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Dr Palfrey #25
The Inferno
Fires have broken out. At first they appear to be natural disasters, but they are spreading globally and into cities. Now, an ultimatum from Faustus has been issued. Governments everywhere are prepared to meet the problem by betraying Z5 and everything it stands for. Dr. Palfrey is completely discredited, but is not prepared to take the situation lying down and is determined to get to Faustus and unlock the secret behind the fires.
- GenresScience Fiction
368 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1976
21 people want to read
About the author
John Creasey
697 books78 followersAKA Gordon Ashe, M E Cooke, Norman Deane, Robert Caine Frazer, Patrick Gill, Michael Halliday, Charles Hogarth, Brian Hope, Colin Hughes, Kyle Hunt, Margaret Lisle, Abel Mann, Peter Manton, J.J. Marric, Richard Martin, Rodney Mattheson, Anthony Morton, Jeremy York, Henry St. John Cooper and Margaret Cooke.
John Creasey (September 17, 1908 - June 9, 1973) was born in Southfields, Surrey, England and died in New Hall, Bodenham, Salisbury Wiltshire, England. He was the seventh of nine children in a working class home. He became an English author of crime thrillers, published in excess of 600 books under 20+ different pseudonyms. He invented many famous characters who would appear in a whole series of novels. Probably the most famous of these is Gideon of Scotland Yard, the basis for the television program Gideon's Way but others include Department Z, Dr. Palfrey, The Toff, Inspector Roger West, and The Baron (which was also made into a television series). In 1962, Creasey won an Edgar Award for Best Novel, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Gideon's Fire, written under the pen name J. J. Marric. And in 1969 he was given the MWA's highest honor, the Grand Master Award.
John Creasey (September 17, 1908 - June 9, 1973) was born in Southfields, Surrey, England and died in New Hall, Bodenham, Salisbury Wiltshire, England. He was the seventh of nine children in a working class home. He became an English author of crime thrillers, published in excess of 600 books under 20+ different pseudonyms. He invented many famous characters who would appear in a whole series of novels. Probably the most famous of these is Gideon of Scotland Yard, the basis for the television program Gideon's Way but others include Department Z, Dr. Palfrey, The Toff, Inspector Roger West, and The Baron (which was also made into a television series). In 1962, Creasey won an Edgar Award for Best Novel, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Gideon's Fire, written under the pen name J. J. Marric. And in 1969 he was given the MWA's highest honor, the Grand Master Award.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 31, 2022
I’d been listening to some repeats of John Creasey’s The Toff on Radio4 Xtra and thought it was time I read something by a writer who clearly knew how to spin a story. So I bought ‘The Inferno’ in a Thriller Book Club edition, very comfortable to hold, and whose pages don’t collapse in on you when you’re reading.
The story, however, was something and nothing, a load of tosh really. But not entirely unenjoyably so.
Dr Palfrey of the unofficial international spy network Z-5 is sent details of a mysterious form of fire that, having started in a blinding heat-blast of flame, spreads and reaches a point when suddenly it stops, and retreats on itself to its point of origin. The process by which this phenomenon comes to threaten the whole world order and the process by which Palfrey and his usually well-to-do associates defeat it is the substance of the plot. The characters are stock, there is mild unexceptional love interest, everyone works overtime and deals heroically with naked villainy etc etc. The style is generic. Almost everything is unlikely and, scientifically, improbable. Though I ought to add that I’m not a scientist.
Nevertheless, as escapism it’s pretty good. I turned every page and read it with increasing innocent excitement as the hunt for the evil mastermind closes in.
The story, however, was something and nothing, a load of tosh really. But not entirely unenjoyably so.
Dr Palfrey of the unofficial international spy network Z-5 is sent details of a mysterious form of fire that, having started in a blinding heat-blast of flame, spreads and reaches a point when suddenly it stops, and retreats on itself to its point of origin. The process by which this phenomenon comes to threaten the whole world order and the process by which Palfrey and his usually well-to-do associates defeat it is the substance of the plot. The characters are stock, there is mild unexceptional love interest, everyone works overtime and deals heroically with naked villainy etc etc. The style is generic. Almost everything is unlikely and, scientifically, improbable. Though I ought to add that I’m not a scientist.
Nevertheless, as escapism it’s pretty good. I turned every page and read it with increasing innocent excitement as the hunt for the evil mastermind closes in.
July 15, 2014
As with all of the later Doctor Palfrey, it takes a current issue of the time (in this case, the fear/lure of nuclear holocaust) and turns it into a super weapon used by Bondian supervillains. In this case, it's a chemical that can create extremely controlled high temperature fires used to threaten all of the cities of the world. The ending is weak since the identification of the villain comes from nowhere, and Creasey fails to realize that the difficulty in putting out the fires is less important than the difficulty of detecting the chemical before it ignits.
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July 1, 2014palfrey
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews