Girl on the Run

by Allan Echols

Armand O'Bae didn't simply disappear. He was kidnapped, tortured, then thrown from an upper-story window. An unfortunate accident said the gentlemen involved, and more unfortunate that O'Bae had taken with him the sinister secret of a ninth-century treasure.

Genres: Gothic

271 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aarons, who would become well-known for his “Assignment” espionage series, offered readers in 1954 “Girl on the Run,” an espionage story where the lead character is not an official espionage agent, but an American engineer who has found employment in post-War Europe and stayed on. As the story opens, Harry Bannock is in Paris, heading back to the States with a healthy bank account the next morning.

The only thing standing in his way is a note from Lorette O’Bae, a woman he was deeply attracted to, but who was involved with a wheeler-dealer named Cobb. He tells Mildred, an over-stacked Dutch blonde, that he met Lorette in Ste-Simone but lost her to Cobb. Lorette fails to make their midnight rendevous and he heads to her apartment, where he lusts after her while she tells him her father, Armand O’Bae, is missing and later discloses that her father made a discovery with regard to buried treasure or uranium.

But, as luck may have it, many forces are working at odds with Bannock and Lorette. A body is found in her apartment. Their route south to Marseille is blocked. Bannock is arrested. Lorette is kidnapped. Bannock has to work with Cobb to attempt to rescue Lorette who may or may not be free.

The story is designed with the idea that both Bannock and the readership are in the dark for most of the novel about what is really going on and who is allied with who. Bannock operates as an agent, but one without orders or anything other than a desperate idea of rescuing Lorette from whoever took her, whether it is Communists or other adventurers just out for the money.

[Skjam! · Rating 3 out of 5]

The synopsis is perhaps a bit misleading; the main character of the book is one Harry Bannock, an engineer who's been helping rebuild Europe after the War. He receives a request for help from the woman he thought he lost to a rival, and winds up in a heap of trouble.

This book was originally published in 1954, and reflects the preoccupations of that time, with Communists as a major threat. Harry is a typical action hero of the period, tough, multi-talented and a bit stoic. His views on women aren't exactly progressive, nor are the other characters'; the two younger women in the story are referred to as "X's woman" and the woman who is no one's possession is referred to as a "witch."

Trigger warning: domestic abuse and attempted rape.

Should do well with fans of older action novels and male readers who don't mind the old-fashioned attitudes.

For more adventure reviews, see http://www.skjam.com/tag/adventure/

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Behind the somewhat hokey title and book cover stands one of Edward Aarons better thrillers. Set along the French and Spanish border, the action slips back and forth between the two countries. The sense of atmosphere given to Franco's Spain is particularly effective. The story itself is as much an adventure as a thriller. Harry Bannock is almost on his way home, when the girlfriend of a one time subordinate in the navy during World War II desperately calls upon him for help. Bannock's old friend, Mart Cobb, has abused the girl, Lorette O'Bea, horribly. Once through with her, he will turn her over to his right hand thug, Coco. (Where do these names come from? Bannock, Coco, O'Bea, Mart Cobb?)

There is a mystery to uncover first. Lorette's father it turns out discovered the secret of two treasures, one a hidden hoard from the days of Charlemagne and the other an atomic age treasure. Who will get them first? Harry and Lorette? The gangster Mart Cobb? Or the Communist Party front organization masquerading as a fascist successor to the Vichy French. There is action at sea, along the coast, in the mountains, and among the border villages and towns of France and Spain. It's not bad at all.