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Line of Fire
An assassin gets caught up in a botched kill when a young woman stumbles onto the scene. He tries to protect her and keep them both alive.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
69 people want to read
About the author
Donald Hamilton
102 books108 followersDonald Hamilton was a U.S. writer of novels, short stories, and non-fiction about the outdoors. His novels consist mostly of paperback originals, principally spy fiction but also crime fiction and Westerns such as The Big Country. He is best known for his long-running Matt Helm series (1960-1993), which chronicles the adventures of an undercover counter-agent/assassin working for a secret American government agency.
Hamilton began his writing career in 1946, fiction magazines like Collier's Weekly and The Saturday Evening Post. His first novel Date With Darkness was published in 1947; over the next forty-six years he published a total of thirty-eight novels. Most of his early novels whether suspense, spy, and western published between 1954 and 1960, were typical paperback originals of the era: fast-moving tales in paperbacks with lurid covers. Several classic western movies, The Big Country and The Violent Men, were adapted from two of his western novels.
The Matt Helm series, published by Gold Medal Books, which began with Death of a Citizen in 1960 and ran for 27 books, ending in 1993 with The Damagers, was more substantial.
Helm, a wartime agent in a secret agency that specialized in the assassination of Nazis, is drawn back into a post-war world of espionage and assassination after fifteen years as a civilian. He narrates his adventures in a brisk, matter-of-fact tone with an occasional undertone of deadpan humor. He describes gunfights, knife fights, torture, and (off-stage) sexual conquests with a carefully maintained professional detachment, like a pathologist dictating an autopsy report or a police officer describing an investigation. Over the course of the series, this detachment comes to define Helm's character. He is a professional doing a job; the job is killing people.
Hamilton was a skilled outdoorsman and hunter who wrote non-fiction articles for outdoor magazines and published a book-length collection of them. For several years he lived on his own yacht, then relocated to Sweden where he resided until his death in 2006.
Hamilton began his writing career in 1946, fiction magazines like Collier's Weekly and The Saturday Evening Post. His first novel Date With Darkness was published in 1947; over the next forty-six years he published a total of thirty-eight novels. Most of his early novels whether suspense, spy, and western published between 1954 and 1960, were typical paperback originals of the era: fast-moving tales in paperbacks with lurid covers. Several classic western movies, The Big Country and The Violent Men, were adapted from two of his western novels.
The Matt Helm series, published by Gold Medal Books, which began with Death of a Citizen in 1960 and ran for 27 books, ending in 1993 with The Damagers, was more substantial.
Helm, a wartime agent in a secret agency that specialized in the assassination of Nazis, is drawn back into a post-war world of espionage and assassination after fifteen years as a civilian. He narrates his adventures in a brisk, matter-of-fact tone with an occasional undertone of deadpan humor. He describes gunfights, knife fights, torture, and (off-stage) sexual conquests with a carefully maintained professional detachment, like a pathologist dictating an autopsy report or a police officer describing an investigation. Over the course of the series, this detachment comes to define Helm's character. He is a professional doing a job; the job is killing people.
Hamilton was a skilled outdoorsman and hunter who wrote non-fiction articles for outdoor magazines and published a book-length collection of them. For several years he lived on his own yacht, then relocated to Sweden where he resided until his death in 2006.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 7, 2021
Donald Hamilton is best known as the creator of the Matt Helm espionage series, which ran for 27 novels (with a 28th to be published) from 1960 to 1993. He also published a half dozen crime novels and a half dozen westerns, mostly before he launched Matt Helm. The crime novels consisted of Date with Darkness (1947), The Steel Mirror (1948), Night Walker (1954) (republished more recently by Hard Case Crime), Line of Fire (1955), Assignment Murder/Assassins Have Starry Eyes (1956), and The Mona Intercept (1980). If Line of Fire is any example of these books, they are all worth reading.
Line of Fire features a character that readers might recognize as an early version of Matt Helm, tough, no-nonsense, and with an underlying sense of good and evil. Paul Nyquist, the lead character, feels just like Helm in so many ways right down to his detail-oriented approach to shooting. Nyquist is a gun enthusiast and a gunsmith. He is also a complex character, who is involved in a shooting of a governor from a second-story window, reminiscent of what Oswald would do eight years later in the book depository in Dallas. He is a wounded hero in so many ways, mainly because he suffered a groin injury in a hunting accident and fears being a laughingstock of the community. Only one man in town knows his secret and that many, Carl, happens to be the leader of the local hoodlums who is pushing his way into the power behind the political scene. Good thing they are chums and that Nyquist knows Carl's dirty little secret, too -- the secret that led to the hunting accident.
Of course, this is crime fiction and, in order for crime fiction to work as a story, something has to go wrong and the shooting at the governor goes sideways in just about every way as a young lady barges into the office where the shooters are holed up after hearing the gunshot and wondering what the noise was. Nyquist acts without thinking and, all of a sudden, the toughest guy around is playing Sir Galahad and has an albatross around his neck as the other witnesses are one by one being taken off the board. She doesn't trust him one bit, having witnessed what could have been a political assassination of the highest order, but he does his damnedest to keep her a secret and goes to bat for her against the entire underworld.
The story is told so well and so honestly that it is actually believable. Nyquist acts with mixed emotions, trying to keep everything on the ball so his life can continue as it has, working as a gunsmith and being pally-wally with Carl and Marge and that crowd. But you know it is all going to explode loudly at a certain point.
Line of Fire features a character that readers might recognize as an early version of Matt Helm, tough, no-nonsense, and with an underlying sense of good and evil. Paul Nyquist, the lead character, feels just like Helm in so many ways right down to his detail-oriented approach to shooting. Nyquist is a gun enthusiast and a gunsmith. He is also a complex character, who is involved in a shooting of a governor from a second-story window, reminiscent of what Oswald would do eight years later in the book depository in Dallas. He is a wounded hero in so many ways, mainly because he suffered a groin injury in a hunting accident and fears being a laughingstock of the community. Only one man in town knows his secret and that many, Carl, happens to be the leader of the local hoodlums who is pushing his way into the power behind the political scene. Good thing they are chums and that Nyquist knows Carl's dirty little secret, too -- the secret that led to the hunting accident.
Of course, this is crime fiction and, in order for crime fiction to work as a story, something has to go wrong and the shooting at the governor goes sideways in just about every way as a young lady barges into the office where the shooters are holed up after hearing the gunshot and wondering what the noise was. Nyquist acts without thinking and, all of a sudden, the toughest guy around is playing Sir Galahad and has an albatross around his neck as the other witnesses are one by one being taken off the board. She doesn't trust him one bit, having witnessed what could have been a political assassination of the highest order, but he does his damnedest to keep her a secret and goes to bat for her against the entire underworld.
The story is told so well and so honestly that it is actually believable. Nyquist acts with mixed emotions, trying to keep everything on the ball so his life can continue as it has, working as a gunsmith and being pally-wally with Carl and Marge and that crowd. But you know it is all going to explode loudly at a certain point.
January 14, 2015
Hamilton does it again with a superb, complex main character (MC). The book opens on an obvious assassination & then flips the world on its head. Except for one poor data dump - a paragraph maybe 1/4 the way in - information is doled out in logical, intriguing bits. The MC makes no excuses or even explanations for his actions & his thought processes are typical, practical Hamilton all the way. Often, I didn't like what he did, but then realized why he acted the way he had. Sometimes I still didn't agree, but it was understandable. The suspense is pure & exciting. Nothing is certain all the way to the end.
On the downside, there were only 2 women in the book & they weren't as fully drawn as I know Hamilton is capable of. One was particularly interesting, though.
