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: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/07/nick-carter-bright-blue-death.html

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

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: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/07/edgar-wallaces-green-ribbon.html

#crimefiction #crimenovel #crimenovels #vintage crime #vintage mystery #vintage mysteries #vintagethriller #vintagethrillers #EdgarWallace

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: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-saint-goes-west.html

#crimenovel #crimenovels #crimefiction #vintagecrime #vintagethriller #vintagethrillers #vintagemystery #vintagemysteries #LeslieCharteris #thesaint #SimonTemplar

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: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2018/10/francis-durbridges-world-of-tim-frazer.html

#spies #spynovel #spynovels #spyfiction #vintagethriller #vintagethrillers #FrancisDurbridge

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: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/04/mickey-spillanes-delta-factor.html

#spynovel #spynovels #spies #spyfiction #MickeySpillane #vintagethriller #vintagethrillers

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: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/04/desmond-corys-hammerhead.html

#vintagethriller #vintagethrillers #spies #spynovel #spynovels #spyfiction #DesmondCory #JohnnyFedora

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: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/04/noel-calefs-frantic-ascenseur-pour.html

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

The Girl With No Place To Hide (1959), a Marvin H. Albert Jake Barrow PI thriller written under the name Nick Quarry. Rescuing a girl leads Jake into the worlds of high fashion and photography and high-stakes gambling.

Good noirish stuff.

My review: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/03/nick-quarrys-girl-with-no-place-to-hide.html

#noir #noirfiction #hardboiled #hardboiledfiction #vintagecrime #1950scrime #crimefiction #privateeyes #vintagemystery #vintagemysteries #MarvinHAlbert #NickQuarry #vintagethriller #vintagethrillers

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: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2014/03/such-power-is-dangerous.html

#vintagethriller #vintagethrillers #DennisWheatley

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: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/02/john-flaggs-death-and-naked-lady.html

#JohnFlagg #Spies #spynovels #spynovel #spyfiction #vintagethrillers #thrillers

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: https://princeplanetmovies.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-killer-likes-candy-1968.html

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

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: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2023/01/edward-s-aarons-assignment-helene.html

#pulpfiction #spies #spythrillers #spythriller #spynovel #spynovels #thrillers #vintagethrillers #EdwardSAarons #SamDurell

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: https://dfordoom-movieramblings.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-man-who-knew-too-much-1934.html

#FilmMastodon #classicmovies #classicmovie #AlfredHitchcock #Hitchcock #vintagethrillers #PeterLorre #spythrillers #spythriller #spymovies #spymovie #spies

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: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-saints-getaway.html

#LeslieCharteris #thesaint #simontemplar #vintagemysteries #vintagethrillers #vintagecrime

My best action-adventure fiction reads of 2022.

Theodore Roscoe's The Ruby of Suratan Singh (pulp short stories 1926-30)
https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2022/12/theodore-roscoes-ruby-of-suratan-singh.html

Hammond Innes's Maddon’s Rock (1947)
https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2022/06/hammond-inness-maddons-rock.html

Men's Adventure Quarterly #4 Jungle Girls Issue
https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2022/08/mens-adventure-quarterly-4-jungle-girl.html

Hell Ship to Kuma by Calvin Clements Sr (1954)
https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2022/10/hell-ship-to-kuma-by-calvin-clements-sr.html

#adventurefiction #adventure #thriller #thrillers #vintagethrillers #HammondInnes #TheodoreRoscoe #pulpfiction

my best 2022 spy reads

F. Van Wyck Mason’s The Shanghai Bund Murders (1933)
https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2022/08/f-van-wyck-masons-shanghai-bund-murders.html

Peter O’Donnell's Sabre-Tooth (Modesty Blaise 2, 1966)
https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2022/12/peter-odonnells-sabre-tooth-modesty.html

Ian Fleming's The Spy Who Loved Me (1962) which many hate but I liked a lot
https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2022/04/ian-flemings-spy-who-loved-me.html

John Flagg's The Persian Cat (1950)
https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2022/10/john-flaggs-persian-cat.html

#spies #spyfiction #spynovels #PeterODonnell #IanFleming #JohnFlagg #VanWyckMason #FVanWyckMason #thrillers #vintagethrillers

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: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2016/08/john-le-carres-looking-glass-war.html

#JohnleCarre #spynovels #spyfiction #spies #thrillers #vintagethrillers #Georgesmiley

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: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2019/05/leslie-charteriss-saint-errant.html

#LeslieCharteris #spyfiction #thrillers #vintagethrillers #SimonTemplar #thesaint #vintagemysteries

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: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2016/11/desmond-bagleys-vivero-letter.html

#DesmondBagley #AlistairMacLean #thrillers #vintagethrillers #crimefiction #crimethriller

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: https://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2021/11/frederick-c-daviss-high-heel-homicide.html

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