by Mike Ripley
2. Obituary in The Independent, 12 June 1998.
3. Andy McNab’s Introduction to the 2013 edition of Campbell’s Kingdom.
4. Stella Rimington in her introduction to the 2013 edition of The Lonely Skier.
5. Kirkus Reviews, 1 September 1986.
6. Cited in the Glasgow Herald, 13 June 1998.
John Le Carré
1.John Le Carré: The Biography, Adam Sisman, 2015.
2. Sisman op.cit.
3. Donald McCormick, Who’s Who in Spy Fiction, 1977.
4. Introduction to My Name is Michael Sibley, reissue 2000.
5. At the Lavenham Literary Festival, Suffolk, November 2013.
6. Homberger op. cit.
Gavin Lyall
1. Christopher Fowler in the Independent on Sunday, 1 March 2009.
2. In British Crime Writing: An Encyclopedia, 2009.
3.Daily Telegraph Obituary, 21 January 2003.
Alistair MacLean
1. A publisher (who prefers to remain anonymous), then a very junior assistant, was given the task of checking some minor details with MacLean over the telephone in the early Seventies. She found MacLean’s speech impenetrable and automatically assumed he was drunk. Only when she met him in the flesh did she realise it was his thick Gaelic accent which was the problem.
2. Torguish House, now a B&B, advertises its connection with MacLean on its website, even though MacLean left there in 1936.
3.The Cruise of the Golden Girl, published in Blackwoods Magazine in September 1954, was MacLean’s first fictional sale.
4. Article by Iain Johnstone in Australian Women’s Weekly, 10 May 1978.
5.Alistair MacLean by Jack Webster, 1991.
6. Mark Campbell in British Crime Writing: An Encyclopedia, 2009.
7. Webster, op.cit.
8. In May 2016 it was announced that Kastner’s stepson Cassian Elwes is to produce a remake of Fear Is the Key. (Fred de Vries on www.alistairmaclean.info)
9. Fit to Thrill on Kirkusreviews.com, 1 October 2013.
10. A purely personal selection. Most polls of readers (in the twenty-first century) put Ice Station Zebra as #1 on their list and agree that Partisans, Seawitch and Goodbye California come somewhere near the bottom.
11. Ian Rankin address to the Bloody Scotland convention, 2011.
Berkely Mather
1. This basic biography was constructed in 2012 with the co-operation of Mather’s son, Dr Wynne Weston-Davies who was then researching his family’s history. Davies/Mather had always been reluctant to supply a definitive account of his life, and allowed the dust-jacket blurbs of his novels (even as late as 1967) to suggest that he had been born into a well-to-do Australian family and abandoned a promising career in ‘the family profession’ of medicine (ironically his son Wynne did go on to become a noted surgeon), in favour of a round-the-world cruise and a commission in the British army. Always reluctant to talk about his father, Mather had hinted that a ‘dark secret’ haunted that side of the family. After years of research, Wynne Weston-Davies published The Real Mary Kelly in 2015, claiming that Mather’s paternal aunt, Elizabeth Davies had left the family’s original Welsh home for London and had ended up as a prostitute using the name Mary Kelly to ply her trade in Whitechapel in the 1880s, where she was to become the fifth (and final?) victim of Jack the Ripper.
2. Anthony Price, a respected reviewer of crime fiction for the Oxford Times, a newspaper he later edited, was to become a major writer of spy fiction in the 1970s.
3. The cheap hardback Companion Book Club edition was priced at five shillings and threepence (just over 26p, roughly twice the price of a paperback in 1962) whereas the Collins hardback had cost 15 shillings (75p).
4. Weston-Davies acquired the family nickname ‘Jasper’ because of his resemblance to a pantomime villain called ‘Uncle Jasper’.
