Assignment Unicorn

Sam Durell #41

by Edward S. Aarons

The assassins are highly trained. Employed by someone who knows all about K Section and the Internal Security Bureau. Someone who wants to destroy us. As quickly as possible. The first time Sam became aware of them, they had murdered Premier Shang of Palingdon and a good friend of Sam's. But what Sam couldn't believe was the incredible super-strength of the killers. They were almost non-human. Sam knew darn well something very special was giving them that extraordinary power. Some fantastic drug. In the hands of a megalomaniac mastermind, that drug could strangle the world.

Genres: Espionage

191 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 12, 1976

About the author

AKA Paul Ayres, Edward Ronns.

Edward Sidney Aarons (September 11, 1916 - June 16, 1975) was an American writer, author of more than 80 novels from 1936 until 1962. One of these was under the pseudonym "Paul Ayres" (Dead Heat), and 30 were written using the name "Edward Ronns". He also wrote numerous articles for detective magazines such as Detective Story Magazine and Scarab.

Aarons was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and earned a degree in Literature and History from Columbia University. He worked at various jobs to put himself through college, including jobs as a newspaper reporter and fisherman. In 1933, he won a short story contest as a student. In World War II he was in the United States Coast Guard, joining after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. He finished his duty in 1945, having obtained the rank of Chief Petty Officer.

Reviews

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 2 out of 5]

Something was missing from Assignment Unicorn. Specifically, CIA agent Sam Durell was hollowed out in this novel. It's difficult to identify the steps Edward Aarons took throughout the Assignment Series that built Durell's character and expanded his psyche. But suddenly they were all stripped from this novel, which appears to have been written haphazardly. It didn't help that Aarons severed almost all the connections Sam had built with the supporting characters of the series. General McFee is here. But only briefly. The other agents and adversaries are gone, too. Perhaps it was the recurring interchanges between Durell and those other characters that gave Sam his depth.

As for the story, things start out well on a fictional island nation off the Malay peninsula. (Why are most of Aarons' settings in Asia and Africa fictional, whereas those in Europe and the US are real?) The leader of the country of Palingbon and the resident K Section head from the CIA are murdered. The killers seem to have superhuman powers. It quickly develops that yet another scientist has invented yet another secret formula, this one giving people superhuman strength and agility in order to create an army that will bring order and discipline to the world. Sam stops it, going from Palingborn to Geneva on to London then the Orkney Islands and finally Washington DC and Maine. These Durell novels did much, much better when they eschewed these gimmicky science fiction plots. But it's a turn Aarons gradually had taken ever since writing Black Viking in 1967. Not that it much matters. Because this novel is but a bare echo of Aarons' earlier efforts.

One more Sam Durell novel to go, Assignment Afghan Dragon. I'm not counting the six Assignment Series books that came after Afghan Dragon and Aarons' death and which apparently had someone ghost write them.

[Wayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my first Durell book. I know it's book #41 in the series, but I can't help but feel like I came in the middle of something. The "assignment" is already in progress when we start this thing. There is way to much inter-bureau fighting. Not much action. Loads of planning and intrigue. Still not much action. Durell comes of, to me, as a run of the mill secret agent. A man's man that can lay any female and dodge all enemies to get his man.

Anyway the plot, which little there is, revolves around a group of super human men who are tearing apart people for money that K-Section, (Durell's branch of secret service) is giving to other governments. There's some fun here, just not enough to carry it home. I much prefer Nick Carter for my secret service needs.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much later into the series, and the books are getting a little tired, mainly seen in the terseness of the writing, and also the fact that Durrell seems ready to settle down at the end of it. The plot is pretty basic: a band of seeming superhuman operatives are targeting Section K's finances, and it falls to Durrell to figure the mess out.

[John Peel · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can never go wrong with a Sam Durell espionage thriller, and this is no exception. Sam's old friend, Donaldson, has been killed, and Sam is determined to find whoever is responsible. But the killers were crazed and unarmed, and literally torn Donaldson apart with their bare hands. Donaldson's daughter is determined to get her own revenge, but she was a drug addict, and Sam isn't at all sure he can trust her. Lots of action, lots of twists and plenty of fun.

[B.E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book! Now I have to track down the other 40 books before this and however many came after. =oD