from Ed Gorman's Desk: Richard Neely
from ED GORMAN’S Desk Richard Neely Nov. 10, 2005 The first time I ever spoke to Richard Neely, suspense novelist extraordinaire, he kept trying to place my name. “It’s so damned familiar—wait a minute, you’re the guy who called me the de Sade of crime fiction.” Loose lips sink ships. So can old reviews. I figured that our business would sink if he ever remembered that long ago review. But he laughed. “I think I was just ahead of my time.” Actually, I’d meant that remark as a compliment because I was pointing out that Neely, despite the Irish name, took a very French approach to the psychological machinations of sex in his books. Two of his books became French movies. Somebody apparently agreed with me. Neely, a very sleek and successful advertising man, is gone now and so, undeservedly, are his books. The Walter Syndrome , his bestselling suspense novel, was almost ruined for me when I guessed the ending on page two, something I never do. But I