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'We carry twelve live torpedoes, Captain...And those torpedoes WILL BE FIRED - unless you do precisely what we tell you...'
Five adventurous men and one woman plan the most fantastic crime of the century...a crime unparalleled in daring and ingenuity...with a fortune for each of them as the pay-off.
From the time the U-19 - a forty-year-old World WarI submarine - is raised from the sea-bed until its actual assult on the Queen Mary, this unique novel makes on sustained compulsive assault on the readers nerves.
Five adventurous men and one woman plan the most fantastic crime of the century...a crime unparalleled in daring and ingenuity...with a fortune for each of them as the pay-off.
From the time the U-19 - a forty-year-old World WarI submarine - is raised from the sea-bed until its actual assult on the Queen Mary, this unique novel makes on sustained compulsive assault on the readers nerves.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1959
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About the author
Jack Finney
121 books480 followersMr. Finney specialized in thrillers and works of science fiction. Two of his novels, The Body Snatchers and Good Neighbor Sam became the basis of popular films, but it was Time and Again (1970) that won him a devoted following. The novel, about an advertising artist who travels back to the New York of the 1880s, quickly became a cult favorite, beloved especially by New Yorkers for its rich, painstakingly researched descriptions of life in the city more than a century ago.
Mr. Finney, whose original name was Walter Braden Finney, was born in Milwaukee and attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. After moving to New York and working in the advertising industry, he began writing stories for popular magazines like Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post and McCall's.
His first novel, Five Against the House (1954), told the story of five college students who plot to rob a casino in Reno. A year later he published The Body Snatchers (later reissued as Invasion of the Body Snatchers), a chilling tale of aliens who emerge from pods in the guise of humans whom they have taken over. Many critics interpreted the insidious infiltration by aliens as a cold-war allegory that dramatized America's fear of a takeover by Communists. Mr. Finney maintained that the novel was nothing more than popular entertainment. The 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers was remade twice.
Mr. Finney first showed an interest in time travel in the short-story collection The Third Level, which included stories about a commuter who discovers a train that runs between New York and the year 1894, and a man who rebuilds an old car and finds himself transported back to the 1920s.
He returned to the thriller genre in Assault on a Queen (1959) and tried his hand at comedy in Good Neighbor Sam (1963), a novel based on his experiences as an adman, played by Jack Lemmon in the film version.
In The Woodrow Wilson Dime (1968), Mr. Finney once again explored the possibilities of time travel. The dime of the title allows the novel's hero to enter a parallel world in which he achieves fame by composing the musicals of Oscar Hammerstein and inventing the zipper.
With Time and Again, Mr. Finney won the kind of critical praise and attention not normally accorded to genre fiction. Thomas Lask, reviewing the novel in The New York Times, described it, suggestively, as "a blend of science fiction, nostalgia, mystery and acid commentary on super-government and its helots." Its hero, Si Morley, is a frustrated advertising artist who jumps at the chance to take part in a secret project that promises to change his life. So it does. He travels back to New York in 1882, moves into the Dakota apartment building on Central Park West and experiences the fabulous ordinariness of a bygone age: its trolleys, horse-drawn carriages, elevated lines, and gaslights. This year Mr. Finney published a sequel to the novel, From Time to Time.
Mr. Finney also wrote Marion's Wall (1973), about a silent-film actress who, in an attempt to revive her film career, enters the body of a shy woman, and The Night People (1977). His other fictional works include The House of Numbers (1957) and the short-story collection I Love Galesburg in the Springtime (1963). He also wrote Forgotten News: The Crime of the Century and Other Lost Stories (1983) about sensational events of the 19th century.
Mr. Finney, whose original name was Walter Braden Finney, was born in Milwaukee and attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. After moving to New York and working in the advertising industry, he began writing stories for popular magazines like Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post and McCall's.
His first novel, Five Against the House (1954), told the story of five college students who plot to rob a casino in Reno. A year later he published The Body Snatchers (later reissued as Invasion of the Body Snatchers), a chilling tale of aliens who emerge from pods in the guise of humans whom they have taken over. Many critics interpreted the insidious infiltration by aliens as a cold-war allegory that dramatized America's fear of a takeover by Communists. Mr. Finney maintained that the novel was nothing more than popular entertainment. The 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers was remade twice.
Mr. Finney first showed an interest in time travel in the short-story collection The Third Level, which included stories about a commuter who discovers a train that runs between New York and the year 1894, and a man who rebuilds an old car and finds himself transported back to the 1920s.
He returned to the thriller genre in Assault on a Queen (1959) and tried his hand at comedy in Good Neighbor Sam (1963), a novel based on his experiences as an adman, played by Jack Lemmon in the film version.
In The Woodrow Wilson Dime (1968), Mr. Finney once again explored the possibilities of time travel. The dime of the title allows the novel's hero to enter a parallel world in which he achieves fame by composing the musicals of Oscar Hammerstein and inventing the zipper.
