Thanks, Doug. Are you following me? :)
--- Rene Ribic <
rribic@optusnet.com.au> wrote:
Hello Jeremy & welcome,
Thanks, Rene.
> I have one or two of this series in paperback but
as
> I don't read French
> the chance that I'll read any of them are very
slim.
> IIRC, I bought one
> because the cover looked vaguely familiar - it
turns
> out it was pinched
> from a Gold Medal paperback, The Violent Ones
by
> Howard (Watergate)
> Hunt. I must admit the tiger skin bikini was
the
> only reason I bought
> the book (for about 20c.).
I have a few E Howard Hunt novels written under pseudonyms,
but I haven't read them yet. I followed them from the back of
a Mark Hood novel. I realise that Hunt has written hundreds
of novels - which are the best? Would they classify as
hard-boiled at all?
those Semyonov books
> sound interesting. I
> don't recall the earlier discussion: were
they
> strongly recommended by
> someone? Are the books available in
paperback?
Rene, it was in March, I think. Someone asked about
contemporary Russian crime novels and Semyonov was mentioned.
Actually, someone did recommend Seventeen Moments of Spring,
too. He has another novel translated, also a spy thriller,
with the wonderful title TASS is authorized to announce...
It's nowhere near as good as Seventeen Moments of Spring,
which I would favourably compare to the early Quillers. Very
tense stuff. The book opens with Isaev, known as von
Stirlitz, waiting at a villa outside Berlin for an informant
to arrive. The informant is part of Stirlitz's cover,
ferreting out potential traitors to the Reich. The man
presents Stirlitz with a tape of a conversation he has had
with a pastor, in which he has pretended to be a communist.
Stirlitz realises that the informant is a little too clever
for comfort. He tells him he has done great work and deserves
a holiday, and writes out a note for it, which the informant
signs. Then they go for a walk. Stirlitz shoots the informant
in the back of the head. I don't have the book at hand, so I
paraphrase, but it goes something like "Unlike in the books
or movies, Stirlitz didn't waste any time explaining *why* he
was going to kill him." Then he writes the informant's
suicide note, saying that he was under enormous stress
(he has the holiday slip to prove it). The novel has a very
complicated plot, but it all comes together beautifully. In
Russia, Stirlitz is as well known as James Bond or Robin
Hood, and is the subject of countless jokes. He featured in a
dozen or so thrillers (previous ones set up his cover in
Germany prior to the war). 17 Moments is available in the US
in paperback under the name The Himmler Ploy (used, of course
- it was written in the 60s). I liked it so much that I was
interested in buying the film rights, but I reached a dead
end. Anyone here read Cyrillic?
:) Jeremy
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