On the upside, the MC owns a gun store. Without getting too esoteric, Hamilton brings the business to life. I spoke to my neighbor about some of it since he also owns a gun store. He wants to borrow the book, so I'm buying him a copy. (My copy is old with limited reads left in it. Why won't they republish Hamilton's other books?!!!) From what I know & discussed with him, Hamilton was right on.
Highly recommended!
On the downside, there were only 2 women in the book & they weren't as fully drawn as I know Hamilton is capable of. One was particularly interesting, though.
On the upside, the MC owns a gun store. Without getting too esoteric, Hamilton brings the business to life. I spoke to my neighbor about some of it since he also owns a gun store. He wants to borrow the book, so I'm buying him a copy. (My copy is old with limited reads left in it. Why won't they republish Hamilton's other books?!!!) From what I know & discussed with him, Hamilton was right on.
Highly recommended!
January 18, 2023
An early work by Donald Hamilton. First published in 1955 it was re-released in 1964 with the success of the Matt Helm franchise. Like most of the pulp/noir novels from this time Line of Fire is a compact novel (more of a novella) that moves rapidly. It starts out quickly with a political assassination attempt and goes from there. There is corruption and conspiracy with crooked cops, rotten politicians and gangsters, but not a single intelligence operative or false flag operation in site. What you see is what you get. It's actually a rather plausible story that doesn't require the reader to believe the laws of physics have been suspended and characters can survive the most traumatic of injuries with only a few scratches and bruises. This isn't a John Wick story in other words.
It's a first-person narrative from the perspective of the assassin. Hamilton was not a writer of deep introspective stories. He was very much a "meat and potatoes" sort of writer who wrote stories that were straightforward and not multi-layered. One does not have to stop and read a paragraph over for example. Everything falls into place very nicely. It's also a story from the mid-Fifties (which was cosmetically updated by Hamilton for the 1964 printing) so there is the usual anachronistic attitude towards women. While I was reading it, I could practically hear the Fifties era orchestral music in monaural sound and vision the characters in beautiful black and white.
It's worth noting that Donald Hamilton was a lifelong hunter. I own many back issues of various gun magazines from the Sixties and Seventies that contain articles written by Hamilton. He knew what he was writing about and Line of Fire contains a large number of technical details that are unusual for the time period. It gives the novel something of a modern feeling to it. It also reminded me of Stephen Hunter and his creation Bob Swaggert. I have no doubt Mr. Hunter is familiar with Hamilton's work. There is an unexpected detail about the protagonist being sexually impotent due to an injury. That part of the story is dealt with in an elliptical fashion, but regardless I wasn't expecting such a detail from a 67-year-old novel. All in all, it's a page-turner. Some of it might be attributable to nostalgia, but it held my interest. If you like the old pulp fiction books this one is worth a search.
The book has been out of print for several years. Copies can be found, but unless one lucks out (I found my copy in a box with several dozen paperbacks at an estate auction) be prepared to pay somewhere between $ 10 - $15 dollars (United States) for a copy. Compare that to the sales price of 40 cents if you want a lesson about money and inflation. One last thing which has nothing to do with the writing. I absolutely love the cover art from the 1964 edition. Some of the best part of the old paperbacks was the cover art.
It's a first-person narrative from the perspective of the assassin. Hamilton was not a writer of deep introspective stories. He was very much a "meat and potatoes" sort of writer who wrote stories that were straightforward and not multi-layered. One does not have to stop and read a paragraph over for example. Everything falls into place very nicely. It's also a story from the mid-Fifties (which was cosmetically updated by Hamilton for the 1964 printing) so there is the usual anachronistic attitude towards women. While I was reading it, I could practically hear the Fifties era orchestral music in monaural sound and vision the characters in beautiful black and white.
