Lawrence Sanders

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Pseudonyms include Lesley Andress, Mark Upton
(1920-98)

In his time, LAWRENCE SANDERS ranked right up there in popularity with Stephen King, Danielle Steele and only a handful of other newsstand, airport and bus station superstars, so much so that his name was more prominent on the covers of his books than their titles, and this has may have contributed to his not being taken very seriously among some critics (and some devotees of this genre).

Too bad.

Despite a reputation as “the Robin Leach of the detective novel,” and perhaps best remembered now for his frothy, pulpy, padded novels of technology, sex and the peccadilloes of the rich and famous, Sanders wrote some damn entertaining, and even provocative and influential books in several crime genres, from capers to thrillers to police procedurals and yes, even private eyes.

Sure, the sex was sleazy and frequent, more kink than think, and the attitudes towards various races and particularly women seem hopelessly outdated now, and frequently offensive even then, drawing the ire of many critics over the years, and raising more than a few questions about the author’s own sexuality.

But man, that guy could spin a yarn.

He was bornin New York City, the setting for almost all his fiction, but grew up in the midwest, where he  attended Wabash College in Indiana, Obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree. Upon graduation, he then returned to New York and worked at Macy’s. In 1943 he joined the Marines, and was discharged in 1946.

He returned to NYC once more, and worked there as a journalist for over twenty years, writing for such publications as Mechanics Illustrated and Science and Mechanics, Sanders kept plugging away at writing fiction. A series of short stories featuring hard-boiled insurance investigator Wolf Lannihan appeared in the pages of the skin mag Swank in the late sixties, but his real breakthrough came with the publication of his first novel in 1969.

That book, The Anderson Tapes, took full advantage of Sanders knowledge of technology and science. It told the story of a carefully plotted plan to rob an entire apartment building in New York City, told entirely through a series of transcripts of clandestine wiretaps, surveillance videos, and interviews conducted by various public and private law enforcement and security agencies, and was considered heady stuff in that pre-Watergate era. It became an immediate bestseller, and also introduced, in a relatively small role, coldly methodical NYPD detective Edward X. “Iron Balls” Delaney. It won the Best First Mystery Edgar from The Mystery Writers of America and spawned a hit movie in 1972 starring Sean Connery as the mastermind behind the heist, and began a long line of novels (at least thirty) that, for the most part, shot right up the bestseller lists.

In 1973, Delaney returned in The First Deadly Sin, the first of several books in his “Sin” series to feature Delaney. An adaptation of The First Deadly Sin  was filmed in 1980, with Frank Sinatra as Delaney. Sanders went on to write three more procedurals featuring Delaney in his “Sin” series.

In fact, many of Sanders protagonists were detectives of some sort, many of them New York City-based private investigators of one kind or another, often working for some large corporation and whose cases invariably involve looking into the various cracks in the facades of the rich and famous. Check out the “Commandment” series, with investigators Dora Conti, Samuel Todd,  Mary Lou “Dunk” Bateson, or Joshua Bigg. Also worth investigating are his two Timothy Cone books. And if you’re in the mood for something a bit breezier, you could try Sanders’ latter day series featuring glib, easy-going Archy McNally, who makes the moneyed society of Florida  his stomping ground.

As did Sanders in his later years. He passed away  at his home in Pompano Beach, Florida in February 1998. He was 78.

J’ACCUSE!

After Sanders’ death in 1998, the question arose, half-jokingly, I think, as to whether Sanders, in fact, actually wrote the McNally books. The first McNally published post-humously, McNally’s Dilemma (1999), had Sanders’ name prominently displayed on the cover, as usual, but the copyright page revealed (in small print) that someone named Vincent Lardo had been chosen by the family to continue the series. As one reader remarked, “Lardo has either captured the style perfectly, or he wrote the earlier books, too.”

All six of Lardo’s McNally novels were bestsellers, but following publication of that first novel, a class-action suit against the publisher was brought by McNally fans who contended that they had been ripped of. The publisher caved, and a settlement was reached. A reader of this site, Jim Roche, wrote in to say another suit was brought, this one by Sanders’ heirs, who disputed the right of the publisher to continue to use Sanders’ name when, in fact, the books were being written by Vincent Lardo. However, the litigation failed and the publishers proceeded with publication.“

TESTIMONY

  • “I always thought “Lawrence Sanders” was the pen name for some woman (maybe, I don’t know, Loretta Sanders?) because Mr. Sanders always did such a wonderful job in characterizing women and understanding how they think. Take “Dunk” in The Eighth Commandment, the tall woman who became an expert on collectable coins, for example. I sort of figured, back when Lawrence Sanders started writing, that maybe a woman would have had a more difficult time getting detective stories published than a man would. After all, the detectives described were men, all crusty and wise to the ways of the world. Yes, I saw the pictures of Mr. Sanders on the back of his novel, but who was to say that was really him?
    But I now know the truth. It is nice to know that one single person has (or had) the talent to describe the instincts and inner mental workings of both sexes.
    Lawrence Sanders was my very favorite author to read on vacation. His novels took me on a mental vacation from all the responsibilites and demands of work, keeping me concentrating on the characters in his books rather than letting my mind drift back to matters at work. I will miss Lawrence Sanders, the author and the man, to be sure.”
    — Susan Berman
  • “What Sanders doesn’t know about insider trading, crooked takeover bids, blackmail, greenmail and the way cops and racketeers think and talk is nobody’s business. And he knows quite a bit about human psychology, too.”
    — Publishers’ Weekly on Timothy’s Game
  • “… an uneven, crass mass-producer.”
    — Kirkus Reviews on Timothy’s Game
  • “Sometimes the writing is wooden and dull, sometimes the characters are dull and superficial. But whatever Sanders’ faults, the books move with a power and intensity you should experience.”
    — George Kelly (September-October 1979, The MYSTERY FANcier)

NOVELS

SHORT STORIES and NOVELLAS

  • “Manhattan After Dark” (1968-69, Swank Magazine; Wolf Lannihan)
  • “The Rogue Man” (1968-69, Swank Magazine; Wolf Lannihan)
  • “The Bloody Triangle” (1968-69, Swank Magazine; Wolf Lannihan)
  • “The Man Who Didn’t Come Back” (1968-69, Swank Magazine; Wolf Lannihan)
  • “The Woman in the Lake” (1968-69, Swank Magazine; Wolf Lannihan)
  • “A String of Blues”(1968-69, Swank Magazine; Wolf Lannihan)
  • “The Case of the Purloined Princess” (1968-69, Swank Magazine; Wolf Lannihan)
  • “Death of a Model” (1968-69, Swank Magazine; Wolf Lannihan)
  • “The Girl in the Office” (1968-69, Swank Magazine; Wolf Lannihan)
  • “The Curse of the Upper Classes” (1968-69, Swank Magazine; Wolf Lannihan)
  • “The Ice Gang” (1968-69, Swank Magazine; Wolf Lannihan)
  • “An Introduction To Murder” (1968-69, Swank Magazine; Wolf Lannihan)
  • “The Case of the Missing Nude” (1968-69, Swank Magazine; Wolf Lannihan)
  • “The Wall Street Dick” (1987, The Timothy Files; Timothy Cone)
  • “The Whirligig Action” (1987, The Timothy Files; Timothy Cone)
  • “A Covey of Cousins” (1987, The Timothy Files; Timothy Cone)
  • “Run, Sally, Run” (1988, Timothy’s Game; Timothy Cone)
  • “A Case of the Shorts” (1988, Timothy’s Game; Timothy Cone)
  • “One From Column A” (1988, Timothy’s Game; Timothy Cone)

COLLECTIONS

AS EDITOR

  • The Adventures of Chaucey Alcock (1997, edited by Sanders)
    Unabridged stories originally published in Playboy. Includes stories by  John Irving, John Updike, Margaret Atwood, and Jay McIlerney.

FILMS

  • THE ANDERSON TAPES | Watch it now
    (1972)
    Directed by Sidney Lumet
    Starring Sean O’Connery as “Duke” Anderson
    Also starring Dyan Cannon, Martin Balsam, Ralph Meeker, Alan King, Christopher Walken, Garrett Morris
    Dated now, but a big hit when it was released, even with so much of the book toned down. Some pretty sharp casting helped.
  • THE FIRST DEADLY SIN
    (1980)
    Directed by Brian G. Hutton
    Starring Frank Sinatra as Frasncis X. Delaney
    Also starring Faye Dunaway, David Dukes, Brenda Vaccaro, Martin Gabel, James Whitmore
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.

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