5. He was 52.
6. In 1988, as a brand new member of the Crime Writers’ Association, I was en route to one of my first meetings in London’s Soho when I was delayed at a second-hand bookshop in the Charing Cross Road. There I spotted the paperback Geth Straker by Berkely Mather and snapped it up. At the CWA meeting, I proudly showed off the book and was greeted with befuddled silence. None of the crime writers present (and there were quite a few well-known ones) had ever heard of Mather and were totally unaware that he was a past Chairman of the organisation, although he was still alive and well at the time.
Wilbur Smith
1. Interview with Giles Foden in 2009 during the launch of his latest novel.
2. In conversation with the author, 2013.
3. 9 April 2011.
Alan Williams
1. In conversation with the author, 2009.
2.Snake Water was the source for the American romantic comedy The Pink Jungle, starring James Garner and Eva Renzi in 1968.
3. Donald McCormick, Who’s Who in Spy Fiction, 1977.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & BIBLIOGRAPHY
The basic ideas in this book were formulated after fifty years of reading, twenty of them as a reviewer of crime fiction which gave me access to thriller writers, publishers, critics and, best of all, other fans. Many are no longer with us but I would acknowledge the conversations and friendly debates about favourite thrillers which I have had over the years with:
Len Deighton – a fund of stories and a great inspiration; Alan Williams – a fund of highly entertaining but more disreputable stories; Julian Symons, who had firm views on thriller writers, not all of them complimentary; Ali Karim – a true fan of the genre; Randall Masteller, an American expert on spy fiction; Iwan Morelius, a Swedish editor of and friend to some of the biggest names in the business; Marcel Berlins, Jake Kerridge, John Coleman, Matthew Coady, Jeremy Jehu, Harry Keating and Philip Oakes, all gentle, generous and perceptive reviewers; John Higgins, a stalwart champion of Victor Canning, and James Jenkins of Valancourt Books who performs similar heroics for John Blackburn; Barry Forshaw, who shares many of this author’s tastes but rarely admits that; Professor B. J. Rahn; Gavin Lyall, Anthony Price, Brian Callison, Philip Purser, Barry and Diana Norman, Jessica Mann, Brian Freemantle, David Brierley, Lee Child, Martin Woodhouse, Clive Egleton, Ted Willis, Peter Guttridge, Justin Scott and Walter Satterthwait – all great writers as well as readers; the children or family of Geoffrey Household, Duncan Kyle, James Mitchell, Adam Hall, John Gardner, Alan Gardner and Berkely Mather.
I have also browsed many websites maintained by dedicated and very knowledgeable fans and received particular help from Rob Mallows, Steve Holland, Nigel Alefounder, Philip Eastwood, Lizzie Aayes, Mike Stotter, Tom Cull, David Craggs, Dave Gertler, Fred de Vries and Dave Rice, plus the many excellent sites dedicated to the world of James Bond.
The genesis of this book dates from the course in Creative Crime Writing I developed for Cambridge University’s Institute of Continuing Education and a particular summer school at the University’s Madingley Hall and a panel discussion with Barry Forshaw and Peter Guttridge – entitled ‘What have old thrillers ever done for us?’ – at the 2014 Crimefest convention in Bristol. In terms of production, and the chance to be back in the Collins Crime Club, thanks are due to Chris Smith, Georgie Cauthery, Terence Caven and archivist Dawn Sinclair at HarperCollins.
But really, it all began fifty years ago when a good thriller paperback cost 17.5p.
Those were the days.
Published Sources:
Allingham, Margery Thriller! (The Bookseller Illustrated, September 1931)
Allingham, Margery The Fine Art of Intrigue (Ladies Home Journal, 1965) – a contrived ‘interview’ (done by post) with John Le Carré, from the original typescript now in the Allingham Archive at the University of Essex.