It's worth noting that Donald Hamilton was a lifelong hunter. I own many back issues of various gun magazines from the Sixties and Seventies that contain articles written by Hamilton. He knew what he was writing about and Line of Fire contains a large number of technical details that are unusual for the time period. It gives the novel something of a modern feeling to it. It also reminded me of Stephen Hunter and his creation Bob Swaggert. I have no doubt Mr. Hunter is familiar with Hamilton's work. There is an unexpected detail about the protagonist being sexually impotent due to an injury. That part of the story is dealt with in an elliptical fashion, but regardless I wasn't expecting such a detail from a 67-year-old novel. All in all, it's a page-turner. Some of it might be attributable to nostalgia, but it held my interest. If you like the old pulp fiction books this one is worth a search.
The book has been out of print for several years. Copies can be found, but unless one lucks out (I found my copy in a box with several dozen paperbacks at an estate auction) be prepared to pay somewhere between $ 10 - $15 dollars (United States) for a copy. Compare that to the sales price of 40 cents if you want a lesson about money and inflation. One last thing which has nothing to do with the writing. I absolutely love the cover art from the 1964 edition. Some of the best part of the old paperbacks was the cover art.
July 4, 2021
What starts as a straight forward assassination attempt ends up as a rather strange book, story that is about much much more than shooting people.
Paul Nyquist seems to be a prototype of an assassin gunsmith (echoes of this type of character can be found in later books by other authors, like "The Very Private Gentleman"). Man very much at peace with himself, consummate professional and most importantly - human being.
Story is told from Nyquist's point of view. We follow him as he tries to navigate the rather weird relationship he has with the local criminal kingpin Carl (who hires him for the job mentioned above). Carl, outright megalomaniac and sadist seems to constantly be on the verge of ordering Paul getting killed. This very dynamic between the two, constant testing of boundaries, jousting and getting Carl's thugs embarrassed ever so often is what drives the story. As we follow our hero we are given very realistic comments when it comes to guns and gun-handling. Nyquist shares with us the full knowledge of expert gun-smith and while his backstory remains very much in the shadows we see that he is a man who dedicated life to guns and gun-fighting.
Another interesting aspect of the story is Nyquist's view of life. While it might be interpreted in one way as a fatalistic it is for all means and purposes view coming from a man who knows himself, his abilities and, while trying to avoid conflicts, when he sees injustice he knows how to end the fight (Reacher would be another comparison here). I wont go into details here in order not to ruin the experience for others but our hero has a problem or two of his own that he needs to live with and can be a role-model that even when one finds oneself in dire straits one needs to keep on living to the best of his abilities.
Very interesting hero, coupled with very interestingly presented man-woman relationship. I wish there were more books like this around. I have seen less character building in books three times the size.
Story is not fast, action scene after action scene, there is lots of dialogue in here, lots of introspection. But for me it was quite a ride and - thanks to the author's style - very fast read. I just could not stop once I started it.
If you are interested in guns, you will like it. If you like stoics give this book a shot. If you like stories of shrewd heroes, fighting for good and always ready to do the right thing you will like this book.
Finally if you like "smart" action books, this one is highly recommended.
Paul Nyquist seems to be a prototype of an assassin gunsmith (echoes of this type of character can be found in later books by other authors, like "The Very Private Gentleman"). Man very much at peace with himself, consummate professional and most importantly - human being.
Story is told from Nyquist's point of view. We follow him as he tries to navigate the rather weird relationship he has with the local criminal kingpin Carl (who hires him for the job mentioned above). Carl, outright megalomaniac and sadist seems to constantly be on the verge of ordering Paul getting killed. This very dynamic between the two, constant testing of boundaries, jousting and getting Carl's thugs embarrassed ever so often is what drives the story. As we follow our hero we are given very realistic comments when it comes to guns and gun-handling. Nyquist shares with us the full knowledge of expert gun-smith and while his backstory remains very much in the shadows we see that he is a man who dedicated life to guns and gun-fighting.
