Assignment Angelina

Sam Durell #6

by Edward S. Aarons

She holds that answer to a perplexing question, even if she doesn't know it. When several men across the country from different walks of life are cruelly murdered, the search for a common thread leads back to the last days of World War II and a secret project that Durell was a part of.

158 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

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]

1958 brought the sixth book in Edward Aarons’ Sam Durell espionage series. In this one, Durell is tasked with helping a super-secret agency whose missions are determined by a predicting computer. This is primarily a domestic engagement and even brings the Crazy Cajun back to his childhood haunts and his teenage romance with Angelina, the title character. He’s on the track of a crew dealing death and tracing a bloody path across the states. On the surface, they appear to be just another crew of criminal types, but a bit more bloodthirsty than any other crew. But, they are after something and they will torture anyone who holds out on answers, leaving broken pieces of men and women in their wake. This crew of motley characters is as mismatched as any, but they are not after what you think they are. Once again Aarons has put together a tight, absorbing thriller.

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 4 out of 5]

My little secret is out. I like Sam Durell stories. I know I probably should keep my Sam Durell books in my sock drawer, but I like them. These books are like little "B" movies: no awards but often solid entertainment if you don't look at them too carefully. In this one Sam is loaned by the CIA to another organization in Washington to keep tabs on four people to see what they're up to. Of course, they're up to no good and Sam saves America. Yay! Recommended to people who like trashy spy novels.

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sixth novel in the lengthy Sam Durell series and is a solid crime/noir story. Here we follow four criminal wannabes as they travel around the country looking to score a successful heist using a formula stolen from a chemical factory in Nazi Germany during WWII. Sam is temporarily assigned to a super-secret sub organization of the CIA (even more secret than his usual K Division) to watch this foursome and see what they are up to. Each of these four characters has serious flaws ranging from personal rivalries to pure thuggery and they are never able to form a cohesive unit. Half the fun of this novel is watching how they interact with one another and see the distrust build among them. Their path takes them to Cajun country, Sam’s childhood home, where the plot connects with one of Sam’s girlfriends from his youth (the titular ‘Angelina’). Thus Sam has his first lead.

The book was written in the mid 1960’s, a time when air conditioning was not such a common thing as today. As such, the idea of introducing a gaseous substance into the A/C to knock out the people inside of a bank, for example, was a pretty clever idea. Combining such a caper plot with plenty of action and sprinkling in some espionage/secret government stuff to tie it all together makes for a pretty good yarn.

Stay-tuned for more in my humble quest to bring more attention to this "forgotten" series.

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ending of Assignment Angelina saves things somewhat. Without spoiling anything, I'll say that Aarons anticipates Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove by six years and is contemporaneous with the book that Strangelove is based upon. That said, for the most part, this novel is a disappointment. Many of the things I praised Aarons for in the past, don't quite make it here. For example, he lags in his story and he fails to advance the plot. There is far too much Angelina, and she is annoying. Too, the one part of Aaron's Sam Durell novels I've always been impatient with are those passages where Sam returns to his home in Louisiana and around New Orleans. I just dislike that setting. And, here, it's almost half of the book. It's also a mistake to push Durell into the role of a detective, which is what happens for most of Angelina. Put Sam back in espionage, and don't let him do too much counterespionage.

[Kurt Reichenbaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good cold war spy novel, crossed with a touch of swamp-noir. This follows four ne'er-do-wells across the country as they look for a formula stolen from a chemical factory in Germany during the 2nd World War. Each of the four; one woman and her Nazi husband along with a pair of psychotic grifters, are consumed by their own personal vendettas. Their paths eventually cross with an old childhood girlfriend of CIA agent Sam Durell. It's a chase novel punctuated with bursts of brutal violence. A good choice for fans of Matt Helm novels.

[John Peel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy the Sam Durell novels, and this early one is no exception. For once, we see a little of Sam's background and meet the grandfather who raised him - and Sam gets to encounter his first girlfriend once again. But he's on the trail of a sadistic killer and the man's unpleasant partners as they slaughter their way across the US. But what is their ultimate target?

It's a little different this time around, and a little more personal for Sam - but for the reader it's action and fun as always.

[Gary Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! This was a compelling spy thriller I couldn't put down. The action is relentless without being mindless. This sixth novel of the series dates to 1958. The novelty of air conditioning and a reference to a pre-Castro Cuba are the only topical references I could detect, besides the fact the criminal gang are veterans of then-relatively recent WWII. This is also another stateside adventure, which I prefer to the globetrotting settings the series is known for featuring.

Aarons created four memorable characters in that criminal gang: Mark Fleming, Erich and Jessie Corbin, and the sadistic psychopath Slago (with a name like Slago, what can you expect?). They're a complicated group and Aarons dedicated many pages to their development. What initially appeared to be a cohesive group comes apart at the seams as their seamy story progresses. Aarons captures well the interpersonal dynamics and proves true the adage that there is no honor among thieves.

The story open with the gang leaving a trail of blood as they search out a Nazi-formula for knock-out gas that one of the platoon pilfered in the waning days of the war. There's a Kelly's Heroes vibe as the German manager of the plant teams up with a couple disgruntles ex-GIs to retrieve that Nazi formula and use it for mutual benefit. Charles Dickens would have appreciated the coincidence of the man who had the document being (1) a neighbor of Sam's back in Bayou Peche Rouge, and (2) engaged to Sam's first love, Angelina Greene. The connections, even if stretching credulity, do speed up the action. Sam's having served with G-2 during the war and having supervised the document-seizing operation during which the formula was stolen was yet another coincidence (and one that played a smaller part than anticipated).

Sam is in an awkward position this time around, loaned out begrudgingly by his boss McFee to an unnamed super-secret organization whose front is a nondescript uniform supply company. Sam takes orders from Whittington and Kincaid, who rely upon data generated by a computer much like Lew Wickersham of Intertect did in the first season of Mannix. And like Joe Mannix, Sam Durell bristles at technology displacing good old American know-how. But the computer proves right, and the criminal gang is plotting something much bigger than bank heists in one-horse towns.

Angelina Greene would be a bizarre and memorable character even if the only thing she did was walk into a New York City bar with a Bowie knife strapped to her thigh. Sam reminisces about their adolescent fumblings and puppy love, but is rightly appalled at what she has turned into as an adult: mob-connected, money-hungry, and ambitious. Add vengeful after she swears to kill Slago for what he did to her fiancé Pete Labouisse. Disappointingly, this foreshadowing of an I Spit on Your Grave scenario is never realized, even after the reader's desire for revenge is heightened to a fever pitch after a harrowing and horrifying encounter in a hotel room between Angelina and Slago. When Slago finally meets his much-deserved end, it's anticlimactic and Angelina's role is minor.

Aarons disappointed me with that ending, and then surprised me by not having Sam and Angelina rekindle their romance. I was glad they didn't. I hope Sam doesn't succumb in later volumes to the James Bond m.o. of love 'em and leave 'em. In these early stories, minus a weak moment in a cold hayloft a couple books ago, Sam only has eyes for one woman: Deirdre Padgett.

Deirdre is mentioned several times but has no role in this novel. She is in Paris covering fashions. We learn that Deirdre did telephone once while Sam was away from the apartment. Angelina answered and claims to have assured Deirdre of the situation, but Sam got the sinking feeling he'll have some 'splaining to do. I did not in any way miss Deirdre, whose clingy character serves only to unsettle Sam with thoughts of a domesticated life away from the spy biz.

The underground complex was a real revelation, and I appreciated Aarons having Durell experience it with a mix of awe and anger. Sam's an insider, a spy who has dedicated his life to preserving the American way of life, so he understandably has mixed feelings about a secret bunker the government can preserve itself in and relocate to in case of a nuclear holocaust. Those scenes stirred up memories of the Cold War classic Fail Safe.

Assignment Angelina is a highly recommended read for fans of heist capers and detective/spy sagas. Aarons effectively evokes the bayou and bowery hotels and transports the reader into a very ugly world peopled by ugly individuals. It was a fast and furious read and I had no regrets.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the earlier books in the Sam Durell series (#6) from when the series was more of a noir/pulp spy series and before the Fleming influences came in. This one is very much in the noir vein, beginning with a murder in the Arizona desert and the search for something that seems to be the key to great riches for a quartet of criminals. Durell finds himself seconded to a department even more secret that K Division, and sent out to keep tabs on the group, whose makeup turns out to be quite different than it appears at the start.