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Maddon's Rock
The Trikkala...
Mined in the early hours of 5th March, 1945, 300 miles north west of Tromso, Norway, she was listed as sunk. Over a year later she was reported off the Hebrides in a gale, sending out an SOS.
I'd been a year in prison and I wanted the truth. His little bloodshot eyes looked up at me with a grotesque expression, half crafty, half pleading. I wrenched at his arm again and repeated my question.
'A share of the silver,' he cried. And then in quick 'It wasn't any of my business. He was the captain. It wasn't my idea, I tell you. He'd have killed me along with the rest if I hadn't done what he said. I couldn't do anything to save them. I couldn't help them. You must believe that. It was nothing to do with me.'
Mined in the early hours of 5th March, 1945, 300 miles north west of Tromso, Norway, she was listed as sunk. Over a year later she was reported off the Hebrides in a gale, sending out an SOS.
I'd been a year in prison and I wanted the truth. His little bloodshot eyes looked up at me with a grotesque expression, half crafty, half pleading. I wrenched at his arm again and repeated my question.
'A share of the silver,' he cried. And then in quick 'It wasn't any of my business. He was the captain. It wasn't my idea, I tell you. He'd have killed me along with the rest if I hadn't done what he said. I couldn't do anything to save them. I couldn't help them. You must believe that. It was nothing to do with me.'
222 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1947
46 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Hammond Innes
104 books107 followersRalph Hammond Innes was an English novelist who wrote over 30 novels, as well as children's and travel books.He was awarded a C.B.E. (Commander, Order of the British Empire) in 1978. The World Mystery Convention honoured Innes with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bouchercon XXIV awards in Omaha, Nebraska, Oct, 1993.
Innes was born in Horsham, Sussex, and educated at the Cranbrook School in Kent. He left in 1931 to work as a journalist, initially with the Financial Times (at the time called the Financial News). The Doppelganger, his first novel, was published in 1937. In WWII he served in the Royal Artillery, eventually rising to the rank of Major. During the war, a number of his books were published, including Wreckers Must Breathe (1940), The Trojan Horse (1941) and Attack Alarm (1941); the last of which was based on his experiences as an anti-aircraft gunner during the Battle of Britain at RAF Kenley. After being discharged in 1946, he worked full-time as a writer, achieving a number of early successes.
His novels are notable for a fine attention to accurate detail in descriptions of places, such as in Air Bridge (1951), set partially at RAF Gatow, RAF Membury after its closure and RAF Wunstorf during the Berlin Airlift.
Innes went on to produce books in a regular sequence, with six months of travel and research followed by six months of writing. Many of his works featured events at sea. His output decreased in the 1960s, but was still substantial. He became interested in ecological themes. He continued writing until just before his death. His last novel was Delta Connection (1996).
Unusually for the thriller genre, Innes' protagonists were often not "heroes" in the typical sense, but ordinary men suddenly thrust into extreme situations by circumstance. Often, this involved being placed in a hostile environment (the Arctic, the open sea, deserts), or unwittingly becoming involved in a larger conflict or conspiracy. The protagonist generally is forced to rely on his own wits and making best use of limited resources, rather than the weapons and gadgetry commonly used by thriller writers.
Four of his early novels were made into films: Snowbound (1948)from The Lonely Skier (1947), Hell Below Zero (1954) from The White South (1949), Campbell's Kingdom (1957), and The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959). His 1973 novel Golden Soak was adapted into a six-part television series in 1979.
Innes was born in Horsham, Sussex, and educated at the Cranbrook School in Kent. He left in 1931 to work as a journalist, initially with the Financial Times (at the time called the Financial News). The Doppelganger, his first novel, was published in 1937. In WWII he served in the Royal Artillery, eventually rising to the rank of Major. During the war, a number of his books were published, including Wreckers Must Breathe (1940), The Trojan Horse (1941) and Attack Alarm (1941); the last of which was based on his experiences as an anti-aircraft gunner during the Battle of Britain at RAF Kenley. After being discharged in 1946, he worked full-time as a writer, achieving a number of early successes.
His novels are notable for a fine attention to accurate detail in descriptions of places, such as in Air Bridge (1951), set partially at RAF Gatow, RAF Membury after its closure and RAF Wunstorf during the Berlin Airlift.
Innes went on to produce books in a regular sequence, with six months of travel and research followed by six months of writing. Many of his works featured events at sea. His output decreased in the 1960s, but was still substantial. He became interested in ecological themes. He continued writing until just before his death. His last novel was Delta Connection (1996).
Unusually for the thriller genre, Innes' protagonists were often not "heroes" in the typical sense, but ordinary men suddenly thrust into extreme situations by circumstance. Often, this involved being placed in a hostile environment (the Arctic, the open sea, deserts), or unwittingly becoming involved in a larger conflict or conspiracy. The protagonist generally is forced to rely on his own wits and making best use of limited resources, rather than the weapons and gadgetry commonly used by thriller writers.
Four of his early novels were made into films: Snowbound (1948)from The Lonely Skier (1947), Hell Below Zero (1954) from The White South (1949), Campbell's Kingdom (1957), and The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959). His 1973 novel Golden Soak was adapted into a six-part television series in 1979.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
May 6, 2024
I would not call 'Maddon's Rock' a thriller as Wikipedia does. It is rather a well-written retro adventure story. It revolves around the fate of the crew of the ship carrying a precious cargo of silver bars from Murmansk to Britain in 1945.
I would recommend the book to those who feel nostalgia for the great adventure books about honourable brave people and sea travel read in childhood and adolescence. If you are interested in reading about the quest for treasure, ship wreck, mutiny, piracy, prison, etc. and the struggle between good and evil, this book is for you.
I would recommend the book to those who feel nostalgia for the great adventure books about honourable brave people and sea travel read in childhood and adolescence. If you are interested in reading about the quest for treasure, ship wreck, mutiny, piracy, prison, etc. and the struggle between good and evil, this book is for you.
March 1, 2022
"The love of money is the root of all evil."
Maddon's Rock is a well done adventure/suspense novel which begins in the waning days of WWII and continues into the immediate post-war period. The story starts in Murmansk with a convoy headed to Great Britain. The British flagged ship on which the main characters sail carries a secret shipment of silver bullion. Even the men guarding it are not told what they are guarding. The presence of the silver leads to theft, murder, apparent shipwreck and considerable disaster for many innocents.
Four and a half stars.
Maddon's Rock is a well done adventure/suspense novel which begins in the waning days of WWII and continues into the immediate post-war period. The story starts in Murmansk with a convoy headed to Great Britain. The British flagged ship on which the main characters sail carries a secret shipment of silver bullion. Even the men guarding it are not told what they are guarding. The presence of the silver leads to theft, murder, apparent shipwreck and considerable disaster for many innocents.
Four and a half stars.
July 29, 2021
Dad's favorite book <3 Miss him...
May 17, 2017
Hammond Innes was a thriller writer of the great British post-war generation, along with Desmond Bagley, Gavin Lyall and others. This is a salt-encrusted sea story, about a couple of British army enlisted men assigned to guard a shipment of silver being shipped to the U.K. from Murmansk on a creaky old freighter in the late days of the Second World War. The ship's captain is a sinister Shakespeare-quoting loony, the warrant officer in charge of the guard detachment is a weak-kneed drunk, and when a storm hits and the lifeboats turn out to have been sabotaged, it becomes clear that the two Tommies are supposed to be the patsies in a scheme to hijack the silver. They escape the shipwreck by a miracle but wind up in Dartmoor after being tried for mutiny, and when they escape, all they want is to get even with the scoundrels who put them there. The quest will lead them to an isolated rock in the Barents Sea, where... OK, no spoilers. Suffice it to say there is a lot of man-on-the-run desperation, bad-weather sailing, skulduggery, contending with nature's awesome might, and even a little romance. Everything you want in a good old-fashioned thriller.
December 30, 2019
Many of the elements that will appear later in The Wreck of the Mary Deare can be found in this Innes postwar novel some eight years earlier. The urgency to chase through choppy, cold seas laden with dangerous rocks, the salvaging of a mystery ship, and the lengthy proceedings of a maritime court case. That and the tale of two captains, taking very different paths.
