The Protectors

by William Haggard

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188 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

William Haggard (born Croydon 11 August 1907, died Frinton-on-Sea 27 October 1993) was the pseudonym of Richard Henry Michael Clayton, the son of the Rev. Henry James Clayton and Mabel Sarah Clayton. He was an English writer of fictional spy thrillers set in the 1960s through the 1980s, or, as the writer H. R. F. Keating called them, "action novels of international power." Like C. P. Snow, he was a quintessentially British Establishment figure who had been a civil servant in India, and his books vigorously put forth his perhaps idiosyncratic points of view. The principle character in most of his novels is the urbane Colonel Charles Russell of the fictional Security Executive, (clearly based on the actual MI5 or Security Service), who moves easily and gracefully along Snow's Corridors of Power in Whitehall. During the years of the fictional spy mania initially begun by the James Bond stories, Haggard was considered by most critics to be at the very top of the field.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Scobell is the head of an American intelligence agency in London. When he learns that a young diplomat has bought a secret document from an English official, he's upset--he's spent years building trust with his English colleagues, and this could be the scandal that ends the relationships. Worse, the diplomat isn't working for his country, but for his wealthy, powerful grandfather. And worst of all, the document has been stolen from the young man's safe. Then there's the thief who almost accidentally stole the document, and protector who advises him on his investments. Most of the characters come together on Crete, which turns out to be a disaster for at least one of them. Fast-moving and suspenseful.