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Judas country
A lively wisecracking saga of two aging pilots battling their way through arms-smuggling and intrigue in Nicosia, Beirut and Jerusalem. This is a story of agents and double agents with the final loot being a fabulous gem-encrusted sword which once belonged to Richard the Lion Heart. It all begins when Roy Case lands his plane in Cyprus and finds that the charter company who employs him has gone broke and the airfield authorities are waiting to impound his aircraft.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1975
About the author
Gavin Lyall
74 books32 followersGavin was born and educated in Birmingham. For two years he served as a RAF pilot before going up to Cambridge, where he edited Varsity, the university newspaper. After working for Picture Post, the Sunday Graphic and the BBC, he began his first novel, The Wrong Side of the Sky, published in 1961. After four years as Air Correspondent to the Sunday Times, he resigned to write books full time. He was married to the well-known journalist Katherine Whitehorn and they lived in London with their children.
Lyall won the British Crime Writers' Association's Silver Dagger award in both 1964 and 1965. In 1966-67 he was Chairman of the British Crime Writers Association. He was not a prolific author, attributing his slow pace to obsession with technical accuracy. According to a British newspaper, “he spent many nights in his kitchen at Primrose Hill, north London, experimenting to see if one could, in fact, cast bullets from lead melted in a saucepan, or whether the muzzle flash of a revolver fired across a saucer of petrol really would ignite a fire”.
He eventually published the results of his research in a series of pamphlets for the Crime Writers' Association in the 1970s. Lyall signed a contract in 1964 by the investments group Booker similar to one they had signed with Ian Fleming. In return for a lump payment of £25,000 and an annual salary, they and Lyall subsequently split his royalties, 51-49.
Up to the publication in 1975 of Judas Country, Lyall's work falls into two groups. The aviation thrillers (The Wrong Side Of The Sky, The Most Dangerous Game, Shooting Script, and Judas Country), and what might be called "Euro-thrillers" revolving around international crime in Europe (Midnight Plus One, Venus With Pistol, and Blame The Dead).
All these books were written in the first person, with a sardonic style reminiscent of the "hard-boiled private-eye" genre. Despite the commercial success of his work, Lyall began to feel that he was falling into a predictable pattern, and abandoned both his earlier genres, and the first-person narrative, for his “Harry Maxim" series of espionage thrillers beginning with The Secret Servant published in 1980. This book, originally developed for a proposed BBC TV Series, featured Major Harry Maxim, an SAS officer assigned as a security adviser to 10 Downing Street, and was followed by three sequels with the same central cast of characters.
In the 1990s Lyall changed literary direction once again, and wrote four semi-historical thrillers about the fledgling British secret service in the years leading up to World War I.
Gavin Lyall died of cancer in 2003.
Lyall won the British Crime Writers' Association's Silver Dagger award in both 1964 and 1965. In 1966-67 he was Chairman of the British Crime Writers Association. He was not a prolific author, attributing his slow pace to obsession with technical accuracy. According to a British newspaper, “he spent many nights in his kitchen at Primrose Hill, north London, experimenting to see if one could, in fact, cast bullets from lead melted in a saucepan, or whether the muzzle flash of a revolver fired across a saucer of petrol really would ignite a fire”.
He eventually published the results of his research in a series of pamphlets for the Crime Writers' Association in the 1970s. Lyall signed a contract in 1964 by the investments group Booker similar to one they had signed with Ian Fleming. In return for a lump payment of £25,000 and an annual salary, they and Lyall subsequently split his royalties, 51-49.
Up to the publication in 1975 of Judas Country, Lyall's work falls into two groups. The aviation thrillers (The Wrong Side Of The Sky, The Most Dangerous Game, Shooting Script, and Judas Country), and what might be called "Euro-thrillers" revolving around international crime in Europe (Midnight Plus One, Venus With Pistol, and Blame The Dead).
All these books were written in the first person, with a sardonic style reminiscent of the "hard-boiled private-eye" genre. Despite the commercial success of his work, Lyall began to feel that he was falling into a predictable pattern, and abandoned both his earlier genres, and the first-person narrative, for his “Harry Maxim" series of espionage thrillers beginning with The Secret Servant published in 1980. This book, originally developed for a proposed BBC TV Series, featured Major Harry Maxim, an SAS officer assigned as a security adviser to 10 Downing Street, and was followed by three sequels with the same central cast of characters.
In the 1990s Lyall changed literary direction once again, and wrote four semi-historical thrillers about the fledgling British secret service in the years leading up to World War I.
Gavin Lyall died of cancer in 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 13, 2018
I loved this author when I was a teenager, but this particular book is disappointing. I liked the protagonists, but the main characters of a story are supposed to be goodies, not miscreants with a streak of plain silly. A poor ending.
