d4doome · @d4doome
678 followers · 1687 posts · Server mastodon.ie

The Bright Blue Death, a 1967 Nick Carter Killmaster spy novel. There are super-lasers and a dead scientist who has turned blue, literally. There's a splendid crazy bad girl and a fine kinky megalomaniac villain. Great pulp spy thriller stuff.

My review: vintagepopfictions.blogspot.co

#spies #spynovel #spynovels #spyfiction #vintagethriller #vintagethrillers #pulpfiction #nickcarter #nickcarterkillmaster

Last updated 1 year ago

d4doome · @d4doome
670 followers · 1684 posts · Server mastodon.ie

The Green Ribbon is a 1929 Edgar Wallace thriller involving an ingenious horse-racing racket with a large and varied collection of villains. And an elaborate system of caves and tunnel, a classic Wallace touch. Top-tier Wallace. Great stuff.

My review: vintagepopfictions.blogspot.co

crime mystery mysteries

#crimefiction #crimenovel #crimenovels #vintage #vintagethriller #vintagethrillers #edgarwallace

Last updated 1 year ago

d4doome · @d4doome
649 followers · 1644 posts · Server mastodon.ie

Leslie Charteris's The Saint Goes West, a 1942 collection of three Saint novellas. A transitional slightly Americanised version of Simon Templar which for me works less well than the earlier and later versions. But the stories are excellent.

My review: vintagepopfictions.blogspot.co

#crimenovel #crimenovels #crimefiction #vintagecrime #vintagethriller #vintagethrillers #vintagemystery #vintagemysteries #lesliecharteris #thesaint #simontemplar

Last updated 1 year ago

d4doome · @d4doome
636 followers · 1593 posts · Server mastodon.ie

Francis Durbridge's The World of Tim Frazer is a 1962 spy novel based on his 1960-61 TV serial (which sadly has not survived). A very ordinary man gets mixed up in the murky world of espionage, just the sort of thing Durbridge did very well.

My review: vintagepopfictions.blogspot.co

#spies #spynovel #spynovels #spyfiction #vintagethriller #vintagethrillers #francisdurbridge

Last updated 2 years ago

d4doome · @d4doome
631 followers · 1582 posts · Server mastodon.ie

Mickey Spillane’s 1967 spy thriller The Delta Factor. A thief is forced to do a job for the government, breaking a scientist out of an impregnable 17th century fortress. He also wants revenge. Fun, and more lighthearted than his Hammer books.

My review: vintagepopfictions.blogspot.co

#spynovel #spynovels #spies #spyfiction #mickeyspillane #vintagethriller #vintagethrillers

Last updated 2 years ago

d4doome · @d4doome
611 followers · 1577 posts · Server mastodon.ie

Hammerhead (AKA Shockwave), a violent action-packed 1963 Johnny Fedora spy thriller by Desmond Cory. Fedora, a ruthless British spy with a licence to kill, was created in 1951, a year before Bond.

My review: vintagepopfictions.blogspot.co

#vintagethriller #vintagethrillers #spies #spynovel #spynovels #spyfiction #desmondcory #johnnyfedora

Last updated 2 years ago

d4doome · @d4doome
607 followers · 1559 posts · Server mastodon.ie

Noël Calef’s novel Frantic (original French title Ascenseur pour ’échafaud) was published in 1956. The basis for Louis Malle’s superb 1958 film noir Elevator to the Gallows.

Lots of noirness, fine suspense, a powerful sense of impending doom, some nasty plot twists. Fine stuff.

My review: vintagepopfictions.blogspot.co

#noir #noirfiction #hardboiled #hardboiledfiction #vintagecrime #1950scrime #crimefiction #vintagemystery #vintagemysteries #vintagethriller #vintagethrillers #noelcalef #filmnoir

Last updated 2 years ago

d4doome · @d4doome
599 followers · 1543 posts · Server mastodon.ie
d4doome · @d4doome
597 followers · 1538 posts · Server mastodon.ie

Dennis Wheatley's 1933 novel Such Power Is Dangerous has no occult elements but plenty of classic Wheatley features - an over-the-top conspiracy theory, a bizarre convoluted plot, lots of paranoia and ludicrously but delightfully excessive villains.

And it has another feature familiar to Wheatley aficionados - an intense dislike of much of the modern world.

Great fun.

My review: vintagepopfictions.blogspot.co

#vintagethriller #vintagethrillers #denniswheatley

Last updated 2 years ago

d4doome · @d4doome
548 followers · 1388 posts · Server mastodon.ie

John Flagg's Death and the Naked Lady is a 1951 spy novel starts when the hero finds the jade owls in his luggage. They're not his and they're going to lead to trouble. Plus there are three femmes fatales to deal with.

Fast-paced and enjoyable with a nicely devious plot.