With Time and Again, Mr. Finney won the kind of critical praise and attention not normally accorded to genre fiction. Thomas Lask, reviewing the novel in The New York Times, described it, suggestively, as "a blend of science fiction, nostalgia, mystery and acid commentary on super-government and its helots." Its hero, Si Morley, is a frustrated advertising artist who jumps at the chance to take part in a secret project that promises to change his life. So it does. He travels back to New York in 1882, moves into the Dakota apartment building on Central Park West and experiences the fabulous ordinariness of a bygone age: its trolleys, horse-drawn carriages, elevated lines, and gaslights. This year Mr. Finney published a sequel to the novel, From Time to Time.
Mr. Finney also wrote Marion's Wall (1973), about a silent-film actress who, in an attempt to revive her film career, enters the body of a shy woman, and The Night People (1977). His other fictional works include The House of Numbers (1957) and the short-story collection I Love Galesburg in the Springtime (1963). He also wrote Forgotten News: The Crime of the Century and Other Lost Stories (1983) about sensational events of the 19th century.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 26, 2009
This book was cute. It was very, of it's time...but the story was plausible. The characters were interesting and believable. A fun little book.
May 4, 2013
Full disclosure: I am a Jack Finney fan. This novel is a little dated now, but still a good read. It's the interplay between the characters in the gang of pirates to be that becomes so interesting.
December 10, 2023
Visit JetBlackDragonfly (The Man Who Read Too Much) at www.edenthompson.ca/blog
For adventure lovers, this has a lot to recommend it, despite a sag in the middle. You can bet when the action starts, it becomes dynamic, but there are 100 pages of prep to get there.
Young Hugh Brittain at 24 is already disillusioned by working life. Not interested in his New York job or future career, or even in pretty Alice whom he works with. He could do worse than marry her and settle down, but it's the last thing he wants.
Adventure. Travel. That is for him.
He meets up with an old Navy buddy who has a proposition of danger and challenge (including possible death and imprisonment, but young men don't think that far).
A man is gathering ex-Navy sailors to raise a scuttled 1918 German U-boat off Fire Island. Frank is the man, ex-German Navy who when just 15 worked on the submarine when influenza broke out, and the ship was sunk. Hugh joins ex-navy friend Vic, Rosa (an Italian widow), Moreno (who will captain), and Linc (ex-British Navy) with Frank, to raise and refurbish the sub. It's no easy task to check all systems and make her seaworthy again - in fact it takes over 100 pages. My mind wandered, as they have all agreed beforehand to the plan which will bring them unheard of riches, but they did not let me know what they were going to do.
On the appointed date, they sail out under the cover of darkness to set the trap - The Queen Mary, the most luxurious liner sailing - is the target. The goal: to board it and steal all the cash from the locked safes, deposit boxes, and even the first class passengers. When this plan kicks into motion, the novel takes off and gripped me - how can they pull this off?!
This section is packed with action, and the getaway is both ingenious and so foolhardy as to have them all killed. It's really sensational.
For adventure and tension, a thrilling robbery, and even more exciting finale, I highly recommend this thriller. There is a lot of submarine repair to get through, so it's not a complete winner - however, the point was made at every step of the raising and refurbishment that at any stage, at any moment, this whole endeavour could collapse.
This was made into a 1966 film written by Rod Serling, and starring Frank Sinatra and Verna Lisi, which looks to be faithful to the novel.
Jack Finney is the writing name of Walter Braden Finney, whose novel Good Neighbour Sam was filmed with Jack Lemmon, and The Body Snatchers (renamed Invasion of the Body Snatchers) has been filmed several times, and inspired many imitations.
For adventure lovers, this has a lot to recommend it, despite a sag in the middle. You can bet when the action starts, it becomes dynamic, but there are 100 pages of prep to get there.
Young Hugh Brittain at 24 is already disillusioned by working life. Not interested in his New York job or future career, or even in pretty Alice whom he works with. He could do worse than marry her and settle down, but it's the last thing he wants.
Adventure. Travel. That is for him.
He meets up with an old Navy buddy who has a proposition of danger and challenge (including possible death and imprisonment, but young men don't think that far).
A man is gathering ex-Navy sailors to raise a scuttled 1918 German U-boat off Fire Island. Frank is the man, ex-German Navy who when just 15 worked on the submarine when influenza broke out, and the ship was sunk. Hugh joins ex-navy friend Vic, Rosa (an Italian widow), Moreno (who will captain), and Linc (ex-British Navy) with Frank, to raise and refurbish the sub. It's no easy task to check all systems and make her seaworthy again - in fact it takes over 100 pages. My mind wandered, as they have all agreed beforehand to the plan which will bring them unheard of riches, but they did not let me know what they were going to do.
On the appointed date, they sail out under the cover of darkness to set the trap - The Queen Mary, the most luxurious liner sailing - is the target. The goal: to board it and steal all the cash from the locked safes, deposit boxes, and even the first class passengers. When this plan kicks into motion, the novel takes off and gripped me - how can they pull this off?!
This section is packed with action, and the getaway is both ingenious and so foolhardy as to have them all killed. It's really sensational.
For adventure and tension, a thrilling robbery, and even more exciting finale, I highly recommend this thriller. There is a lot of submarine repair to get through, so it's not a complete winner - however, the point was made at every step of the raising and refurbishment that at any stage, at any moment, this whole endeavour could collapse.
This was made into a 1966 film written by Rod Serling, and starring Frank Sinatra and Verna Lisi, which looks to be faithful to the novel.
Jack Finney is the writing name of Walter Braden Finney, whose novel Good Neighbour Sam was filmed with Jack Lemmon, and The Body Snatchers (renamed Invasion of the Body Snatchers) has been filmed several times, and inspired many imitations.
December 16, 2017
This book was terrible. I loved it!
I read this book when I was in high school, and kept it on my shelf through many moves and relocations in the ensuing 35 years. Glad I did.
I gave it three stars because it's not well-written, the characters are cartoonish, the premise is idiotic and the plot makes no sense. So that tallies 1 star. But...I love ocean liners and maritime history, and the goofy corny-ness of the book makes it easy to plow through and just enjoy, if only briefly. So that adds 2 stars, for a total of three.
Major plot flaw: In the climactic brush with the QUEEN MARY, when Hugh decides he must stop Moreno from firing the live torpedoes - why doesn't Hugh just shut down the engines? His job was to run the diesel-electric engines and he could have flipped a level and cut power. But he says he had no options. I don't know much about how subs work, but this one seemed like a no-brainer.
I read this book when I was in high school, and kept it on my shelf through many moves and relocations in the ensuing 35 years. Glad I did.
I gave it three stars because it's not well-written, the characters are cartoonish, the premise is idiotic and the plot makes no sense. So that tallies 1 star. But...I love ocean liners and maritime history, and the goofy corny-ness of the book makes it easy to plow through and just enjoy, if only briefly. So that adds 2 stars, for a total of three.
Major plot flaw: In the climactic brush with the QUEEN MARY, when Hugh decides he must stop Moreno from firing the live torpedoes - why doesn't Hugh just shut down the engines? His job was to run the diesel-electric engines and he could have flipped a level and cut power. But he says he had no options. I don't know much about how subs work, but this one seemed like a no-brainer.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 10, 2022
Nifty little caper novel (later filmed with Frank Sinatra) about a gang of ex-submariners resurrecting a WWI sub to knock over the Queen Mary back when knocking over the Queen Mary was something. While not Finney's best, nonetheless the scheme is clever and plausible and the book fill with enough believable retro sub tactics and technology to make for an engaging read. Recommended.
March 23, 2024
Way better than the horrid movie that they made of it
November 26, 2014
A friend recently handed me this book, the source for the Frank Sinatra film of the same name. Rod Serling turned the novel into a screenplay back in the 1960s.
While very dated, the book was a good read, and kind of an archetype for the "complicated group heist" books and films, most of which came after this one. The novel predates the original Ocean's Eleven.
The basic premise, that a group of former navy men could salvage an old submarine and attempt to pull off a major heist using it, was a little tough to believe, but I found myself drawn in, mostly because Finney did a good job. He made it clear at every stage that it wasn't likely to work, but when it did, the story progressed.
I think that Jack Finney's real contribution to literature was that he could write novels which were so visual in nature that they could be turned into memorable films. Assault on a Queen, Time and Again and Body Snatchers all fit that mold.
While very dated, the book was a good read, and kind of an archetype for the "complicated group heist" books and films, most of which came after this one. The novel predates the original Ocean's Eleven.
The basic premise, that a group of former navy men could salvage an old submarine and attempt to pull off a major heist using it, was a little tough to believe, but I found myself drawn in, mostly because Finney did a good job. He made it clear at every stage that it wasn't likely to work, but when it did, the story progressed.
I think that Jack Finney's real contribution to literature was that he could write novels which were so visual in nature that they could be turned into memorable films. Assault on a Queen, Time and Again and Body Snatchers all fit that mold.
September 29, 2013
Excellent thriller, set in the late 1950's when travel on the great Liners was still popular. In this book, a group of thieves find, raise and outfit an old WWI submarine and then, in a daring move, decide to 'Assault a Queen'. In this case the Queen Mary.
The build up was excellent, characterization was good, and the pace was pulse pounding. Much better than the film, even with Frank Sinatra and Tony Franciosa as 2 of the major stars.
The build up was excellent, characterization was good, and the pace was pulse pounding. Much better than the film, even with Frank Sinatra and Tony Franciosa as 2 of the major stars.
January 21, 2022
excellent write up describing the inside of the U-boat after years of being on the bottom. I've been a fan of the movie starring Frank Sinatra and Virna Lisi since the 1970s, but I found an old copy of the book, probably at a transportation memorabilia show or a flea market. As with most, the book is slightly different than the film, but both are entertaining.
April 17, 2016
My dad (a Jack Finney fan) loaned me this book last year, but I only got around to reading it now! It was a well-written story, ingenious for its time (although maybe slightly less plausible now). I loved the description of them restoring the vintage submarine!!!
October 20, 2011
Enjoyable but rather a let-down at the end. I am not a big fan of last-act moral conversions, so I deduct a star for that.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews