The Ninth Directive in Espionage Aficionados

Apr 26, 2013 Feliks rated it really liked it

Shelves: genre-thrillers

Superb as always. I nominate Hall as my favorite action author. To write with this much authority at such a frantic pace --and in the first-person-- puts him in the league of Hammett and the other great pulp craftsmen from the sister-genre of crime-writing. Just as in (for example) a Cornell Woolrich tale--there is no 'waste', 'drag', or 'surplus' in this kind of page-flipper.

Hall writes with total economy and poise in his brand of espionage. A powerful mix of psychology and thrills--all the ps Superb as always. I nominate Hall as my favorite action author. To write with this much authority at such a frantic pace --and in the first-person-- puts him in the league of Hammett and the other great pulp craftsmen from the sister-genre of crime-writing. Just as in (for example) a Cornell Woolrich tale--there is no 'waste', 'drag', or 'surplus' in this kind of page-flipper.

Hall writes with total economy and poise in his brand of espionage. A powerful mix of psychology and thrills--all the psychological insights found in LeCarre, are here in the Quiller series. But all the action which LeCarre is lacking, is here as well. And the exotic locales from Hall, are just astounding.

In this book, 'Quiller' --a 'thinking man's spy'--is in Bangkok. At first, I worried that Hall would not be able to pull it off convincingly. Very difficult setting to convey. Most authors stumble, trying-too-hard to express the exoticness; and losing the thrust-of-the-plot to do so. Not Hall. Quiller is as comfortable here as he is anywhere. He knows this city. He simply gets on with the business of ass-kicking as he usually does.

As an author, Hall experiments with everything. In this tale the assassination takes place in the **middle of the book** and then the tension and suspense is drawn out for a full fifteen more chapters. Each time, you're sure he is going to wrap it up at last... but the twists don't stop coming.

Hall also never lets a chapter go by without some kind of wrenching surprise: that's just the way Hammett always did. And his protag, 'Quiller' really gets into some crazy dirty violence. Down-in-the-gutter violence. He never gets through a mission without rolling around in places no other spy would ever wind up.

What's also juicy is how well he knows his body: he is 100% astute about his 'physical limits'. Constant little 'asides' about how memory works, how reflexes function, how best to aim a weapon or survive a blow to the head. Quiller is all about defense and survival; he never assumes he can just skate through trouble unscathed. He talks about his fears, his worries, his anxieties.

Great one-liner in the first third of the book, (when he is dogged by a would-be femme-fatale): "Loman was a hell of an intelligence director if he couldn't keep this bitch out of my way.." Ha!

Quiller is no James Bond; (he carries no gun) but he has --if anything--even less compunction towards women (why not? in these plots, they're usually in bed with his enemies) than Fleming's hero. But if its any consolation, at least Quiller doesn't make phony love to them before booting them to the curb. He doesn't 'play it two ways'. He doesn't see them as sex-objects, he sizes them up only for how they help/hinder his mission. No more, no less. One has to admire that.

This novel is a tale of assassination--so it's got great content--and a steady build-up of suspense, as all such tales enjoy. This is familiar and reassuring to every thriller reader. You know its gonna be 'hot' at the end of this story, whatever happens. Except--as I mentioned above--the 'hit' happens in the middle of the book! Insane!

The only thing to count on is that Hall keeps the action throbbing along at manic pace. He is as solid in this style as Deighton and LeCarre are in theirs.

Highest recommendation. ...more

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Mar 05, 2023 Philip rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-stars, 1960s, noir, spy-fiction-british, first-person, mckays, fiction-series, kiss-kiss-bang-bang, southeast-asia, burma-thailand

"Every man has his own underworld and a part of him never leaves it."

With his first-person, hard-boiled persona, Quiller is the most noir of all the 60s spies, and Hall really begins finding his voice with this second Quiller book,* (although he has yet to start using the paragraph-long run-on sentences that are half the fun of his later stories), moving away from the retro Nazi-hunter plot of the previous book and dropping Quiller into Vietnam-era Southeast Asia.

The plot is good-but-not-great, "Every man has his own underworld and a part of him never leaves it."

With his first-person, hard-boiled persona, Quiller is the most noir of all the 60s spies, and Hall really begins finding his voice with this second Quiller book,* (although he has yet to start using the paragraph-long run-on sentences that are half the fun of his later stories), moving away from the retro Nazi-hunter plot of the previous book and dropping Quiller into Vietnam-era Southeast Asia.

The plot is good-but-not-great, and despite being famous as the "cerebral spy who never carries a gun," Quiller gets himself into a number of situations where he would have done far better with less thinking and more shooting - just sayin'. Other plot points hinge on dumb luck and questionable choices, (at one point, Quiller realizes the only way not to lose the bad guy he's trailing is to hop in the car with him - where he is immediately captured), but hey…it was the '60s, man.**

So anyway...a 3+ story, rounded up for signalling the potential of what was to come. Dude definitely deserves more recognition today.

(One minor - okay, pretty major - kvetch: Hall throughout refers to Beijing-controlled Communist China as "The Republic of China" [ROC; i.e., Taiwan], instead of the proper "People's Republic of China" [PRC]. Isn't that what editors are for?)
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* This was the second Quiller book in the "original" series; i.e., books 1-10 published pretty much biannually from 1965-1981 and all titled "The (Adjective-Noun)"; e.g., The Berlin Memorandum, The 9th Directive, etc. At that point, Hall took a needed four year break before returning for another nine books all titled "Quiller Something-or-Other", (Quiller Salamander, Quiller Bamboo, etc.).

** Interesting to note that Hall published his first Quiller book the same month Ian Fleming published his last Bond novel. Also interesting - the layout and execution of the whole assassination plot here has a very "Dealey Plaza, 1963" feel to it - I've got to believe this is what Hall was going for here, as he probably started writing this barely a year after Dallas.

PERSONAL NOTE: My book was a nice leather-bound first edition, picked up for a buck or two at our local used book store; it has an embossed "Wilmington Public Library" seal halfway through, but no signs of a book pocket on either the front or back inside covers - pretty sweet.

...more

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Sep 21, 2015 cool breeze rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Quiller in Bangkok trying to stop a plot to assassinate a British royal. Quiller famously doesn’t carry or use a gun, but he makes an exception this time. Quite a good Quiller novel (4.1), and that is really saying something, but downgraded 0.4 points for Hall's sycophantic treatment of the unnamed royal, who sounds very much like Prince Charles. C'mon, the guy is such a twit that his own mother would rather die on the throne than turn it over to him. The veritable poster child for Monty Python’ ...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Yash Desai rated it really liked it

Shelves: spy-espionage

Book 2 in the series continues to build upon the character of the likeable spy, Quiller. Like the first book this also has some great plot twists. Contrary to his reputation, Quiller does use a gun in this book. What i really like about Adam Hall's writing is that his books are peppered with explanations & descriptions of various techniques used by spies. Some might find these techniques dated as the book was written in the sixties, but i find them fascinating. ...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Scott E rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-spy-thrillers

2nd in Hall's Quiller series. Much like the 1st installment, packed with action that progresses continuously until the conclusion. The Quiller series, thus far, seems more thriller than espionage. Good stuff! ...more

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Aug 05, 2013 Larry Loftis rated it really liked it

Elleston Trevor's (as Adam Hall) second installment of Quiller. While I thought the ending was a bit weak, the writing, as usual, is superb. Few authors are more fun to read. ...more

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