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World War I all facts, no ay unris nanaai The end of World War II was nearly 40 years ago, yet thriller writers continue to refight the war or find some new danger from it threatening us today. A quick glance at some of the major authors that have written at least one book based on World War II ? including Robert 1 II A II ' - a - * * * * "** Luuiuiu, /\msiar iviacLcan, jack Higgins, Fredrick Forsythc and Ken Follet ? shows writers and readers preoccupation with the subject. One reason writers return to this period may be because it was the last time the coun try was sure of itself. The lines were more precise between the "good guys" and the "bad guys." Such easy distinctions have become mnHHled ANOTHER REASON may be because there was so much real intrigue and deception. A popular story is one of British intelligence placing false papers on a dead body and then letting the body drift ashore so the Germans would be mislead by the information. For these reasons, it is not much of a mystery why writers use the war as a springboard for their novels. One writer who has used World War II for all of his books is Walter Winward, author of "Hammerstrike," "Seven Minutes Past Midnight" and, most recently, "The Midas Touch." Winward. however doesn't rnnk with anv of the other authors listed earlier. "The Midas Touch" lacks the spark, the imagination and suspense any thriller needs, if it is to thrill. "The Midas Touch" deals with a desperate effort by the German intelligence to wipe out the entire U.S. Eighth Bomber Command. The key to the plan is an aging, but powerful, Swedish industrialist and his niece, who tne (Jermans are holding hostage. WHERE THE novel goes awry though is not with the plot. The characters never capture the attention of the reader, and without that interest the plot plods along to its inevitable climax. British Invasi rock V roll r By Marc Fink A u~..? ~>r\ .? nuuui yeais ago me ueaues spearneaded the British Invasion of rock 'n' roll to America, the sound of "yeh, yeh, yeh" filling stereo speakers and fab gear being the clothing rage. Nostalgia looms large in today's pop culture, with movies like "American Graffiti" and "Diner," shows such as "Grease" and "Beatlemania," and the rock 'n' roll revivals taking place throughout the country. So when The Hollies, from Manchester, and the Animals, of Newcastle, announced tney would release new albums this summer, it wasn't as much a surprise as the circle turning. THE HOLLIES, the state-of-the-art harmony band, featured the triple tenor voices of lead singer Allan Clarke, lead guitarist Tony Hicks and Graham Nash. Bobby Elliott was considered one of the best pop drummers of the '60s. THe Hcllies continued pumping out bits past the psychedelic era and had intermittent success in the '70s. Their n Q m A tt/OC #ol/nr* P w si ?-* 11 ..^1^1.. II ?11 numb <iti.-> icain.v.11 11 uui uuuuy nony. The Animals, based around Eric Burdon's distinctive bluesy vocals, had a period of rhythm and blues sound 1964-66, and one of higher consciousness as induced by chemicals, 1966-68. The only other member of the original band to stand out as a perfnrmor u/oc l/n\iU/\or/4 A 1 n-: ? luimvi IIUJ i\^/uwaiu in UM /\iau n let", whose style was imitated when he left the band in 1965. Bassist Chas Chandler brought Jimi Hendrix to England for some experience, and managed Slade, among others. The Hollies released "What Goes Around..." in June and have already found a hit in their version of the Supremes '64 classic, "Stop In the Name of Love." While The Hollies add nothing to the basic Motown arrangement, they spare the oldie morbid treatment given to an update of their own '64 smash, "Just One Look." Recommended are the second single and best track on the album, "If The Lights Go Out," penned by Mike Batt, a ballad "Someone Else's Eyes," and the upbeat "Casually." which opens the album. I 1-lirSliar I I till IIICI I I thrill Winward never allows the readers to sym- 5 pathize with the book's protaganists: Jack S Fallon and Sam McKenna, respectively > British and American agents. V Rather than focus the novel on Fallon and S McKenna and their dare-devil attempt to 5 ivavut 11tujnuitu owcuca ctnu us iu list- v qucnces, Winward parades more than 10 S secondary characters through the novel. The 5 result is the reader's loyalty is defused. fi While other thrillers might survive this ? method of writing, a World War II thriller G usually cannot. The reason is simple. A How World War II ended is already v known, and therefore, a novel based on Ger- ? many's attempt to win the war has a predic- Sj ? ~ u i ~ i: n tauic ciiumg. V WHAT IS not predictable is what will hap- \ pen to the main characters during the course C of the novel. If readers care about the ft characters, then they will read the book to 3 find out what happens to them, and during u that process, the plot becomes more enter- ? taining because it is the plot that affects the 0 characters. fl But, in "The Midas Touch," the inden- 5 tification never happens. Another problem d with the novel is the amount of research Win- S ward did. At the end of the book, he lists all the people he talked to while researching the novel. The result is not a more realistic novel, I i but a novel that sometimes reads like a ! i textbook. | ' "Defense armaments varied from war ! zone to war zone and sometimes plane to I plane, but 'Heartless Haze!' was equipped I j with eleven .50-caIiber Browning machine | ; * l : ? *i a_M -i l?i guns, iwo cam 111 me tan pusmon ana mc up- j ] per ball turrets, one in each waist aperture, j J the radio room upper hatch, and either side j of the nose. The crew numbered ten..." ; The result of the textbook writing and pro- I ! fusion of secondary characters is a thriller ; that doesn't thrill nearly enough. This is a i j novel that could only be enjoyed by a World ! ! War II thriller addict,and possibly not even j j them. on waxes I lostalgic I GENERALLY, THE material is weaker than one would expect, with too much || keyboards, and not enough guitars and j drums. The vocals could also stand more j . prominent in the mix. The songs themselves j 1 are inferior to those on The Hollies' best i release of the later '70's, "Another Night." | On previous releases the band would seek f out strong material from other writers when ' they couldn't turn out tunes with hit poten uai. "wnat (Joes Around..." tails to include even one song co-written by a Hollie. "What Goes Around" suffers without Hicks' usual tasty pop guitar lines, but "Ark" is marred without the fine fingering of Price, crucial to the Animals' best tunes. 4 4 r>V/9? /* rnvrv urrc.Ks a iew line songs, such as "Night," the first single and MTV video, I "Love Is For All Time," with Burdon's j voice most tender on this lover's song busting ' with hit potential, "Being There," marked by the most melodic instrumental passage on "Ark," and the toughest track, "Melt Down," featuring Burdon's fierce singing I and, for a change, stinging guitar. The incredibly touched up photograph of the Animals on the back cover of "Ark" mirrors the doctoring of the bands' sound, and thp alhlimc hv th#? Prir? RnrHrvn ; HIV luvi IV I/Ul UV/11 uauu UI the '70s at least had some bite to them, as the old material had. Those who remember the original greatest hits are likely to be disappointed in that neither of these albums contains a classic to comnare with thf* onM*>n r?IHioc i ictonarc. - 1 .. .... ?..V DV/?V.Vi? V/IV?IV<7 IvIOl VllVyl J) a little younger, unfamiliar with the Animals' ! "House of The Rising Sun," "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," "Inside Looking Out," and "Sky Pilot," and The Hollies' "I'm Alive," "Bus Stop," "Carrie Anne," and "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress," may i not be so picky and find "What Goes Around..." and "Ark" satisfactory. THE HOLLIES and the Animals have ag eel and changed disappointingly, neither of | these recent albums enhance their I rep lit cit ions L i i iw:': t ' I: t-M: t ! i nn ?! iI i H M I !-f?! i'i i pooooooooooooocooooooooooooc Cobm&fa 3 CLASSES IN MODERN "Learn to let your body speak . find a new language ..." For the beginner or the sei taught by James Clark. James study at the North Carolina Sc and recently taught at The Chapel Hill, N.C. 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