Backfire

by Clive Egleton

When the SAS learns that Andrew Magrane, one of the victims of its botched psychochemical experiments, has escaped, it immediately assigns trouble-shooter Major Robert DOnaldson to the case. But it is too late. As the deaths mount. Donaldson desperately tries to fit together the pieces of the puzzle. Meanwhile he must try to cope with the game his superiors are playing. For they too seem to have a plan and it doesn't appear to include Donaldson...As 'Backfire' races to its conclusion. Clive Egleton reveals layers of intrigue and suspense, building the story into a classic manhunt and government conspiracy. It is a superior thriller by one of Britain's masters of suspense.

Genres: Fiction, Espionage

424 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Clive (Frederick William) Egleton was a British author of spy novels.

He enlisted in the Royal Armoured Corps in 1945 to train as a tank driver while still underage. He was subsequently commissioned into the South Staffordshire Regiment for whom he served in India, Hong Kong, Germany, Egypt, Cyprus, The Persian Gulf and East Africa. He retired in 1975 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

His novel Seven Days to a Killing was filmed as The Black Windmill, starring Michael Caine. Escape to Athena is a novelization of the 1979 movie of the same name.

Reviews

[Eric_W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andrew Magrane, SAS operative, is lost in a web of deception in this clever spy(?) thriller. He escapes from an institution he thinks is located in Siberia. We learn later it’s a mental institution. Reading his obituary in the newspaper Magrane is determined to implement Operation Damocles which involves killing certain people in Britain and on the Continent and which he thinks will bring long-lasting peace to the British Isles and Ireland. Soon he is being sought by the police and his handler Major Donaldson whom he contacts and misinterprets thinking what Donaldson is telling him is code for operational commands. Lots of people want to keep him from being caught and put on trial for the murders because of what he knows. Much of the story is told from Magrane’s perspective and the reader is never quite sure what is real and what is Magrane’s hallucinations. Very entertaining.

[Eric_W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andrew Magrane is lost in a web of deception in this clever spy(?) thriller. He escapes from an institution he thinks is located in Siberia. We learn later it’s a mental institution. Reading his obituary in the newspaper Magrane is determined to implement Operation Damocles which involves killing certain people in Britain and on the Continent. Soon he is being sought by the police and his handler Major Donaldson whom he contacts and misinterprets thinking what Donaldson is telling him is code for operational commands. Lots of people want to keep him from being caught and put on trial for the murders because of what he knows. Much of the story is told from Magrane’s perspective and the reader is never quite sure what is real and what is Magrane’s hallucinations. Very entertaining.

[Eric_W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andrew Magrane is lost in a web of deception in this clever spy(?) thriller. He escapes from an institution he thinks is located in Siberia. We learn later it’s a mental institution. Reading his obituary in the newspaper Magrane is determined to implement Operation Damocles which involves killing certain people in Britain and on the Continent. Soon he is being sought by the police and his handler Major Donaldson whom he contacts and misinterprets thinking what Donaldson is telling him is code for operational commands. Lots of people want to keep him from being caught and put on trial for the murders because of what he knows. Much of the story is told from Magrane’s perspective and the reader is never quite sure what is real and what is Magrane’s hallucinations. Very entertaining.