Atkins, John The British Spy Novel (John Calder, 1984)
Chapman, James Licence to Thrill – A Cultural History of the James Bond Films (I.B. Tauris, 2007)
Fleming, Fergus, ed., The Man with the Golden Typewriter, Ian Fleming’s James Bond Letters (Bloomsbur
y, 2015)
Forshaw, Barry, ed., British Crime Writing: An Encyclopedia (Greenwood, 2008)
Forshaw, Barry British Crime Film: Subverting the Social Order (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012)
Homberger, Eric John Le Carré (Methuen Contemporary Writers, 1986)
Jackson, Ashley The British Empire and the Second World War (Hambledon Continuum, 2006)
Keating, H.R.F., ed., Whodunit? (Windward, 1982)
Kennedy, Paul The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (Fontana Press, 1987)
Le Carré, John The Pigeon Tunnel (Viking, 2016)
Lewis, Peter The Fifties (Heinemann, 1978)
Lycett, Andrew Ian Fleming (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1995)
Macintyre, Ben For Your Eyes Only Ian Fleming + James Bond (Bloomsbury, 2008)
McCormick, Donald Who’s Who in Spy Fiction (Elm Tree, 1977)
Milward-Oliver, Edward The Len Deighton Companion (Grafton, 1987)
Susan Moody, ed., The Hatchards Crime Companion (Hatchards, 1990)
Palmer, Jerry Thrillers: Genesis and Structure of a Popular Genre (Edward Arnold, 1978)
Ramet, Carlos Ken Follett and the Triumph of Suspense (McFarland & Co., 2015)
Sellers, Robert The Battle for Bond (Tomahawk Press, 2007)
Sisman, Adam John Le Carré, The Biography (Bloomsbury, 2015)
Steel, Jayne Demons, Hamlets & Femmes Fatales – Representations of Irish Republicanism in Popular Fiction (Peter Lang, 2007)
Snelling, O. F. Double O Seven: James Bond – A Report (Panther, 1964)
Sutherland, John Bestseller: Popular Fiction of the 1970s (Routledge, 1981)
Sutherland, John Reading the Decades: Fifty Years of British History Through the Nation’s Bestsellers (BBC Books, 2002)
Symons, Julian Bloody Murder (Penguin, 1974 and [revised] Pan, 1994)
Usborne, Richard Clubland Heroes (3rd edition, Hutchinson, 1983)
Watson, Colin Snobbery with Violence (Methuen, 1987)
Webster, Jack Alistair MacLean: A Life (Chapmans, 1991)
INDEX
The page numbers in this index relate to the printed version of this book; they do not match the pages of your ebook. You can use your ebook reader’s search tool to find a specific word or passage
Page references in italics indicate photographs.
adventure thriller xv, xix–xx, 4–5, 12, 18, 22, 31, 38, 41, 46, 68, 73–4, 83, 96, 97, 98, 117, 121, 123, 130–1, 137, 159–60, 176, 186–202, 209, 210, 212, 213–14, 218, 220–1, 229, 234, 239, 250–1, 256–7, 263–4, 268–9, 287, 299, 305, 312, 318, 322, 325, 329, 331, 332, 349, 358, 361, 374, 388 see also under individual book title
Aldridge, James: A Captive in the Land 83–5, 122–3, 123, 332; The Statesman’s Game 332
Alexander, Patrick 332
Allbeury, Ted 12, 49, 54, 138, 245–7, 266, 332–3, 334; A Choice of Enemies 245, 333; Codeword Cromwell 333; The Lantern Network 245–7, 246, 333; The Only Good German 247
Allingham, Margery vii, 6–7, 8–9, 10, 20, 253, 308–9, 331, 343
Ambler, Eric xix, xx, 6, 17, 19–20, 22–3, 48, 67, 72–3, 96, 106, 118–19, 206, 212, 257, 265, 305, 316, 317, 329, 342, 360; Cause for Alarm 19–20; Dirty Story 73; Passage of Arms xix; The Dark Frontier 6; The Levanter xix, 96, 206, 212; The Light of Day xix, 73, 117, 119–20; The Mask of Dimitrios 22
Amis, Kingsley 17, 164, 176–7, 287, 293; Colonel Sun (‘Robert Markham’) 176, 287, 351; The James Bond Dossier 176, 288
Anthony, Evelyn 333–4
Arrow 171, 178
Ash, William 334
Bagley, Desmond 38, 50, 61, 74–7, 79, 97, 99, 195–6, 220–1, 229, 234, 245, 246, 253, 263, 265, 267–70, 299, 305, 325, 333, 358, 371, 380; Flyaway 75, 220; High Citadel 79, 80, 267, 268–9; Running Blind 75–6, 80, 220, 269; The Freedom Trap 196, 220, 269; The Golden Keel 38, 195–6, 197, 268, 305; The Snow Tiger 75, 220–1
Baker, W. Howard 334–5
Ball, Brian 335
Bear Island (film) 193, 208
Beeding, Francis 5–6
Behn, Noel: The Kremlin Letter 185
Bennett, Alan 145–6
Bentley, E. C. 73
Benton, Kenneth 49, 81, 335–6
Berkeley, Anthony 6, 7, 73, 114
Berlin xviii, 4, 89–95, 97, 140, 146, 165, 185, 216, 222, 244, 260, 261, 263, 282, 295, 309, 338, 339–40, 363, 381
Berlin Wall xviii, xx, 89, 146, 185, 244, 260, 309
Billion Dollar Brain (film) 184
Bingham, John 49, 148, 265, 305, 306, 308, 336, 375; The Double Agent 148, 148, 308, 336
Black, Gavin 336–7
Black, Ian Stuart 337–8
Black Windmill, The (film) 239, 240, 350
Blackburn, John 22, 35, 47, 69–70, 79–80, 126, 265, 338; A Scent of New-mown Hay 69, 338; A Sour Apple Tree 35; The Gaunt Woman 126; The Young Man from Lima 80
Blake, George 60, 140–1, 144, 149
Blunt, Sir Anthony 144, 145–6
Bond see Fleming, Ian
Book Club, The 21
book clubs 21, 68, 105, 107 205, 215, 272, 307, 323
Book Society Choice 187, 190–1, 276, 314
Boots Booklovers Library (BBL) 20–1
Boucher, Anthony 68, 154, 296, 345, 354, 386
Boulle, Pierre: The Bridge Over the River Kwai 32
Braddon, Russell: The Naked Island 28–9
Braine, John 299, 338–9
Breakheart Pass, Alistair MacLean’s (film) 195, 210
Brett, John Michael 40–1, 48, 88, 151–3, 265, 339; A Cargo of Spent Evil 153, 339; A Plague of Dragons 88, 153, 339; Diecast 88, 151–3, 152, 339; Faith Is a Windsock 40–1
Brickhill, Paul 27–8; The Dam Busters 28, 28; The Great Escape 28; Reach for The Sky 28, 314
Bridge on the River Kwai, The (film) 27, 63
Brierley, David 252, 339–40
Brighton Rock (films, 1947 and 2010) 24
British Empire xviii, xx, 14–15, 20, 25, 55–70, 185, 204, 242, 253, 325
Brooke, Gerald 184
Bruce, Jean 181
Buchan, John 5, 7, 16, 17, 46, 58, 60, 69, 107, 123–4, 156, 163, 287, 312, 316, 317, 323, 360, 377, 378, 383; Prester John 123
Burgess, Anthony 340
Burgess, Guy 60, 139, 142, 144, 145–6, 225, 381
Burke, John 340
Burmeister, Jon 340–1
Butler, Leslie 341
Caillou, Alan 341
Cain, Tom 327
Cairncross, John 144, 146
Callan (film) 154–5
Callison, Brian 32, 42, 236–8, 265, 342; A Flock of Ships 32, 236–7, 236, 342; A Plague of Sailors 237; Redcap 342; The Dawn Attack 237; Trapp’s War 237, 238
Cambridge spy ring 60, 139, 142–6
Campbell’s Kingdom (film) 20
Canning, Victor 19, 20, 38, 47, 48, 68, 72, 73–4, 106, 114, 120–1, 206, 212, 342; A Forest of Eyes 19–20, 19; Black Flamingo 120–1; Firecrest 212; His Bones Are Coral 68; Panthers’ Moon 19; The Burning Eye 68; The Doomsday Carrier 114; The Golden Salamander 19, 191; The Limbo Line 342; The Man from the Turkish Slave 68; The Python Project 67, 67; The Rainbird Pattern 206, 212; The Scorpio Letters 342; The Whip Hand 38; Venetian Bird 19, 20
Cannon, Elliott 343
Carr, John Dickson 6, 20, 164
Carter, Youngman 343
Carve Her Name with Pride (film) 59
Casino Royale (1967 film) 151, 283
Casino Royale (2006 film) 151
Chandler, Raymond xvi, 85, 135, 193, 226, 253–4, 281, 287
Chapman, Ian 315
Charles, Robert 343–4
Charteris, Leslie xix, 16, 285
Chase, James Hadley 126
Cheyney, Peter 16
Child, Lee xi–xiii, 116
Childers, Erskine 5, 46
Christie, Agatha 5, 6, 11–12, 20, 115, 195, 208, 209, 253, 275, 280
CIA 60, 141, 143, 146–7, 181, 219, 257, 328, 353
Clancy, Tom 247
Cleary, John 344
Cleeve, Brian 344–5
Clifford, Francis 22, 31–2, 47, 48, 49, 61, 99, 106, 121, 149, 181, 183, 213, 265, 271–3; A Battle Is Fought to Be Won 32; Act of Mercy 271–2; All Men Are Lonely Now 148–9, 183, 271, 272; Amigo Amigo 211, 213; Another Way of Dying 272; Honour the Shrine 31–2, 32, 271; The Blind Side 213; The Grosvenor Square Goodbye 213, 272, 273; The Naked Runner 179, 181, 272; Time is an Ambush 121
Cold War xvii, xx, 49, 51, 58, 62, 75, 89–90, 91, 92, 95, 101, 102, 126, 185, 187, 227, 237, 242, 243, 244, 252, 260, 269, 271, 276, 286–7, 307, 309, 310, 329, 332, 338, 353, 383
Collins 18, 108–10, 117, 186, 190, 215, 234–5, 240, 268, 296, 299, 300, 302, 314; White Circle Mystery 303
Collins, Wilkie 11, 250, 260
Companion Book Club 205
Copper, James Fenimore 4
Corgi 181
Cornwell, Patricia: Postmortem 262
Cory, Desmond 22, 34–5, 68–9, 89, 106, 121, 122, 345; Dead Man Falling 34; Johnny Goes East 69; Johnny Goes North 69; Johnny Goes South 69; Johnny Goes West 69; Mountainhead 69; Overload 69; Secret Ministry 34, 34, 68, 345; The Swastika Hunt 69; This Traitor, Death 34; Undertow 34–5, 122, 345
Cosgrave, Patrick 244, 345
Coulter, Stephen: Offshore 346; The Loved Enemy 346; The Soyuz Affair 346; Threshold 346 see also Mayo, James
cover design 34, 43–5, 132–3, 138, 170, 175, 202, 221, 256 see also under individual title of work
Craig, David 347
crime novels xix, xx, 10, 11–12, 75, 95, 114, 197, 221, 253, 258, 260–2, 299, 306, 311–12, 318, 331, 336, 343, 344, 347, 348, 351, 352, 355, 358, 361, 367, 376, 377
Crime Writers’ Association 97, 260, 264, 272, 293, 305, 312, 321, 324, 332, 336, 339, 376; Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement 212, 274, 278, 282, 293; Gold Dagger 96, 124, 198, 212, 217, 243, 245, 257, 274, 275, 276–7, 278, 376; Silver Dagger 206, 213, 243, 272, 376
Cuban Missile Crisis 132, 141, 185
Cumming, Charles 138; The Trinity Six 146
Cussler, Clive 256, 257
Dandy in Aspic, A (film) 94–5, 181, 369
Danger Route (film) 171–2, 390