Another interesting aspect of the story is Nyquist's view of life. While it might be interpreted in one way as a fatalistic it is for all means and purposes view coming from a man who knows himself, his abilities and, while trying to avoid conflicts, when he sees injustice he knows how to end the fight (Reacher would be another comparison here). I wont go into details here in order not to ruin the experience for others but our hero has a problem or two of his own that he needs to live with and can be a role-model that even when one finds oneself in dire straits one needs to keep on living to the best of his abilities.
Very interesting hero, coupled with very interestingly presented man-woman relationship. I wish there were more books like this around. I have seen less character building in books three times the size.
Story is not fast, action scene after action scene, there is lots of dialogue in here, lots of introspection. But for me it was quite a ride and - thanks to the author's style - very fast read. I just could not stop once I started it.
If you are interested in guns, you will like it. If you like stoics give this book a shot. If you like stories of shrewd heroes, fighting for good and always ready to do the right thing you will like this book.
Finally if you like "smart" action books, this one is highly recommended.
January 28, 2018
A superior piece of pulp fiction from 1955, the first-person narrative of a gunsmith apparently hired to carry out an assassination. The protagonist is quite a rounded figure for a novel written at that time and there’s considerable tension as the dead bodies mount and women complicate the situation, particularly one who witnesses the shooting. Gangsters and corrupt politicians add to the combination before all is quite sensibly resolved. Nothing outstanding, but a good read. 3.5 stars.
August 2, 2016
Dang, that was a good book. They just don't make them like that anymore. I don't think they could get away with it today. Which is too bad.
March 14, 2015
"Γραμμή πυρός", εκδόσεις ΒΙΠΕΡ.
Πέμπτο βιβλίο του Ντόναλντ Χάμιλτον που διαβάζω, πρώτο όμως που δεν ανήκει στην εξαιρετική σειρά με ήρωα τον Ματ Χελμ. Εδώ, πρωταγωνιστής που αφηγείται σε πρώτο πρόσωπο είναι ο Πολ Νίκουιστ, εξαιρετικός σκοπευτής και εξπέρ σε όλων των ειδών τα όπλα. Είναι ιδιοκτήτης ενός οπλουργείου στην Κάπιταλ Σίτι και τα απογεύματα τα περνάει με έναν τοπικό γκάνγκστερ, τον Καρλ Γκούντερμαν, έναν άντρα με τον οποίο μοιράζεται ένα σκοτεινό μυστικό και ο οποίος, αν και δεν μπορεί να θεωρηθεί φίλος, παρ'όλα αυτά είναι ο μόνος με τον οποίο νιώθει άνετα. Η ιστορία αρχίζει με τον Νίκουιστ να είναι μπροστά από ένα παράθυρο και να σημαδεύει στα τετρακόσια μέτρα απέναντι, έχοντας δίπλα του έναν θερμοκέφαλο άντρα που του την δίνει στα νεύρα. Στόχος του Νίκουιστ είναι ένας μεγάλος πολιτικός που έχει σαν στόχο να γίνει σύντομα κυβερνήτης και έτσι πρέπει να γίνει κάτι ώστε να τα καταφέρει... Και εκεί που έχει γίνει η δουλειά, όχι ακριβώς όπως θα ήθελαν μερικοί, μπαίνει στο δωμάτιο μια κοπέλα και ρωτάει τι ήταν αυτή η φασαρία. Ο θερμοκέφαλος σύντροφος του Νίκουιστ πάει να την σκοτώσει. Ο Νίκουιστ την σώζει. Ε, και εκεί μπλέκονται τα πράγματα.
Πάρα πολύ καλό θριλεράκι, αλλά μου φάνηκε ελάχιστα πιο αδύναμο σε σχέση με τα βιβλία της σειράς Ματ Χελμ. Ο Νίκουιστ μια χαρά χαρακτήρας ήταν, αν και με μια χτυπητή αδυναμία σε σχέση με τον Χελμ (...). Η πλοκή ήταν ενδιαφέρουσα και υπήρχε μια κάποια αγωνία για το τι θα γίνει παρακάτω. Οι ανατροπές λίγες και καλές, η δράση μπόλικη, η γραφή εξαιρετική, δίχως φανφάρες, με ωραίες και παραστατικές περιγραφές και ρεαλιστικούς διαλόγους. Οι γνώσεις του Χάμιλτον πάνω στα όπλα πολλές και χρήσιμες. Πρόκειται για έναν εξαιρετικό συγγραφέα βιβλίων δράσης.