August 21, 2018
No le entendí nada.
September 30, 2017
Solid thriller with square-jawed "business and charter" pilot, Mr ("not Captain") Case landing at Nicosia and discovering the hotel chain to which his aeroplane belongs has gone bust leaving him impecunious and stuck in a mediocre hotel in Cyprus where he has to help out as chef and manager while the harassed Official Receiver tries to stop the steady flow of cash and booze from the building. The discovery that his cargo doesn't match the manifest, combined with the reunion with his business partner, fresh from an Israeli jail, and the suicide of an eminent archaeologist, who may have discovered a priceless artefact, sets off a trail of events that will encompass trips to Lebanon, northern Cyprus and Israel. Dry humour and intermittent gun play alongside detailed descriptions of a pilot's difficulties make for an entertaining and very 1970's take on the thriller genre.
April 27, 2012
Surprisingly well written, with some good Chandlerseque one-liners. Set in Cyprus (mainly Nicosia) which is why I picked it up - for a holiday there.
September 2, 2021
Roy Case is holed up in Nicosia with a plane full of guns and fronting an air freight business that’s gone bust. His best mate’s just been released from prison and an esteemed archaeologist who happens to be a guest at his hotel has committed suicide. The police, Palestinian terrorists, dodgy Lebanese businessmen, museum curators and the dead prof’s daughter are all chasing Case and his pal Ken Cavitt because they believe they know the whereabouts of a priceless crusader sword.
A couple of excellent confrontations with the nasties and an eventful flight through an electrical storm doesn’t make up for the rushed climax. The story resolves itself in eight swift pages. I felt cheated. Lyall’s developed the character of Case really well – although I disliked the recurring habit all his leads have of smoking a pipe – and I understood his situation without ever sympathising. He exploits people just as easily as the next hoodlum. There’s a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between Cyprus, Lebanon and Israel and a lot of meals of indeterminate quality are consumed along with much too much alcohol – how Lyall’s characters ever function is beyond me – but there’s no sex (okay, it’s hinted at) and precious little humour. Descriptively, he’s rather absent. A few choice sentences is all we get to describe anyone or anywhere. His similes’ need refining; while observant they are too obviously presented.
The storytelling isn’t very concise even if the writing is. Some scenes feel unnecessary. There’s a whole longwinded episode set in a Beirut mansion villa which serves only to remove one line of investigation. Case spends most of his time pulling the wool over the eyes of the airport authorities, the police or the financial auditor attempting to wrestle Castle Freight back into business. The longer the guns stayed on the plane, the less I believed they could be flown about the near-east without detection.
I’ve read a lot of Gavin Lyall’s novels this year and they are beginning to wane on me. This is the last of his first person air-pilot driven novels. It’s a notch up on Blame the Dead, but not much of a notch. I’d have preferred there to be a cleaner plot. This one has too much going on. I think the Castle business going bust, which is supposed to provide the hook into the story, is the area that slows it down and ultimately does it a disservice. It’s very laboured at the start. Once the sword search kicks in, things pick up tremendously. I’d have preferred one of the two female characters to be a love interest. The novel felt deliberately shorn of amorousness. A good title and good premise, but Lyall hasn’t ticked every box for me. Suspense and genuine intrigue is missing. When the action comes, it’s fine, but it takes too long every time to get there.
A couple of excellent confrontations with the nasties and an eventful flight through an electrical storm doesn’t make up for the rushed climax. The story resolves itself in eight swift pages. I felt cheated. Lyall’s developed the character of Case really well – although I disliked the recurring habit all his leads have of smoking a pipe – and I understood his situation without ever sympathising. He exploits people just as easily as the next hoodlum. There’s a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between Cyprus, Lebanon and Israel and a lot of meals of indeterminate quality are consumed along with much too much alcohol – how Lyall’s characters ever function is beyond me – but there’s no sex (okay, it’s hinted at) and precious little humour. Descriptively, he’s rather absent. A few choice sentences is all we get to describe anyone or anywhere. His similes’ need refining; while observant they are too obviously presented.
The storytelling isn’t very concise even if the writing is. Some scenes feel unnecessary. There’s a whole longwinded episode set in a Beirut mansion villa which serves only to remove one line of investigation. Case spends most of his time pulling the wool over the eyes of the airport authorities, the police or the financial auditor attempting to wrestle Castle Freight back into business. The longer the guns stayed on the plane, the less I believed they could be flown about the near-east without detection.