There is another coincidence, here. I suppose it is a coincidence, at least. And that is the plot device that surrounds the loss of the Trikkala and its cargo of silver bullion. The deception at work is very similar to that which appeared in The Wake of the Red Witch. The latter appeared on movie screens the same year Innes published his novel, 1948. Garland Roark's novel itself was published two years earlier. And, of course, Roark's story about pirates, volcanoes, and the East Indies, Fair Wind to Java, came about also in 1948 before being made into a movie in 1953. Lots of inspiration for Innes in those two works, I think. Nonetheless, the pacing and characteristic teases in which Innes gradually drops hints of impending trouble into his story are present in Maddon's Rock to make this work in both style and substance an identifiable creation of Hammond Innes'.
There is another coincidence, here. I suppose it is a coincidence, at least. And that is the plot device that surrounds the loss of the Trikkala and its cargo of silver bullion. The deception at work is very similar to that which appeared in The Wake of the Red Witch. The latter appeared on movie screens the same year Innes published his novel, 1948. Garland Roark's novel itself was published two years earlier. And, of course, Roark's story about pirates, volcanoes, and the East Indies, Fair Wind to Java, came about also in 1948 before being made into a movie in 1953. Lots of inspiration for Innes in those two works, I think. Nonetheless, the pacing and characteristic teases in which Innes gradually drops hints of impending trouble into his story are present in Maddon's Rock to make this work in both style and substance an identifiable creation of Hammond Innes'.
April 16, 2014
Gale Warning, originally published as Maddon's Rock in Britain, by Hammond Innes is a little outside my usual mystery fare. Primarily a high action thriller set on the high seas, this book--like much of Innes's work--would normally appeal to those who like their books full of adventure and masculine adventures. The story is told by Corporal Jim Vardy. Vardy and his mates, Gunner Bert Cook and Private Sills, are waiting repatriation to England at the end of World War II. Orders come for them to join Warrant Officer Rankin (as commanding officer) on special detail aboard the S. S. Trikkala, a freighter that will take them and a load of mysterious cargo back to England in a convoy of other boats.
The men are ordered to guard cases marked "Hurricane Engines for Replacement" round-the-clock during the journey. Also aboard the vessel is Captain Halsey, a Shakespeare-spouting captain rumored to be mixed up in piracy, several of his loyal crew (having followed him from a previous ship), and a young woman released from a prison camp, Jennifer Sorrell. Vardy, an army man who would have been better suited to the navy, overhears several conversations and observes some odd behavior that make him suspicious of Halsey and Rankin's true purpose.
When the Trikkala encounters a severe ocean storm (thus the title Gale Warning), Vardy and his mates are ordered into their designated life-boat. A boat that they had previously discovered to not be sea-worthy. Vardy refuses to board the boat--requesting to take one of the "less dependable" rafts instead. Halsey and Rankin deny his request and he defies orders, taking Bert Cook and Jenniferr Sorrell with him. They believe that the Trikkala has gone down and when they are picked up by one of the other ships, it seems that they are the only survivors from the doomed ship. But nearly a month later, Halsey, Rankin, the three crewmen loyal to Halsey are also found floating in the arctic waters.
Charges of mutiny are brought against Vary and Cook and despite their story of the unsafe boat, they are found guilty and sent to Dartmoor for three years. Word reaches them that the five other survivors are planning a trip to salvage the cargo of the Trikkala--which has been revealed to be a fortune in silver bouillon. Our heroes decide to escape from prison and try to beat Halsey and company to the ship with hopes of bringing back proof of their innocence. The real mystery of Gale Warning is whether Vardy will be successful and the revelation of the real story behind the sinking of the freighter.
There are no spoilers in my synopsis. My copy of the book has a brief blurb that pretty much covers everything I've told you--and the few bits I've been able to find on the interwebs tells just about as much. The kernel of mystery, as noted, surrounds Vardy's trip back to the Norwegian sea to find the silver. Bert Cook joins him--as does Jenny. Jenny is a sailor as well and it is her boat that is used to make the journey. The adventure and suspense of the final chapters more than make up for the lack of mystery through the first half of the book. These stories may been primarily attractive to men during the war years and those immediately following, but I find Innes's prose compelling and interesting. He's a good story-teller in an action-packed genre. Three and 1/2 stars.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
The men are ordered to guard cases marked "Hurricane Engines for Replacement" round-the-clock during the journey. Also aboard the vessel is Captain Halsey, a Shakespeare-spouting captain rumored to be mixed up in piracy, several of his loyal crew (having followed him from a previous ship), and a young woman released from a prison camp, Jennifer Sorrell. Vardy, an army man who would have been better suited to the navy, overhears several conversations and observes some odd behavior that make him suspicious of Halsey and Rankin's true purpose.
When the Trikkala encounters a severe ocean storm (thus the title Gale Warning), Vardy and his mates are ordered into their designated life-boat. A boat that they had previously discovered to not be sea-worthy. Vardy refuses to board the boat--requesting to take one of the "less dependable" rafts instead. Halsey and Rankin deny his request and he defies orders, taking Bert Cook and Jenniferr Sorrell with him. They believe that the Trikkala has gone down and when they are picked up by one of the other ships, it seems that they are the only survivors from the doomed ship. But nearly a month later, Halsey, Rankin, the three crewmen loyal to Halsey are also found floating in the arctic waters.
Charges of mutiny are brought against Vary and Cook and despite their story of the unsafe boat, they are found guilty and sent to Dartmoor for three years. Word reaches them that the five other survivors are planning a trip to salvage the cargo of the Trikkala--which has been revealed to be a fortune in silver bouillon. Our heroes decide to escape from prison and try to beat Halsey and company to the ship with hopes of bringing back proof of their innocence. The real mystery of Gale Warning is whether Vardy will be successful and the revelation of the real story behind the sinking of the freighter.
There are no spoilers in my synopsis. My copy of the book has a brief blurb that pretty much covers everything I've told you--and the few bits I've been able to find on the interwebs tells just about as much. The kernel of mystery, as noted, surrounds Vardy's trip back to the Norwegian sea to find the silver. Bert Cook joins him--as does Jenny. Jenny is a sailor as well and it is her boat that is used to make the journey. The adventure and suspense of the final chapters more than make up for the lack of mystery through the first half of the book. These stories may been primarily attractive to men during the war years and those immediately following, but I find Innes's prose compelling and interesting. He's a good story-teller in an action-packed genre. Three and 1/2 stars.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
November 15, 2011
Another solid thriller from Hammond Innes. For me, it is on a par with the works of Alistair MacLean or Douglass Reeman. It shares with them a love of sailing, particularly the frozen seas of the Arctic Circle. In this case the journey will start in Murmansk toward the end of WWII, via the bleak prison walls of Dartmoor, and finally to Maddon's Rock - a desolate crag surrounded by mountainous waves somewhere to the north of Tromso.
The classic ingredients of adventure are present here : the innocent by-stander caught by events, the slightly unhinged adversary, the treasure hunt, the sidekick providing both support to the hero and the occassional humorous relief of tension, and of course: the romantic element. The success of the recipe rests in the engaging first-person narration, the built-up to the final confrontation and the powerful rendition of the forces of Nature unleashed.
I only rated it 4 stars instead of 5 because some of the plot twists were a little too convenient for the advancement of the story.
This was a page turner for me, the kind that , once picked up, will be finished in one sitting, most probably at around 3 a.m.
The classic ingredients of adventure are present here : the innocent by-stander caught by events, the slightly unhinged adversary, the treasure hunt, the sidekick providing both support to the hero and the occassional humorous relief of tension, and of course: the romantic element. The success of the recipe rests in the engaging first-person narration, the built-up to the final confrontation and the powerful rendition of the forces of Nature unleashed.
I only rated it 4 stars instead of 5 because some of the plot twists were a little too convenient for the advancement of the story.
This was a page turner for me, the kind that , once picked up, will be finished in one sitting, most probably at around 3 a.m.
April 26, 2013
Always a good read from this old master. I used to read these in my late teens and twenties and always enjoyed them. Good, clean, old-fashioned adventure. Probably a little tame by today's standards but no reason not to like it. His work is timeless.
June 29, 2022
More questionable behaviour from seamen here (see The Wreck of the Mary Deare) as Corporal James Vardy (apparently not the Leicester City man, but a soldier whose sailing expertise would have suited a naval career but for his eyesight)and two fellow soldiers are being repatriated from Murmansk to England towards the end of the Second World War. Their transport, SS Trikkala, is part of a convoy and carrying a valuable cargo that Vardy is entrusted with guarding. Unease grows as snippets of conversation between the dangerous-looking Captain and his cronies indicate that perhaps all is not as it should be. An attractive Scottish SOE agent billeted aboard gives moral and intelligence support.
Vardy’s actions in trying to thwart a heinous crime lead to his Court Martial (more brilliant courtroom drama from Innes here).
Desperate to prove his innocence he vows to uncover the truth about the fate of the ship by the most outrageous journey into Alistair Maclean’s Bear Island territory and the eponymous Maddon’s Rock.
The author admits it’s based on Treasure Island and what’s not to like about that? Well only three stars indicate some flaw and I think it’s the ease with which Vardy manages to evade recapture and persuade the provider of his sanctuary to underwrite his suicidally mad plan which seems a little too pat.
Otherwise perfectly plausible, rollicking stuff.
Vardy’s actions in trying to thwart a heinous crime lead to his Court Martial (more brilliant courtroom drama from Innes here).
Desperate to prove his innocence he vows to uncover the truth about the fate of the ship by the most outrageous journey into Alistair Maclean’s Bear Island territory and the eponymous Maddon’s Rock.
The author admits it’s based on Treasure Island and what’s not to like about that? Well only three stars indicate some flaw and I think it’s the ease with which Vardy manages to evade recapture and persuade the provider of his sanctuary to underwrite his suicidally mad plan which seems a little too pat.
Otherwise perfectly plausible, rollicking stuff.
March 29, 2020
Maddon's Rock is a very solid thriller in 3 acts. Set towards the end of WW2 and just after, like many of Innes' books it is mainly set at sea. The main characters are nicely developed with a good supporting cast and the story is both exciting and to a certain extent unpredictable.
The finale is perhaps a little rushed and there could have been a few more elements to it but all in this book has aged very well and even reading it today it has good pacing and a good sense of place.
I would recommend to anyone looking for some solid escapism and a nicely packaged yarn!
The finale is perhaps a little rushed and there could have been a few more elements to it but all in this book has aged very well and even reading it today it has good pacing and a good sense of place.
I would recommend to anyone looking for some solid escapism and a nicely packaged yarn!
May 1, 2022
Very good story about a bullion heist with a difference. It starts with a mutiny at sea, some jail time for the said mutiny, then a salvage operation followed by redemption.
Set towards the end of the second world war, the story is well thought out and laid out on paper. Innes knew how to craft a yarn!
Set towards the end of the second world war, the story is well thought out and laid out on paper. Innes knew how to craft a yarn!
August 11, 2023
Hammond Innes is at his best when writing about shipping, in this case the North Atlantic. During WW11 the Murmansk Run was famous for supplying the Red Army on the Eastern Front, as well as the Battle of the North Atlantic, i.e. the submarines. Maddon's Rock plays off against this background. I enjoyed it, as with most of his novels.
August 10, 2025
Loved this book!
Hard to put down! Very well written and suspenseful! This is one of those novels that keeps you up into the wee hours wanting to know what's going to happen next. The characters and story line are very well developed. Can't wait to read more of Hammond Innes' books!
Hard to put down! Very well written and suspenseful! This is one of those novels that keeps you up into the wee hours wanting to know what's going to happen next. The characters and story line are very well developed. Can't wait to read more of Hammond Innes' books!
October 28, 2017
Another excellent story from Hammond Innes. His ability to create suspense and paint an image is superb. The range of characters gives the book a fascinating storyline, that makes you want to keep reading. His stories based on nautical themes are always very strong and this is no exception.
October 20, 2019
Very exciting WWII sea story.
There is great naval detail of northern waters in this tale of mutiny and piracy on 1945-6. There is an exciting prison escape in the middle of the book between the sea episodes.
There is great naval detail of northern waters in this tale of mutiny and piracy on 1945-6. There is an exciting prison escape in the middle of the book between the sea episodes.
August 3, 2021
A really good adventure starting in the Arctic circle travelling to southern England then to Scotland and back to the Arctic circle. Piracy on the high seas being the main theme. This book could have been made into a 1950s film noir with its dark plots and complex characters.
July 18, 2024
sea story in nautical terms
Great plot, good ship talk, brought me back to my navy days. Loved it. Convoluted and beyond realistic at many times, but well written and an uplifting story of the good guys winning against all odds.
Great plot, good ship talk, brought me back to my navy days. Loved it. Convoluted and beyond realistic at many times, but well written and an uplifting story of the good guys winning against all odds.
August 22, 2018
Interesting turn of characters and events.
Not at all what I expected. This books interesting characters and events which move in unusual patterns to follow through the book.
Not at all what I expected. This books interesting characters and events which move in unusual patterns to follow through the book.
December 13, 2018
Good read.
February 4, 2020
I'm pretty sure I'd read this one before years ago. Bits of it seemed familiar, but it obviously wasn't all that memorable. It was an okay read.
July 23, 2024
Well done
Kept your interest. Hard to put down. Enjoyed the characters accents...put you there. Very much worth the read. Look forward to more of his work.
Kept your interest. Hard to put down. Enjoyed the characters accents...put you there. Very much worth the read. Look forward to more of his work.
May 12, 2025
Decent ocean-going 1945 adventure with pirates and an uninhabited island
July 23, 2016
Originally under the title "Maddon's Rock", "Gale Warning" was a real treat to read, considering it was first published in the late nineteen-forties. The book started out kind of dry and took some time to gain my interest but it delivered a unique flavor of original writing, allowing us to peer into the time it was written in. If you like an old-fashioned adventure story, set on the high seas; you've come across the right read. If there was any downside to this book, it would be the old English sailor dialect, that was a little painstaking to get a-hang of and fully comprehend, at first. The writing reflects the time this book's setting took place in. There's something attention-grabbing about an old ship abandoned on an island, full of silver bullion. Enjoyed reading Inne's writing immensely.
November 7, 2017
After a slow start this turned out to be an exciting, fast-paced thriller. There were three acts: a mutiny at sea, an escape from maximum-security prison, and a battle between good and bad guys on an isolated rock island in the Arctic Circle. The prison escape was great except it seemed a bit too easy for the escapees since everything that could go right turned out to go better than expected, so they made it across England to Scotland without incident. In the final act Innes described the dangerous sea conditions, the treacherous access to the rock island, and the death battle between good and evil to the point where you could almost feel what the characters were going through. I gave it only 4 stars because the book seemed too short (222 pages in my edition); I wish the book were a hundred pages longer so more details or plot twists could be provided.
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August 2, 2011Really strong plot line to this book, writing style can seem a little old-fashioned compared to modern day thrillers but it still worked well enough for me. The only criticism I would really point out is Innes' clumsy dialogue, especially when he attempts to write in cockney for one of the main characters -- it's like Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins! Other than that, really well written, I especially liked the way the book has three major stages - the initial shipwreck, the court martial, and the trip to Maddon's Rock. Kept me interested right to the end, which I suppose is all you can ask for really
January 31, 2019
Husband really looked forward to listening to this and wasn't disappointed.Will be downloading the rest of Mr Innes books. Great narration too :)
Descriptive without too much violence and an easy read at bed time.
Descriptive without too much violence and an easy read at bed time.
August 3, 2020
This is a book I always come back to. It’s a “modern” (set in and just after WW2) take on a Treasure Island like story and does a great job as a thriller and mystery. If I could give it more stars I would!
April 13, 2012
One of my favourite writers, I'm never disappointed. He always write a gripping good story, and the reader is never disappointed.
June 8, 2020
Even on my second read this was a page turning 'couldn't put it down' story by one of the great sea story authors of the 20th century.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews