Heart of Gold Book

"Black Sunday" is one of the big thriller/suspense novels from the 1970's. It's up there with "Jaws", "The Exorcist" and "Marathon Man". I can remember seeing used copies at garage-sales and used bookstores for many years. Also, like the other novels I named, it was made into a big budget A-list movie during that decade. I was curious to see how it's aged over the past forty years. I was also curious to see how much Mr. Harris changed his writing style so I finally picked up a copy. I was pleased to see that the copy I acquired was printed in 1976; I have vivid memories of the Bantam book cover art from that time period. A blast from the past.

I find that it's aged very well though that might have something to do with my age (I'm forty-seven at the time of writing this review). It lacks detailed sexual encounters ,which I don't mind, and the violence isn't really that graphic. The details in the book showed that Mr. Harris did his research and ,of course, there is a prophetic aspect to the story that delivers a zing even forty years later. The villains are three-dimensional and it's easy to see some prototype modeling regarding Dr. Lector. One thing that I like as well is that his heroes are not perfect superior Human beings. They have flaws, they make mistakes, but they drive on. They also lack arrogance. Too many writers mistake arrogance for confidence and I don't like arrogant people - in fiction or real life.

Like most first novels Mr. Harris had not yet found his style, but I can detect aspects of his later writing in some parts. There are elements of "Silence of the Lambs" and "Red Dragon" in the writing. Especially in the character backgrounds and the focus on their peculiar habits, but the psychological details don't seem to be as refined. However that doesn't hurt the book. "Black Sunday" isn't a novel about serial killers. It is a novel about angry people who kill for reasons that are political and personal. They have much in common with Buffalo Bill and Dr. Lector, but they operate on a different stage.

A good novel that had the good fortune (or bad depending on how you look at it) to be more prophetic that anyone would have dreamed in 1975. As a result it's a novel that holds up very well and has a very modern feel to it. It has more character and plot than younger readers might expect from a suspense novel about terrorism, but if you can take the time it's still worth reading.