CRYPTONYM BLOG

In part one I began my review of manhunt books by reviewing nine notable titles in the genre. In this post I look at another selection of novels in which a character has to pit his wits against a cunning adversary. The chase story uniquely portrays the main character’s journey in both a literal and figurative sense.

Even though the origins of the manhunt novel can be traced back a century or more, the books remain timeless because they focus on visceral emotions. And yet, while fear is ever present, the determined and stoical protagonist – or antagonist – of a chase thriller has to use intellect and ingenuity to defy the odds.

THE POWER-HOUSE (1913) – John Buchan

Mr Leithen, a barrister and Tory MP, learns about the sudden disappearance of an associate by the name of Charles Pitt-Heron. Leithen discovers that Pitt-Heron has become involved with, and subsequently fled from, a powerful organization known as the Power-House, which is run by a man named Andrew Lumley.

While finding clues and directing the search for Pitt-Heron abroad, Leithen accidentally reveals to Lumley that he knows about his sinister group. Lumley’s followers chase Leithen with murderous intent through the streets and parks of London. The plot is quite preposterous, of course, but hugely enjoyable and dramatic.

In his introduction Buchan reveals his love for ‘precipitous yarns’, and THE POWER-HOUSE is typical of the author’s implausible stories. But one reads Buchan not to be convinced by the plot but to be swept along on a grand adventure, and to see the villain of the piece outsmarted by the cunning of an ordinary man.

Buchan combines his light-hearted narrative with a deep knowledge of politics. He was a member of the Unionist Party in Scotland, which held to conservative principles. Lumley’s Power-House is what we would now describe as a globalist cabal. Buchan warned us about the threat over a century ago in this novel.

THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS (1915) – John Buchan

Buchan’s protagonist, Richard Hannay, is an adventurer who finds himself intolerably bored in London. His circumstances change rapidly after an encounter with Franklin Scudder, an American agent. Hannay soon finds himself evading a cabal of German spies known as Die Schwarzestein, or the Black Stone.

The book is sometimes criticised for its improbable encounters and scenarios, but such objections miss the point. Buchan set out to write an entertainment – he described his adventure books as shockers – and the result has all the usual thriller qualities plus one which we don’t normally associate with the genre: fun.

Hannay endures the obstacles and hardships that a man on the run inevitably faces, and at times he is desperate, but he is also exhilarated by his knack of thwarting the enemy. There’s a deeper aspect to the book though, for the narrative is entwined with a semi-fictional prologue to the First World War.

A strong case can be made for citing THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS as the beginning of the modern thriller genre. It combines the boldness of nineteenth-century adventure novels with the conspiracy elements and action of later suspense stories. Buchan’s prose is vivid and enthralling. The book is a masterpiece.

JOURNEY INTO FEAR (1940) – Eric Ambler

Armaments engineer Mr Graham – the protagonist’s forename is not mentioned in JOURNEY INTO FEAR – plans to leave Turkey by train after conducting business with the Turkish navy. The purpose of his work is to ensure the Turks have their obsolete naval weaponry swiftly replaced because Europe is in the grip of war.

The Germans have other ideas though, and an attempt is made on Graham’s life by a contracted Romanian assassin who uses the name Petre Banat. Graham is taken to Colonel Haki of the Turkish secret police and is helped to flee Istanbul aboard the Italian cargo ship Sestri Levante while Banat searches for him.

Placing Graham’s adventure on a ship adds to the tension because he is on the run with nowhere to hide. The characters on board are not all they appear to be, and Graham finds the vessel is no safer a means of escape than the train. The book’s extensive dialogue gives subtle clues about the travelling companions.

Ambler created a literary style of thriller which moved the genre away from the entertainments of Buchan and others. His protagonists are ordinary men who get caught up in dangerous events, and they have no idea how to cope with the situations which imperil them. JOURNEY INTO FEAR is a superb novel.

RUNNING BLIND (1970) – Desmond Bagley

Former British spy Alan Stewart is coerced into delivering a package in Iceland, and he’s barely begun his mission when matters start to go horribly wrong. RUNNING BLIND opens dramatically and the suspense never lets up. This is Desmond Bagley’s most famous novel and deservedly so. It’s an exciting story.

In fact I would say RUNNING BLIND is the perfect thriller, even though the author actually intended it to satirise espionage. Stewart is caught up in an escapade involving British, American and Russian agents, including the splendidly named Vaslav Viktorovich Kennikin. Betrayal, violence and suspense abound.

Bagley visited Iceland so he could describe its scenery and people authentically, and the quality of his research is evident on every page. It is the perfect setting for a classic adventure novel. The landscape becomes a powerful character in its own right, brought to life by Bagley’s inspired prose.

There’s wry humour in the book, expressed in Stewart’s thoughts and his dialogue with Kennikin, but it is primarily a great chase novel involving a Land Rover, guns and spy-craft. RUNNING BLIND is an unmissable story. Take a look at Philip Eastwood’s brilliant The Bagley Brief website for information about the author.

EYE OF THE NEEDLE (1978) – Ken Follett

Henry Faber, a German spy operating in England, endeavours to learn the details of the Allied forces purportedly amassing in East Anglia in readiness for the imminent invasion by sea. Faber discovers the deception and knows he has to alert Hitler that the attack will land at Normandy rather than Calais.

