The Man Who Was Saturday

by Derek Lambert

Paperback

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Derek Lambert was educated at Epsom College and was both an author of thrillers in his own name, writing also as Richard Falkirk, and a journalist. As a foreign correspondent for the Daily Express, he spent time in many exotic locales that he later used as settings in his novels.

In addition to his steady stream of thrillers, Lambert also published (under the pseudonym Richard Falkirk) a series about a Bow Street Runner called Edmund Blackstone. These, the fruit of research in the London Library, were interspersed with detailed descriptions of early 19th century low life, as the hero undertook such tasks as saving Princess Victoria from being kidnapped, or penetrating skullduggery at the Bank of England.

Lambert made no claims for his books, which he often wrote in five weeks, simply dismissing them as pot-boilers; but in 1988 the veteran American journalist Martha Gellhorn paid tribute in The Daily Telegraph to his intricate plotting and skillful use of factual material. It appealed, she declared, to a universal hunger for "pure unadulterated storytelling", of the sort supplied by storytellers in a bazaar

Lambert was residing in Spain with his family at the time of his death at the age of seventy-one.

Reviews

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Το λυκόφως των κατασκόπων", εκδόσεις Καρρέ.

Ένα ωραιότατο ψυχροπολεμικό θρίλερ της δεκαετίας του '80, δια χειρός Εγγλέζου συγγραφέα, ίσως όχι τόσο ποιοτικό ή σύνθετο όσα αυτά του Τζον Λε Καρέ, αλλά οπωσδήποτε ψυχαγωγικό, ευκολοδιάβαστο και ενδιαφέρον. Η αλήθεια είναι ότι είχα καιρό να διαβάσω μια κατασκοπευτική ιστορία παλαιότερων δεκαετιών που να έχει να κάνει με τα διάφορα βρόμικα παιχνίδια ανάμεσα στους Δυτικούς (βλέπε Αμερικάνους και Άγγλους) και τους Σοβιετικούς, και τούτο δω μου φάνηκε αρκούντως καλογραμμένο και ενδιαφέρον, αν μη τι άλλο με κράτησε σε μια κάποια αγωνία από την αρχή μέχρι το αρκετά δυνατό τέλος. Εντάξει, δεν υπάρχει κάτι το τρομερά πρωτότυπο στην πλοκή ή τους χαρακτήρες ή τα όλα σκηνικά, πάντως υπάρχουν πολλές ωραίες και δυνατές σκηνές, λίγο μυστήριο, καθώς και αρκετή ένταση και αγωνία, με την ατμόσφαιρα να είναι η ενδεδειγμένη για ψυχροπολεμικό/κατασκοπευτικό θρίλερ.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an story in the spy-thriller genre from back in 1985. Personally I find the Russian characters more interesting than the American protagonist. It's also definitely written by a man since you get a description of the breasts of almost every female character in the book. I'm not sure I like how things wrap-up in the ending. Not a terrible read, but there's nothing particularly surprising about the way things play out.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read... Lambert writes no nonesense stuff... classic cold-war literature.

It is a predictable storline with a predictable outcome, yet, that's just what I want from this sort of story. I don't want the bad guys coming out on top in everything.