#Robert ludlum books rankied mac#
He’s tired of the pomp and circumstance of the Papacy, so he helps Mac replace him with his (the Pope’s) look-alike cousin, a hefty, failed opera singer. SPOILERS: Ultimately, Sam’s efforts to stop Hawkins would be successful if not for Mac’s plan being saved by cooperation from a most unlikely source: the Pope himself. Complications arise when the General’s youngest ex-wife Ann falls in love with Devereaux and attaches herself to him just when Sam and Mac’s conflicting plans are coming to a head.
Once he realizes what Mac is up to, Sam hatches a secret counter-plot of his own to try to thwart Hawkins’ plans. Hawkins uses the $40,000,000 in blackmail money to fund his REAL plan of kidnapping the Pope for $400,000,000 ransom, simply for the thrill of the challenge involved in pulling off such an impossible caper. If the overall tone of this tongue-in-cheek novel is reminiscent of Donald Westlake’s Dortmunder stories then these ladies are pure Russ Meyer material as they shepherd Sam to his covert appointments and just generally intimidate, manipulate and seduce him every step of the way. It’s not all uncomfortable for Sam Devereaux, however, as General Hawkins’ huge-breasted ex-wives – “Hawkins’ Harem” as the four ladies call themselves – each show up at Sam’s side in his travels across the globe. With Mac pulling off the usual Ludlumesque intrigues and the reluctant Sam serving as his international bag man the pair extort $10,000,000 each out of an East Coast Mafioso, a British blue-blood who betrayed England during World War Two, a Nazi war criminal hiding under an assumed name and a tinpot Muslim dictator with certain uncomfortable ties to Israel. Sam is forced to serve as the attorney for Hawkins’ newly-founded front corporation called the Shepherd Company. SYNOPSIS: Fresh out of the service, Sam Devereaux’s plans to resume working for a Boston law firm are scuttled by Mac Hawkins who calls on his extensive experience in Black Ops to arrange grounds for blackmailing the lawyer. When Major Sam Devereaux’s combination of legal brilliance and street-savvy saves Hawkins from hard time at Leavenworth or in China the General coldly and calculatingly makes the clearly talented Sam an unwilling accomplice in his plot TO KIDNAP THE POPE FOR FOUR HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN RANSOM. A General by the height of American involvement in the Vietnam War, MacKenzie eventually gravitated to covert operations, specifically Black Ops.Įxiled to a diplomatic post over his tendency to make waves the General’s hard-drinking Bad Boy behavior caused an international incident between the U.S. After the war Mac went to West Point, where he became an all-star Running Back for the football team.ĭuring the Korean War, Hawkins moved up in the ranks and – shrewdly reading the emerging geo-political landscape – pursued his further career in the Far East.
VILLAIN: General MacKenzie Hawkins, living legend and a cross between George Patton and Peter Falk’s manipulative CIA agent in the original version of The In-Laws.ĭuring World War Two, the 19 year old Hawkins was a decorated hero of the Battle of the Bulge and an instant folk hero. In his final days before leaving the service he becomes drawn into the schemes of General “Mac” Hawkins, who establishes grounds for continuing to extort cooperation from Sam even after his return to civilian life. Sam has grown to hate Army life and can’t wait to get out. HERO: Sam Devereaux, a handsome and brilliant lawyer who works for the United States Army and has risen to the rank of Major. I have a feeling many Ludlum fans will be ticked off that I ranked this novel – for which Robert used the pseudonym Michael Shepherd – above the seventh novel on my countdown. FOR BALLADEER’S BLOG’S SEVENTH PLACE LUDLUM NOVEL CLICK HERE