get inside each person’s mind throughout the story. I’m not just talking about the hijackers and the cops, but also the hostages, each having a bit of backstory with one being a undercover cop harboring feelings of how he can escape and take control. You’re probably asking yourself “But where’s the suspense?” Take my word for it: This book is tense and a total ride. You really feel for the hostages and to see the plan come together is just great.

Now to go back to the movie for a bit: Yes, there are some things left out. But at the same time, a huge point in the movie is not even part of the book. I’ll just say the film’s ending is vastly superior.

THE FREEDOM TRAP (1971) by Desmond Bagley – You know sometimes you just don’t know what you can find. I grabbed this book for the grand total of a quarter at a church rummage sale, with the main selling point being that super-cool cover to your right. I know there was never a film called THE FREEDOM TRAP, its title changed to the cooler-sounding MACKINTOSH MAN. (Yeah, that Paul Newman film where he runs around Ireland.)

Our narrator Reardon arrives in England from South Africa to meet up with a man called Mackintosh. Reardon is a bit of a thief and Makintosh has set up a score for him involving a jewel heist. But once this is done, Reardon is picked up and sent to jail, where Reardon hears rumors of a group called the Scarperers who, for a significant price, can break him out guaranteed. After a year, Reardon is finally contacted about the escape; he’ll be leaving with another high-risk prisoner: a Russian spy.

A little bit of a rant: Some editions of the book give away a big secret, and I’m not talking about the jail break. The great joy of this surprise is simply not expecting it, but since the covers spoil it, I don’t feel bad about doing the same, only I’ll give you fair warning in a couple of sentences. After the escape, Reardon and Slade are kept in some sort of house where they can’t leave the two rooms. After a few days, Slade is taken away, leaving Reardon alone. Now for the big shocker (skip ahead to the next paragraph if you don’t want to know): Reardon is actually a British spy planted deep undercover for the sole purpose of finding out about the Scarperers.

FREEDOM TRAP reminded me of the ASSIGNMENT books by Edward S. Aarons, in which you have a very clever plot and great character development. Read this book and you’ll be better off than grabbing whatever techie thriller Tom Clancy just cranked out.

If Roger Ebert would approve of this column, certainly Elvis Costello will appreciate next week’s. Until then… –Bruce Grossman

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