Grand master of the thinking man's thriller

During a career that spanned three decades, Ross Thomas produced 25 novels that many consider the finest political thrillers ever penned by an American. Starting in 1966 with ''The Cold War Swap" -- a spy story that garnered an Edgar Award for Best First Mystery -- each new Thomas outing attracted more critical acclaim than the one before. He was revered by his peers -- top-drawer mystery writers Donald Westlake, Elmore Leonard, and Lawrence Block have all written encomiums. Bill and Hillary Clinton claimed to have read ''gazillions" of his books. The New York Times once anointed him ''America's Best Storyteller." To pick up just one of his books, as his fiercely loyal fans would attest, is to risk instant addiction.

Sadly, for most of the past decade this was virtually impossible. Following Thomas's death in 1995, all but one of his novels were allowed to slip out of print. Because today's tax code discourages publishers from maintaining extensive back titles, Thomas's books, steady but never spectacular sellers, disappeared. Nonetheless, contemporary critics and writers continued to regard him as a grand master of the thinking man's thriller, a member of the pantheon that includes Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross MacDonald.

Happily, this gap is now being filled. Last year, St. Martin's Press began reissuing Thomas's novels, and to date has brought back into print a third of his oeuvre. Whether you're a confirmed fan, or have yet to discover Thomas, this is reason to celebrate.

Exhibit A: ''Out on the Rim." Originally published in 1985, this may be the jewel in Thomas's crown. Shadowy political interests hire a band of wily mercenaries to bribe a Philippine rebel leader into leaving the country. Led by intrepid con men, the group embarks on an intricate mission that moves faster than a Grand Prix; it's a high-octane, crisscrossing race to the finish line. In typical Thomas fashion, the characters are cunning and duplicitous, the plot unpredictable, and the dialogue razor-sharp. The resulting chaos is a joy to behold.

Another dazzler is ''Briarpatch" (1984), which earned Thomas his second Edgar. In it, Washington lawyer Benjamin Dill returns to his Midwestern roots to arrange his sister's funeral. Mixing business with grieving, he undertakes an investigation into her mysterious demise, uncovering a trail of deceit that leads to the highest levels of power. The plot is far too complex to summarize. Suffice to say that if you've ever wondered what happened to all that US weaponry left behind in Vietnam, Thomas provides an intriguing, not entirely implausible answer.

Both novels provide quintessential windows into the world of Thomas. It's a shadowy place where political power and big money intersect, and where all the important plays are made behind the scenes. The adversaries -- morally compromised heroes confronting irredeemable villains -- are invariably brilliant, treacherous, and cynical. Deception is the order of the day, or rather night, since an inordinate amount of the action occurs between midnight and dawn. Thomas takes you into the hotel rooms, corporate suites, and political offices of the people who know the score, the way the game is played, and exactly which levers to pull.

Make no mistake. For all their worldliness, these are not the burnt-out cases one finds in the pages of Graham Greene or John le Carr. Tough as nails, these guys (and not a few gals) run the gamut from congressmen to con men, political fixers to third-world dictators. They combine an outsize appetite for life with an eye locked steadily on the prize, and they play the game with a zest that is refreshing, inventive, and bold.

When asked to account for his novels' verisimilitude, Thomas replied, ''I sat in the back rooms where the deals were cut."

So how did he come to sit in those back rooms? His biography offers a few clues.

He was born and raised in Oklahoma City, the Depression-era son of a failed building contractor. World War II deposited him in the Philippines, where he saw combat. After the war, he earned a degree in English from the University of Oklahoma. It is from this point forward that his life diverges from the conventional, assumes its interesting arc, though at the time it doubtless seemed a series of random turns -- public relations consultant, campaign manager, union spokesman, foreign correspondent. Exposed to political intrigue, he acquired a worldview that was ironic and cynical, which gives his novels their distinctive sardonic tang. In the mid-'60s, with six weeks to kill between gigs, he knocked off ''The Cold War Swap," earning comparisons to le Carr.

Thomas never looked back -- or stopped to catch his breath -- producing roughly a novel a year over the next three decades. At one point, when his publisher feared overexposure, Thomas simply adopted a pseudonym. For all his inventive plots, it is Thomas's literary style that elevates his work above genre. His language is calibrated to an almost technical precision. Combining an eye for detail with an ear for perfect pitch, he juggles dialogue, description, and action with equal verve.

Thomas accomplishes what few writers can do -- he actually makes you feel smarter and wiser (and yes, a bit more cynical) after you've finished one of his devilish entertainments.

If you've never read Thomas before, do yourself a favor -- pick up one of the newly reissued titles, strap yourself in, and enjoy the ride. Better yet, pick up several. If you're like most fans, you'll want to jump into another as soon as the one you're reading screeches to a stop.

Richard Gillis is a writer living in Cambridge.