Πέμπτο βιβλίο του Ντόναλντ Χάμιλτον που διαβάζω, πρώτο όμως που δεν ανήκει στην εξαιρετική σειρά με ήρωα τον Ματ Χελμ. Εδώ, πρωταγωνιστής που αφηγείται σε πρώτο πρόσωπο είναι ο Πολ Νίκουιστ, εξαιρετικός σκοπευτής και εξπέρ σε όλων των ειδών τα όπλα. Είναι ιδιοκτήτης ενός οπλουργείου στην Κάπιταλ Σίτι και τα απογεύματα τα περνάει με έναν τοπικό γκάνγκστερ, τον Καρλ Γκούντερμαν, έναν άντρα με τον οποίο μοιράζεται ένα σκοτεινό μυστικό και ο οποίος, αν και δεν μπορεί να θεωρηθεί φίλος, παρ'όλα αυτά είναι ο μόνος με τον οποίο νιώθει άνετα. Η ιστορία αρχίζει με τον Νίκουιστ να είναι μπροστά από ένα παράθυρο και να σημαδεύει στα τετρακόσια μέτρα απέναντι, έχοντας δίπλα του έναν θερμοκέφαλο άντρα που του την δίνει στα νεύρα. Στόχος του Νίκουιστ είναι ένας μεγάλος πολιτικός που έχει σαν στόχο να γίνει σύντομα κυβερνήτης και έτσι πρέπει να γίνει κάτι ώστε να τα καταφέρει... Και εκεί που έχει γίνει η δουλειά, όχι ακριβώς όπως θα ήθελαν μερικοί, μπαίνει στο δωμάτιο μια κοπέλα και ρωτάει τι ήταν αυτή η φασαρία. Ο θερμοκέφαλος σύντροφος του Νίκουιστ πάει να την σκοτώσει. Ο Νίκουιστ την σώζει. Ε, και εκεί μπλέκονται τα πράγματα.
Πάρα πολύ καλό θριλεράκι, αλλά μου φάνηκε ελάχιστα πιο αδύναμο σε σχέση με τα βιβλία της σειράς Ματ Χελμ. Ο Νίκουιστ μια χαρά χαρακτήρας ήταν, αν και με μια χτυπητή αδυναμία σε σχέση με τον Χελμ (...). Η πλοκή ήταν ενδιαφέρουσα και υπήρχε μια κάποια αγωνία για το τι θα γίνει παρακάτω. Οι ανατροπές λίγες και καλές, η δράση μπόλικη, η γραφή εξαιρετική, δίχως φανφάρες, με ωραίες και παραστατικές περιγραφές και ρεαλιστικούς διαλόγους. Οι γνώσεις του Χάμιλτον πάνω στα όπλα πολλές και χρήσιμες. Πρόκειται για έναν εξαιρετικό συγγραφέα βιβλίων δράσης.
January 1, 2017
I have been a fan of Donald Hamilton since 1965. This story was another brilliant story of intrigue and mystery by him. Great news on the 'Matt Helm' series available for eBooks, I wish all of his books were also available for downloading. I am scouring old book stores around the country to find copies of his mystery and western series. Highly recommend this author.
April 7, 2010
Pulpy good fun!
June 28, 2015
So different then the Matt Helm series that I really love. This book takes you into some very complex relationships that lead to a great finish.
August 7, 2018
Had the great fortune of finding this at a free book drive in Israel. Hamilton manages to pack a full plot without leaving the reader feeling rushed in only 159 pages. A true page turner and well executed at every turn. Would recommend if you can get your hands on it.
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