>Getting upset at a new writer is
>just a waste of energy. I mention
>Vanlustbader writing new Bourne books.
>I find it interesting that he has
>written more Bourne books than Ludlum.
>Must be a considerable amount of demand
>there.
>
>It’s interesting that you mention
>“Haunted Mesa”. I thought “Haunted
>Mesa” seemed lacking in some quality.
>Not sure what. Maybe nothing. May just
>be me. I thought maybe your dad just
>struggled with stories in a more modern
>setting. But, then I recall the short
>story “With These Hands” and the novel
>“Last of the Breed”. I thought both
>were really excellent.

There are just some cranky and narcissistic people out there. If something wasn't acceptable to them then the think it shouldn't exist at all.

The Van Lustbader/Bourne thing may have gained that success because the Bourne films are now known better than the novels, an alternate to the original is many people's primary association to the franchise. Van Lustbader wrote some James Bond novels earlier, just for the record. And I believe he was an accomplished novelist with his own following before that.

Dad's problems with HM are better outlined in the LLLT Postscript than I could do here. Suffice it to say that I think he had some discomfort writing about older characters in the modern world and in dealing with the sort of making up of history, rather than using it as a foundation, that is a part of Science Fiction. He liked reading SF, just like he liked reading a lot of contemporary fiction, but he had established a style that had a different approach to things. He was hoping to break down that barrier as his career matured ... he certainly had no problems with a different stylistic approach to the world in the Yondering Days of his career ... but I suspect that SF, plus the differences in the character's age and in dealing with the "modern" world still needed a bit more development stylistically. Last of the Breed avoided this because it didn't really deal with the modern American experience as we know it. The Siberian wilderness was much like the American West except for some bits of technology. I did a good deal of work on With These Hands, particularly the ending, so that might explain it.

The biggest and most interesting issue with HM was that there were actually TWO stories hiding within it. One is professional skeptic Mike Raglan has to confront the REALITY that something his world view can't initially accept has actually occurred. The other is an adventure to track down and rescue Eric Hokart.

Although it took me 30 years to figure it out, the two do not rest easily with one another. Dad stalled for quite awhile right at the transition of the two. I wish he'd checked his notes, he had some pretty good ideas for a smaller, quieter story ... about confronting the supernatural (not SF, which has more reliance on "science."). At the same time he likely would have gone back, changed some of Mike's backstory, and carried on with a more action oriented SF adventure. Career-wise, I think he wanted to write something more in the SF vein.