Horse Under Water (Secret File, #2) in Espionage Aficionados

Jul 30, 2016 Sam Reaves rated it really liked it

It's easy to forget how good a writer the nearly nonagenarian Len Deighton is; he has been amazingly prolific in various genres, churning out wildly disparate works with apparent ease, and the prose never seems to suffer. This was Deighton's second novel, published in 1963, and it's full of sharp one-liners and little virtuoso touches: "The water was cool and moonlight trickled across it like cream spilt on a black velvet dress... Cats sat around with their hands in their pockets and stared inso ...more

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Dec 04, 2014 Feliks rated it liked it

Shelves: genre-thrillers

'Horse Under Water' is a lot of fun. The traditional laconic, wry, self-deprecating, offbeat, irreverent, swank, Deighton style which he coined with the earlier 'Ipcress File'. Characters spouting quips left and right. The pacing is languid for 3/4ths of the story and then picks up impetus at the end, while remaining very clipped and staccato, making you eager to thumb ahead.

Exotic setting (coast of Portugal); and Deighton's trademark 'elements of the absurd'. Deighton nimbly keeps all the clue ...more

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Nov 06, 2010 Gary rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I found Len Deighton's Horse Under Water to be an entertaining and fun read. Chock-full of smelly French cigarettes, countless cups of Nescafé, a few ex-Nazis, a few British fascists, an eccentric American expatriate, and the ubiquitous sexy blond, Horse Under Water covers all the bases.
Most of the action takes place in a small Salazar-era Portuguese fishing village. Deighton makes use of a handy appendix to further explain several plot twists. He writes in the first person from the perspectiv ...more

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Apr 03, 2016 Greg Coppin rated it really liked it

These Deighton covers with Michael Caine's thick black frames and hooded eyes peering out are a cool reminder of the era. I also like the photo of Deighton himself they have on the back cover. Standing in front of a helicopter with his aviator sunglasses. Wiping a bit of grit out of his eye, I think. The accompanying quote by Life magazine, something like, 'Big soft girls read Len Deighton in jazz workshops,' is a gem.
The novel itself is very enjoyable. A lot of it is set in Portugal. Deighton l ...more

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