Wednesday, 5 June 2019

AUTHOR FAVOURITES: DETOUR by DEVORAH FOX


Devorah Fox writes historical epic fantasy, sci-fi fantasy and thrillers.

She tells me a favourite of her own novels is DETOUR, ranked in the Top 10 Thrillers in Preditor/ Editors Readers’ Choice Poll.

When trucker Archie “Super Man” Harlanson visits his girlfriend Debbie’s New York State home he expects the hardest part will be surviving the family celebrations over the birth of her nephew. But then Archie stumbles on a deadly plot against the U.S. President who’s visiting nearby, and finds himself dodging the would-be assassins who now have him in their sights.

Here’s a Kenworth W900L, the sort of truck Archie drives.



‘CONVOY’ (1978) was one of a number of movies to celebrate truckers.


But in ‘DUEL’ (1971) – directed by STEVEN SPIELBERG – the trucker is a villain. The truck itself represents a chilling and inhuman menace that Spielberg would next depict in the form of a shark in ‘JAWS’ (although I personally think ‘DUEL’ is a better piece of work and is sometimes held to be the greatest TV movie ever made.)

A homicidal truck driver


stalks DENNIS WEAVER (giving a virtuoso performance) in ‘Duel.


A presidential assassination plot in a small town reminded me of the 1954 movie SUDDENLY.


FRANK SINATRA as the assassin in ‘Suddenly.’

Political assassinations have featured in innumerable movies, from JULIUS CAESAR to THE TALL TARGET (a plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln) to THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (the brilliant 1962 movie and what I felt was an inferior 2004 remake.)




Frank Sinatra features again in ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ (1962) but here he's trying to foil a pair of assassins




 ANGELA LANSBURY and  LAURENCE HARVEY, both giving outstanding performances IMHO.

Reviews of DETOUR:

A Gem from a Versatile Author. Highly entertaining story with memorable characters, sparkling dialogue and a storyline with one surprise after another. … Fox is a master of words and she shines in this modern genre as much as she has in her medieval fantasy King Bewilliam series.’

‘A trucker's tale, complete with adventure and derring-do.’

A great ride… It is refreshing to read a fun book.’

 ‘Excellent and earthy characters centred around the story of a big rig truck driver.’

‘Fox is a really great story teller.’

‘Even though some of the things that were happening were very serious, I still found myself giggling and smiling throughout most of the book.’





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2 comments:

  1. A fan wrote to tell me that she saw a red Kenworth on the road and got all excited. "It's Archie!" That gave me a big smile.—Devorah Fox

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  2. I can imagine, Devorah. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the post. Another blog about your books coming soon.

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