Land of Confusion (Professionals story)

The Professionals Fanfiction
Title:	Land of Confusion
Author(s):	Kate Nuernberg
Date(s):	1988
Length:
Genre:
Fandom:	The Professionals
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Land of Confusion is a Professionals story by Kate Nuernberg.

It is the tenth part of Mr. Doyle's Neighborhood Universe.

It was published in British Takeaway #3.

In it, Doyle goes undercover on a case to catch a major criminal despite his crippled leg, and Bodie isn't happy with the situation.

Reactions and Reviews

1989

This is the story where they all learn that Doyle's limitations are not to be feared. I love the fact that he thinks he failed, until Bodie convinced him otherwise. Teamwork! I like the Susan illo on p. 67 as well as all the rest. This is a good blend of CI5 and characterization.

You know, I think I talked to you a bit last year about Mr. Doyle's Neighborhood. I know I've always had problems with it, but it seems as if every time I read it, I like it a bit more, even though it is basically not my kind of story. You write so well, though, that for the most part I was able to see past all that and learn to enjoy the story. But with Diving in Too Deep and Land of Confusion you surpassed even my requirements. I loved them both! The main reason, I think, was because in Land, at least, Doyle got on with things, he just didn't sit around and moan and bewail his fate as he seemed to do in the two previous BT's. He wanted something and he got out and fought to get it, and get it, he did. I heard a wonderful comment by a friend which I'm going to tell you, hoping you don't take it the wrong way. The comment was this: Doyle was upset and worried because he felt he couldn't be as good as he was before, but in Land of Confusion he goes undercover, gets caught, gets beat up and has to be rescued by Bodie, which for him is the normal state of affairs. So what's he worrying about?

Diving in Too Deep and Land of Confusion were wonderful, in the tradition of the Mr. Doyle's Neighborhood series. Hard to pinpoint the good bits, there were so many; what sticks with me is the sense of REALITY, the feeling that, yes, this is how these people would actually behave. Doyle's desperate need to be an agent, in effect a whole person, again; Bodie's fears for his friend's safety; the tightrope act Cowley is doing, trying to use Doyle to best advantage for CI5 as well as do what's best for the lad himself; very, very good stuff. Perhaps it's the sense of accurate psychology that makes it so satis fying. There are no easy answers to any of the prob lems, no straightforward speeches in which one char acter reassures another and makes everything all right. Real life ain't like that, and neither is this series! Another attraction is the always subtle, underlying hints that much of what Doyle is going through is an echo, a reprise of things that happened to Cowley thirty years before. This leaves me, at least, intensely curious as to just how Cowley DID cope with his disability, especially when he gives one of his concise statements about what sorts of things Doyle can do; for instance, that he can be too careless, too cautious, or find the appropriate mid dle ground and do the job right. Just what sort of experience is Cowley speaking from? That he IS speaking from experience is perfectly clear. The reality enters into it when we realize that Cowley's not apt to give away any details! In most situations that's not part of his personality, or his relationship with his subordinates; but it sure makes for fascinating speculation! So, the stories stick in my mind, which is one of the highest compliments a reader can make.