Dennis Collins is a reporter.
When we get introduced to this young veteran of the newspaper trade, he has passed the up-and-coming phase and would be considered by most to have made it in the industry. He works for the New York Sentinel, a daily which is especially popular in the blue-collar areas of Brooklyn and the Bronx, and he has earned a position writing a weekly column for that publication. His beat tends to be divided between frequent stories in sports and politics in the city.
Over the course of the three recorded adventures we have of his, that comfortable job will change, but he will secure enough in his occupation that even the occasional rough spots will not cause too much trouble. He is a talented and respected journalist and has no desire to try anything else.
That will definitely include any aspect of the clandestine world. Sure, if a story took him in that direction, he would go for a ways but he had no asperations to change jobs and actually get involved in cloak and dagger activity. Unfortunately, those sorts of decisions are made for him. The challenge then for Collins is to live to tell about it, except since most of it is classified, he would not be allowed to.
The fascinating part of the Collins story is that since he is a reporter, his ability and his tendency to observe is pretty good which means that the readers are able to observe as well. Whether it is the streets of New York City with its bustling cabs or the riotous avenues of Budapest with its Soviet tanks, the feel of the times are richly provided. In an amusing side note, while Collins will find himself involved in these shadowy matters as well as a stint during the Korean War following an infantry unit for six months, Collins will still insist that he is largely a sports reporter.
Good Lines:
- About loyalty to ones beliefs, Collins is reminded that "a dog can't have two homes".