i use to live down the street from ross thomas in dc and never have the chance to meet him . accord to a story in the post and thomas and his wife go out to hollywood to see the filming . bronson tell him i do not read the book . thomas reply that ok. i do not see your last movie . bronson be not thomas or my idea of the st. ives character . st. ives be a thinking man detective with a wry sense of humor . bronson be capable of wry humor but he be miscast if you have read the book . i think it be the thomas novel film which be a shame . i think charles durning star in a make for tv movie where he play a similar character who be a professional go between .