T. Coraghessan Boyle, The Harder They Come

Martin Kich (Wright State University)

Ed. by Sofia Ahlberg, Uppsala University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 2015

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United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

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This novel opens in Costa Rica, where a cruise ship has anchored and discharged its passengers to explore the local attractions. One busload of these tourists bounces over rough roads to a nature reserve, where local thugs colluding with the bus driver attempt to rob the tourists. One of the bandits has a pistol, but his accomplices are armed only with knives. The one with the gun makes the mistake of getting too close to a retired high school principal named Sten Stenson, whose wife, Carolee, has badgered him into taking the cruise. A former Marine and Vietnam vet, Sten is a large man and grabs the bandit in a headlock that becomes a chokehold when Sten lifts him off the ground. The startled bandit drops the handgun and in a matter of minutes suffocates to death. When Sten drops him and…

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3699 words

Citation: Kich, Martin. "The Harder They Come". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 August 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41664, accessed 23 November 2024.]

T. Coraghessan Boyle, The Harder They Come

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