Ross Thomas: The Fools in Town Are on Our Side (USA 2003)

From the Publisher:
Ross Thomas chose the quotation from Huckleberry Finn as the text of his post World War II story as well as for the title. When Lucifer Dye is released from three months in a Hong Kong prison, debriefed, handed a false passport, a new wardrobe and a $20,000 check, his haughty control makes it clear that Dye's career with his country has been permanently terminated. But a good agent is always in demand, and just a few hours later Dye is being interviewed for a highly ingenious position. Victor Orcutt, although a not very good imitation of a British pre-war gent, has creative talents of his own. He has his sights a small southern city, with the ordinary run-of-the-mill corruption one would expect in such a place. The canny Orcott knows there's no profit in that . His creed is "To get better, it must be much worse." He and his two associates have looked up Dye's history, and he now offers the ex-spy's a mission. For two and a half times the government's bounty, Dye is to thoroughly corrupt the town. And the sly Dye takes the offer.

Ross Thomas: The Fools in Town Are on Our Side. Introduction by Tony Hiss. St. Martin's Press, ISBN: 0312315821 (May, 2003), 384 p., $14.95.

Ross Thomas: The Fools in Town Are on Our Side (USA 1994)

From the Publisher:
Lucifer Dye was born in Montana and raised in Shanghai's most distinguished bordello. Recently dismissed from Section Two, a secret American intelligence agency, he heads for San Francisco to be debriefed. Dye and Section Two are parting company because of the sudden, unexpected death of a Red Chinese double agent... a death which resulted in Dye's three-month billet in a Singapore dungeon.

Unemployed, armed only with a passport, a severance check, and his wits, Dye is approached by a man named Victor Orcutt. Orcutt's vocation is the cleaning up of corrupt cities through the application of Orcutt's First Law: "To get better, it must get much worse."

Orcutt proposes a $50,000 fee. Dye's assignment: to corrupt an entire American city.
Will he accept?
Wouldn't you?

Ross Thomas: The Fools in Town Are on Our Side. Mysterious Press, ISBN: 0445408677 (July, 1994), 383 p., $4.99.

Ross Thomas: The Fools in Town Are on Our Side (USA 1987)

From the Publisher:
Lucifer Dye was born in Montana and raised in Shanghai's most distinguished bordello. Recently dismissed from Section Two, a secret American intelligence agency, he heads for San Francisco to be debriefed. Dye and Section Two are parting company because of the sudden, unexpected death of a Red Chinese double agent... a death which resulted in Dye's three-month billet in a Singapore dungeon.

Unemployed, armed only with a passport, a severance check, and his wits, Dye is approached by a man named Victor Orcutt. Orcutt's vocation is the cleaning up of corrupt cities through the application of Orcutt's First Law: "To get better, it must get much worse."

Orcutt proposes a $50,000 fee. Dye's assignment: to corrupt an entire American city.
Will he accept?
Wouldn't you?

Ross Thomas: The Fools in Town Are on Our Side. Mysterious Press / Warner Books, ISBN: 0445405600 (November, 1987), 383 p., $3.95.

Ross Thomas: The Fools in Town Are on Our Side (USA 1971)

From the Publisher:
Lucifer Dye, born in Montana and educated in (among other places) Shanghai's most distinguished bordello, is in San Francisco being debriefed following his dismissal from Section Two, a secret American intelligence agency. Dye and Section Two are parting company because of the sudden and unex-pected death of an important Red Chinese double agent that resulted in Dye's spending three months in a Singapore prison.

Unemployed, but with a passport, a certified severance check, and his wits, Dye is approached by a man named Victor Orcutt. Orcutt is in the business of cleaning up corrupt cities through the application of "Orcutt's First Law." which is "To get better, it must get much worse." Victor Orcutt's pro-posal is that he will pay Dye $50,000 to corrupt an entire American city. Dye accepts the proposal, and so begins Ross Thomas's most exciting, violent, and suspenseful novel yet, a masterwork from a master of escape and adventure (Pasadena Star-News).

Ross Thomas: The Fools in Town Are on Our Side. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1971, 383 p., $6.95.