My review: vintagepopfictions.blogspot.co

#johnflagg #spies #spynovels #spynovel #spyfiction #vintagethrillers #thrillers

Last updated 2 years ago

d4doome · @d4doome
538 followers · 1357 posts · Server mastodon.ie

The Killer Likes Candy, a 1968 French-Italian-German eurospy film. An assassin has one weakness - candy. He leaves candy wrappers at crime scenes.

Lacks the over-the-top fun of the best eurospy films but has decent suspense and some fine action.

My review: princeplanetmovies.blogspot.co

#cultmovies #cultmovie #60smovies #thriller #crimethriller #eurospymovies #eurospy #eurocult #eurocultmovies #vintagethrillers #retrothrillers

Last updated 2 years ago

d4doome · @d4doome
523 followers · 1310 posts · Server mastodon.ie

Assignment Helene (1959), an excellent Sam Durell spy novel written by Edward S. Aarons.

Durell ends up in the jungle on the track of gun-runners with two beautiful women, both decidedly untrustworthy, an equally untrustworthy US diplomat and a broken-down American ex-CIA agent.

There's a good mystery here, and there's action.

My review: vintagepopfictions.blogspot.co

#pulpfiction #spies #spythrillers #SpyThriller #spynovel #spynovels #thrillers #vintagethrillers #edwardsaarons #samdurell

Last updated 2 years ago

d4doome · @d4doome
461 followers · 1034 posts · Server mastodon.ie

Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), superior in every way to his ill-advised 1956 remake.

This is a tense hard-hitting spy thriller and one of the first movies to deal with terrorism. One of Hitchcock's most violent movies.

Great performances by all cast members with Peter Lorre the standout.

My review: dfordoom-movieramblings.blogsp

#FilmMastodon #classicmovies #classicmovie #alfredhitchcock #hitchcock #vintagethrillers #peterlorre #spythrillers #SpyThriller #spymovies #spymovie #spies

Last updated 2 years ago

d4doome · @d4doome
452 followers · 1016 posts · Server mastodon.ie

In Leslie Charteris's The Saint's Getaway (1932) Simon Templar is on holiday with his beloved Patricia Holm when he gets mixed up with some stolen jewels.

This is the early version of the Saint when he's a crime-fighter but still a criminal as well, and he's reckless, irresponsible and irrepressible.

A rollicking roller-coaster ride to adventure.

My review: vintagepopfictions.blogspot.co

#lesliecharteris #thesaint #simontemplar #vintagemysteries #vintagethrillers #vintagecrime

Last updated 2 years ago

d4doome · @d4doome
449 followers · 965 posts · Server mastodon.ie
d4doome · @d4doome
448 followers · 960 posts · Server mastodon.ie
d4doome · @d4doome
403 followers · 858 posts · Server mastodon.ie

The Looking Glass War (1965) is for my money John le Carré’s best spy novel. It's certainly his most entertaining.

This is the British Secret Service as it really was - bumbling amateurs still living on past glories. George Smiley is a professional and he has to try to clear up the mess.

Plenty of dark mordant humour and an air of pessimism and defeat.

My review: vintagepopfictions.blogspot.co

#johnlecarre #spynovels #spyfiction #spies #thrillers #vintagethrillers #GeorgeSmiley

Last updated 2 years ago

d4doome · @d4doome
396 followers · 832 posts · Server mastodon.ie

Saint Errant, a 1948 short story collection by Leslie Charteris which introduces a somewhat different version of the Saint.

Simon Templar is now a loner, with just the slightest touch of melancholy although of course combined with his thirst for adventures. The adventures are no longer as outlandish.

Very different in tone from the early 30s Saint stories.

My review: vintagepopfictions.blogspot.co

#lesliecharteris #spyfiction #thrillers #vintagethrillers #simontemplar #thesaint #vintagemysteries

Last updated 2 years ago

d4doome · @d4doome
394 followers · 807 posts · Server mastodon.ie

Desmond Bagley is a thriller writer very much in the Alistair MacLean mould although he is not quite as good as MacLean at his best. THE VIVERO LETTER was Bagley’s 5th thriller, published in 1968.

There's a search for treasure, and a lost Mayan city. As usual Bagley makes good use of an unusual setting.

Plenty of atmosphere and high-octane excitement.

My review: vintagepopfictions.blogspot.co

#desmondbagley #alistairmaclean #thrillers #vintagethrillers #crimefiction #crimethriller

Last updated 2 years ago

d4doome · @d4doome
331 followers · 677 posts · Server mastodon.ie

High Heel Homicide is a 1961 hardboiled crime novella by Frederick C. Davis.

A guy finds his boss murdered, just after seeing a woman jump into a car and speed off.

A solid mystery, fairly clued, rather pulpy but that's a feature not a bug. Very enjoyable.

My review: vintagepopfictions.blogspot.co

#hardboiled #hardboiledfiction #noir #noirfiction #vintagecrime #vintagemysteries #thrillers #vintagethrillers #frederickcdavis

Last updated 2 years ago