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Lawrence Sanders

kevinburtonsmith

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and frequent, more kink than think, and the attitudes towards various races and particularly women seem hopelessly outdated now, and frequently offensive even then, drawing the ire of many critics over the years, and raising more than a few questions about the author’s own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

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Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.

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