Faber, who is known by the cryptonym Die Nadel after the stiletto knife he uses to kill, has to rendezvous with a U-boat off the Aberdeen coast before he is caught by Percy Godliman and Fred Bloggs of MI5. He ends up on a lonely island with a beautiful woman, her crippled husband, their son and an old shepherd.

As the net closes on Faber, he is forced to improvise before the scheduled evacuation, knowing that the intelligence he holds will affect the outcome of the war. Meanwhile Godliman has to consider what sacrifices can be justified to prevent Die Nadel revealing the most important Allied secret of the war.

It was a masterstroke by the author to craft his story around a real operation. EYE OF THE NEEDLE is a brilliant book on many levels. Characters are superbly portrayed, the suspense is cleverly drawn out, the details are authentic to the period and the scenery is evocatively described. This is a must-read novel.

THE KEY TO REBECCA (1980) – Ken Follett

Major William Vandam, a British intelligence officer based in Cairo, believes that a German spy is acquiring operational information and transmitting it via coded radio messages to Erwin Rommel. The German tanks continue their advance along the coast of North Africa with their sights set on Alexandria and the capital.

Vandam’s opponent is Alex Wolff, a German by birth with an Egyptian step-family. To his nomadic cousins Wolff is known as Achmed Rahmha, and he is determined to help the Germans liberate Egypt from the British. If he succeeds in passing one last message to Rommel, the Afrika Korps will thwart the enemy.

THE KEY TO REBECCA brings 1940s Egypt to life with great authenticity. The diverse characters, who find themselves in webs of mistrust and deception, are intriguing and convincing. A comparison can be made with EYE OF THE NEEDLE, but this novel really does stand on its own merits as a manhunt story.

The book also has one of the finest opening lines ever written. Follett’s hot and dusty Egypt is evocative and genuine. Timing the action with Rommel’s desert victories not only gives the story historical credence but also great suspense. This is a very enjoyable book from a celebrated thriller author.

WATCHER IN THE SHADOWS (1960) – Geoffrey Household

Charles Dennim survives a letter bomb attack at his quiet suburban home and soon learns that the reason for the attempted assassination relates to his role as a Gestapo officer at the Buchenwald concentration camp. Dennim learns that several of his contemporaries have been tortured and killed in acts of revenge.

The killer does not know that Dennim was a British-trained spy who had infiltrated the Gestapo with the intention to gather intelligence and help prisoners escape. He comes from a noble Austrian family but now presents himself as an English professor of zoology with an academic book on squirrels to his name.

Dennim decides he cannot wait for the attacker to strike again, so he devises a plan to draw him out. He does not learn the identity or true motivation of his pursuer until near the end of the story. It’s a thrilling chase novel set in the English countryside – a landscape which Household always describes beautifully.

The book is a little lighter in mood than ROGUE MALE and ROGUE JUSTICE, despite its theme, and this is achieved through Dennim’s dialogue with his aunt and the astute members of his informal intelligence cell. The denouement has the hallmarks of a duel from another century. It’s an intriguing end to a great story.

HOSTAGE: LONDON (1977) – Geoffrey Household

Julian Despard is a dedicated member of the terrorist organization Magma until he discovers that a crate brought into England contains not conventional weapons but radioactive material. Learning that Magma intends to set off an atomic bomb in London, the anti-hero of the novel has a crisis of conscience.

Despard tries to follow the trail of the uranium-235. He soon attracts suspicion and the Magma hierarchy realise he cannot be trusted. He is hunted by his former associates and the police while attempting to find where the bomb is hidden. Despard writes a diary as an admission of guilt and a record of the facts.

HOSTAGE: LONDON is a fine example of Household’s work. Suspense is achieved by the ‘ticking clock’ technique as Despard fears an imminent attack. The structure of the terror network’s cells is described convincingly and feels authentic. And there’s still room for the author’s vivid landscape descriptions.

Household is particularly adept in this novel at exploring the political motivations and ideologies of the various Magma members. The reader might loathe the characters’ twisted principles, but Household ensures they are sympathetically understood. HOSTAGE: LONDON is a tense and enthralling book.

THE HUNTER (2010) – Tom Wood

Viktor the assassin kills a mark in Paris and retrieves a flash drive from his victim’s body. He’s planned the murder flawlessly but soon discovers that someone who knew about his mission has sent a team after him to cover all traces of Viktor’s contract. The hitman goes on the run and tries to discover who set him up.

The book moves at a rapid pace and involves a lot of creative violence. It’s a very engaging story but does use several standard action themes, such as a rogue element in the CIA running black operations, a female computer expert who allies herself with the protagonist, and another contract killer who hunts him.

THE HUNTER does follow a predictable formula in that respect, reading like a pastiche of the Jason Bourne films, but the lack of originality doesn’t prevent the novel from being thoroughly entertaining. Viktor is also very adept at dodging bullets, so a hearty suspension of disbelief is additionally required.

But sometimes those characteristics make a thriller novel suspenseful and entertaining, and THE HUNTER does not disappoint. It’s the first book in a popular series featuring the protagonist. The author’s skill is best revealed in the intensity of the story. A good read for fans of high-energy contemporary action thrillers.

This post has included some of my favourite chase novels. One thing for writers to learn from most of these books is how the stories are told in depth. Don’t be too hasty to follow the modern trend of sacrificing detail for speed. There’s a place for lean narrative but it risks losing artistry. See part three for more great books.