I’ve read a lot of Gavin Lyall’s novels this year and they are beginning to wane on me. This is the last of his first person air-pilot driven novels. It’s a notch up on Blame the Dead, but not much of a notch. I’d have preferred there to be a cleaner plot. This one has too much going on. I think the Castle business going bust, which is supposed to provide the hook into the story, is the area that slows it down and ultimately does it a disservice. It’s very laboured at the start. Once the sword search kicks in, things pick up tremendously. I’d have preferred one of the two female characters to be a love interest. The novel felt deliberately shorn of amorousness. A good title and good premise, but Lyall hasn’t ticked every box for me. Suspense and genuine intrigue is missing. When the action comes, it’s fine, but it takes too long every time to get there.
July 21, 2018
Another surprise from the "Borderlands Noir" list on CrimeReads. Very much a 1970s caper. Roy Case, a pilot who ferries goods (usually of questionable character), lands in Cyprus to refuel and spend the night at another hotel owned by the same company. His cargo? Eleven cases of Champagne destined for the opening of a hotel in Beirut. He only took the job because his best buddy is about to be released from prison in Israel where he spent two years for some unspecified crime.
Upon landing, he learns that his employer has gone bankrupt and the hotels are now in receivership. Concerned about payment for his services, he hangs on and helps the manage now in charge of the hotel to handle the few guests who are still left. Along the way, he finds out that at least one of the cases of champagne actually contain sub-machine guns. Add to that a fugitive archeologist, a buyer from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a missing valuable artifact, and you get one hell of a good story.
Upon landing, he learns that his employer has gone bankrupt and the hotels are now in receivership. Concerned about payment for his services, he hangs on and helps the manage now in charge of the hotel to handle the few guests who are still left. Along the way, he finds out that at least one of the cases of champagne actually contain sub-machine guns. Add to that a fugitive archeologist, a buyer from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a missing valuable artifact, and you get one hell of a good story.
June 6, 2020
Some writers are consistent in the thrills and spills and others give you thriller noir, this is the latter. The heroes are in the mould of John Buchan and Raymond Chandler with a smattering of Hammond Innes , Dick Francis and Alistair Maclean. Rough Diamonds lured by respectability and bemired by the lack of capital and youthful indiscretions, form the basic character. The Baddies are bad, either dressed with fashionable excess or grim and calculating. The scene is Cyprus and Israel, the goal is antiquities of mythical importance and the subplot has Champagne with a bang. Do not miss the description of the flight in a storm. It does not get better than this.
August 10, 2023
This was an entertaining and absorbing read but it did not quite live up to my expectations. The ending was something of an anti-climax but that is just my personal opinion. This was my first reading of this author's work and I was impressed by his slightly informal vernacular style which was mostly engaging but sometimes awkward. The subject matter was really fascinating, dodgy dealings with commercial airlines in the 70s; Middle-East gangland mafia activities and the partnership of the two experienced and somewhat world-weary (both ex-cons) pilots which was at the heart of the story. It had the potential for a romantic and happy ending but that is not how the story goes but maybe that is more realistic.
April 24, 2021
Maybe not the best book Lyall wrote, but still a entertaining, fast reading thriller written in a style that was popular in the '70s. Lyall shows he knows about flying planes and about placing a story in a far away place that comes alive, and that no one, not even a lead person of a thriller, is all good or all bad.
Good books were written, back then in the good old days.
Good books were written, back then in the good old days.
February 5, 2024
Siento que si fuera una película sería más aceptable el poco desarrollo que tiene la historia.
Momentos que pudieron ser super explotados y desarrollados quedaron super planos con explicaciones vagas y poco detalladas, lo cual frustra porque tampoco es dinámica la historia hay muchos sucesos y ninguno bien conectado
Momentos que pudieron ser super explotados y desarrollados quedaron super planos con explicaciones vagas y poco detalladas, lo cual frustra porque tampoco es dinámica la historia hay muchos sucesos y ninguno bien conectado
June 27, 2020
I thought I'd read everything Gavin Lyall had written. He's one of a small group of British thriller writers who demonstrate how the game is played—Adam Hall and Geoffrey Household being the two others—and I read and re-read his opus obsessively. I don't know how I missed this book, but was excited beyond words to discover that I had. Like all of Lyall's books, it takes place in an exotic locale, features a worn-out pilot with a one-syllable name and surname, and is breathtakingly exciting. Charter pilot Roy Case has found that the cases of champagne he's delivering to Beirut are filled with weapons instead of bubbly, and the plot takes off—in more ways than one—from there. As always, the reader gets some good if slightly outdated information about airplanes and flying, but this book has one of the most terrifying edge-of-the-seat aerial scenes Lyall's ever managed and I've ever read. What a treat!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews