Assignment Lowlands

Sam Durell #13

by Edward S. Aarons

The first notes to arrive were ignored. The next batch were filed away. The latest group talked of things that only a few could know and suddenly the powers that be were worried. Someone named Cassandra holds a secret that can destroy half a world.

Genres: Espionage

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

AKA Paul Ayres, Edward Ronns.

Edward Sidney Aarons (September 11, 1916 - June 16, 1975) was an American writer, author of more than 80 novels from 1936 until 1962. One of these was under the pseudonym "Paul Ayres" (Dead Heat), and 30 were written using the name "Edward Ronns". He also wrote numerous articles for detective magazines such as Detective Story Magazine and Scarab.

Aarons was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and earned a degree in Literature and History from Columbia University. He worked at various jobs to put himself through college, including jobs as a newspaper reporter and fisherman. In 1933, he won a short story contest as a student. In World War II he was in the United States Coast Guard, joining after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. He finished his duty in 1945, having obtained the rank of Chief Petty Officer.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the thirteenth novel in Aarons’ Sam Durell espionage series, published in 1961, we find a world under threat by a madman with access to biological weapons. It is not a new threat although after a worldwide pandemic with millions afflicted, we have a new more visceral feeling for what a deadly disease can do. In this novel, we get the remnants of the second world war and the German occupation of the Low Countries. In this story, they built a biological laboratory in a secret bunker that was maliciously flooded as were countless villages and farms as the dikes were broken when the Germans finally retreated. Fifteen years later, the land has yet to be reclaimed, but someone has found the buried bunkers and aims to ransom threats to the world since one vial can destroy half of Europe.

Enter Sam Durell from the CIA’s section K and some allies in the Dutch service. Their task to tame the madman and put and end to his threats and, at great risk to themselves, find the undersea bunker. They might as well have been tasked with recovering the lost city of Atlantis.

What we readers get is a tightly-woven action-packed from start to finish espionage thriller.

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quintessential Sam Durell novel. Nothing special, although entertaining enough as an action piece. Little mystery in this story of CIA agent Durell on assignment in the Netherlands to recover a dangerous virus leftover from the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. But an interesting cast of characters. Dutch agents, Nazi death camp survivors, a Nazi general who escaped war crimes prosecution, and the general's greedy wife who wants the loot he left in a bunker with the virus. Too, it's good to see Durell operating outside the US and not behind the Iron Curtain for a change. And very little mention of his girlfriend, Deirdre Padgett, who often becomes a bit of an irritant in these stories. Notable, too, is that with this novel, Aarons changes the description in the Assignment series from the names of femme fatales and dangerous vixens to places or identities associated with where the action takes place.

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another well done Aarons espionage novel with a foreign locale. In this case it is the lowlands of the Netherlands among the flooded fields and broken dikes left by the retreating Nazis 15 years before, as Sam Durell hunts for a lost Nazi laboratory that holds a deadly virus. The action is good, the setting is well portrayed, the characters believable, and the writing smooth.

[John Peel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam Durell is sent to Holland - someone has discovered a long-buried Nazi bio-lab and a deadly agent that was hidden there. Five people have already died, and one more dies as Sam talks to him. Millions are in danger if the blackmailer can't be stopped. Another great action thriller from Aarons, who wrote some of the very best. Pure fun.

[Mandy J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent Sam Durell novel. They’re all fast paced, quick reading and full of twists, turns, girls, guns and the Cold War at its spying best.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 13th installment in the Sam Durell series may be the best I have read yet. I have not read all of the previous 12 but quite a few of them and it seems to me that the author has really hit his stride now. It really isn’t necessary to read them in order. Published in 1961, these books are a great alternative to James Bond, if you are yearning for more in that style. They frequently have more complex plots but equally high stakes. The bad guys aren’t always as narcissistic as the typical Bond villain and sometimes the plots are quite realistic.

In this one, Sam Durell, CIA agent working out of K section (the special trouble-shooting branch), is on the trail of what we would call “bio-terrorists” today. A deadly virus, refined from WWII stockpiles is in the hands of a former Nazi general who has power and revenge on his mind and is prepared to unleash it on Western Europe and kill off half of the world’s population. OK, that does sound a lot like a narcissistic Bond baddie but he doesn’t actually play a major role past the first half of the book. The title “Lowlands” refers to the setting of The Netherlands. That country’s amazing engineering feet of ocean reclamation is a major factor in the plot. Rest assured, there are still a couple of Bond-girls (Durell girls?) that do play integral roles as well. Interestingly, even though written at about the same time as the Bond books, there is a lot less sexism and racism in these books and Durell, due to his ongoing relationship with Deirdre Padgett, is usually a bit more reluctant than Bond to take advantage of willing girls.

I plan to keep on reading these books as long as I can still find them.

[Patrick Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

How have I never heard of the Sam Durell novels? This was my introduction to this character and series after picking up the book for a buck at a paperback show. It was immensely enjoyable. No reading of previous books was necessary to enjoy this.

Working for the K section of the CIA, Durell is summoned to Amsterdam where he's instructed to find out why five fishermen died suddenly--perhaps from a WWII virus that someone has discovered.

I really enjoyed this book from 1961. There's plenty of action, great characters, fantastic plot twists, gorgeous femme fatales, and some strong surprises, all without any James Bond gadgetry. Everything was believable.

I was pleased to discover that there are 42 books in this series and I plan to track them down.