Irving Wallace book, ‘The miracle’ was adopted by Prathap Pothan in his Tamil film ‘Aathma’ (1993) and his book, ‘The guest of honor’ was placed in the table when the villain in the movie, ‘Uruvam’ (1991) searches for keys. Both movies are available in youtube. So, searched for some of his works and summaries to an AI bot. It returned the following results.
Ans by Gemini Google:
Irving Wallace was a master of the “encyclopedic thriller,” known for blending immense amounts of factual research with high-stakes, often scandalous, fictional plots. Here is a summary of those four major works:
The Prize (1962)
This is widely considered Wallace’s masterpiece. It takes a “behind-the-scenes” look at the Nobel Prizes in Stockholm.
* The Plot: The story follows six Nobel laureates—including a cynical, alcoholic American novelist and a husband-and-wife scientist team—as they arrive to receive their awards.
* The Conflict: Beneath the prestige, the characters deal with personal scandals, professional jealousy, and a Cold War kidnapping plot involving a defecting scientist.
* The Hook: It humanizes (and sometimes de-glamorizes) the “greatest minds in the world,” showing them as deeply flawed individuals.
The Plot (1967)
A massive, sprawling novel centered on a high-level disarmament conference in Paris.
* The Plot: Several characters with ruined reputations—a disgraced diplomat, a former fashion model, and an ex-journalist—stumble upon a conspiracy involving a “Double” for the U.S. President.
* The Conflict: They must prove the conspiracy is real to prevent a global nuclear catastrophe, all while dodging assassins and dealing with their own past traumas.
* The Hook: It’s a classic Cold War “whodunnit” on a global scale, exploring the “shadow government” that pulls the strings of world leaders.
The Fan Club (1974)
One of Wallace’s more controversial and darker psychological thrillers.
* The Plot: Four “ordinary” men—a mechanic, a suburbanite, etc.—share a common obsession with a famous Hollywood sex symbol, Sharon Fields. They decide to kidnap her and hold her in a remote cabin to fulfill their fantasies.
* The Conflict: The story shifts from the men’s disturbing perspectives to the actress’s struggle for survival. She realizes she must use her wits and play the men against each other to escape.
* The Hook: It’s a gritty exploration of celebrity obsession, toxic masculinity, and the “damsel in distress” trope turned on its head.
The Second Lady (1980)
A high-concept political thriller involving the U.S.S.R. and the White House.
* The Plot: The Soviet Union finds an actress, Vera Virova, who is a perfect physical double for the American First Lady, Billie Guy. They kidnap the real First Lady during a state visit and replace her with the mole.
* The Conflict: The “Second Lady” must fool the President in the most intimate of settings while stealing state secrets. The real First Lady, meanwhile, has to find a way to escape her Soviet captors.
* The Hook: It’s a tense “imposter” story that focuses on the psychological strain of living someone else’s life under 24/7 scrutiny.
Next Step: Irving Wallace often used real-world events as inspiration (for example, The Prize was famously disliked by the actual Nobel committee).