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Bahama Crisis
Beginning with his discovery of evidence that suggests that his wife and daughter were murdered to cover up a heroin smuggling operation, Bahamian hotel owner Thomas Mangan becomes convinced that someone is trying to destroy the Bahamian economy
253 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1981
24 people are currently reading
224 people want to read
About the author
Desmond Bagley
131 books165 followersDesmond Bagley was a British journalist and novelist principally known for a series of best-selling thrillers. Along with fellow British writers such as Hammond Innes and Alistair MacLean, Bagley established the basic conventions of the genre: a tough, resourceful, but essentially ordinary hero pitted against villains determined to sow destruction and chaos in order to advance their agenda.
Bagley was born at Kendal, Cumbria (then Westmorland), England, the son of John and Hannah Bagley. His family moved to the resort town of Blackpool in the summer of 1935, when Bagley was twelve. Leaving school not long after the relocation, Bagley worked as a printer's assistant and factory worker, and during World War II he worked in the aircraft industry. Bagley suffered from a speech impediment (stuttering) all of his life, which initially exempted him from military conscription.
He left England in 1947 for Africa and worked his way overland, crossing the Sahara Desert and briefly settling in Kampala, Uganda, where he contracted malaria. By 1951, he had settled in South Africa, working in the gold mining industry and asbestos industry in Durban, Natal, before becoming a freelance writer for local newspapers and magazines.
His first published short story appeared in the English magazine Argosy in 1957, and his first novel, The Golden Keel in 1962. In the interval, he was a film critic for Rand Daily Mail in Johannesburg from 1958–1962. Also during this period, he met local bookstore owner Joan Margaret Brown and they were married in 1960.
The success of The Golden Keel led Bagley to turn full time to novel writing by the mid-1960s. He published a total of sixteen thrillers, all craftsmanlike and nearly all best-sellers. Typical of British thriller writers of the era, he rarely used recurring characters whose adventures unfolded over multiple books. Max Stafford, the security consultant featured in Flyaway and Windfall, is a notable exception. Also typically, his work has received little attention from filmmakers, yielding only a few, unremarkable adaptations. Exceptions were The Freedom Trap (1971), released in 1973 as The Mackintosh Man by Warner Brothers, starring Paul Newman and Dominique Sanda; and Running Blind which was adapted for television by the BBC in 1979.
Bagley and his wife left South Africa for Italy in 1960, and then England in 1965. They settled in Totnes, Devon from 1965–1976, then lived in Guernsey in the Channel Islands from 1976-1983.
Bagley also published short stories. When not traveling to research the exotic backgrounds for his novels, Bagley spent his time sailing and motor-boating. He loved classical music and films, military history, and played war games.
Desmond Bagley died of complications resulting from a stroke at a hospital in Southampton. He was fifty-nine. His last two novels Night of Error and Juggernaut were published posthumously after completion by his wife. His works have been translated into over 20 languages.
Bagley was born at Kendal, Cumbria (then Westmorland), England, the son of John and Hannah Bagley. His family moved to the resort town of Blackpool in the summer of 1935, when Bagley was twelve. Leaving school not long after the relocation, Bagley worked as a printer's assistant and factory worker, and during World War II he worked in the aircraft industry. Bagley suffered from a speech impediment (stuttering) all of his life, which initially exempted him from military conscription.
He left England in 1947 for Africa and worked his way overland, crossing the Sahara Desert and briefly settling in Kampala, Uganda, where he contracted malaria. By 1951, he had settled in South Africa, working in the gold mining industry and asbestos industry in Durban, Natal, before becoming a freelance writer for local newspapers and magazines.
His first published short story appeared in the English magazine Argosy in 1957, and his first novel, The Golden Keel in 1962. In the interval, he was a film critic for Rand Daily Mail in Johannesburg from 1958–1962. Also during this period, he met local bookstore owner Joan Margaret Brown and they were married in 1960.
The success of The Golden Keel led Bagley to turn full time to novel writing by the mid-1960s. He published a total of sixteen thrillers, all craftsmanlike and nearly all best-sellers. Typical of British thriller writers of the era, he rarely used recurring characters whose adventures unfolded over multiple books. Max Stafford, the security consultant featured in Flyaway and Windfall, is a notable exception. Also typically, his work has received little attention from filmmakers, yielding only a few, unremarkable adaptations. Exceptions were The Freedom Trap (1971), released in 1973 as The Mackintosh Man by Warner Brothers, starring Paul Newman and Dominique Sanda; and Running Blind which was adapted for television by the BBC in 1979.
Bagley and his wife left South Africa for Italy in 1960, and then England in 1965. They settled in Totnes, Devon from 1965–1976, then lived in Guernsey in the Channel Islands from 1976-1983.
Bagley also published short stories. When not traveling to research the exotic backgrounds for his novels, Bagley spent his time sailing and motor-boating. He loved classical music and films, military history, and played war games.
Desmond Bagley died of complications resulting from a stroke at a hospital in Southampton. He was fifty-nine. His last two novels Night of Error and Juggernaut were published posthumously after completion by his wife. His works have been translated into over 20 languages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
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August 2, 2011Desmond Bagley has a style similar to Wilbur Smith, Hammond Innes, Dick Francis even .... Like Smith, he is very slightly sexist in the way he writes his female characters, and similarly, he is at pains to point out his main character is not racist (the book being set in the Bahamas, with white and black population...) - but he seems intent on making this lack of racism come across as an admirable (and perhaps unusual) virtue, rather than it being simply what we might expect. Both of which are probably more a reflection on commonly held views at the time of writing, rather than anything more sinister.
If you can get past this old-fashioned style, then, this is a very enjoyable adventure story, plenty of action, and immensely readable.
Not to be confused with Banana Crisis, which is a very different book altogether - although not without its own merits.
If you can get past this old-fashioned style, then, this is a very enjoyable adventure story, plenty of action, and immensely readable.
Not to be confused with Banana Crisis, which is a very different book altogether - although not without its own merits.
August 5, 2021
A curious book (for Desmond Bagley) in that it's not really a thriller and more of drama/soap opera about running a hotel in the Bahamas. There's a weird vibe to the story has the hero's life is a series nightmares--his wife and daughter are killed, his hotel chain is struck by legionnaire's disease, the great woman his meets and marries turns into a harpy, etc. There's little adventure and too much business management to make this one enjoyable.
August 17, 2024
Non il migliore di Bagley. Il protagonista ha le skills di sopravvivenza di un sedano rapa, e non ho apprezzato la rapidità con cui ha accantonato la morte della moglie e della figlia maggiore.
Tutto sommato un romanzo d'avventura godibile
Tutto sommato un romanzo d'avventura godibile
June 29, 2025
Desmond Bagley - Cannot go wrong with him. Excellent stories - Bahama Crises is no exception.
Yes Bagley is from another time. Let's keep out of the trap of judging the ways of the past, with todays morale. Bagley writes perfectly for his time.
No a story written this way, in 2025 would not be received well, but you CANNOT write so that you can satisfy morale 50-60 years in the future.
I read Bagley in the 1980's, and have enjoyed his books since.
It pains me to see people who obviously started reading books within the last 10-15 years, ranting on about sexsism and racism and old fashioned male hero carectars.
As Stephen King's protagonist in the book: Duma Key says;
"It was a different Florida."
Well... Bagley's world was a different world.
Bahama Crisis is very suspencefull. Even on this, the... perhaps 10'th or 12'th time I spend time with the story, now in audiobook format, I want to bite my nails...
I love Bagleys books. They have made my life a little better, so I'll keep going back to them, all 16 of them, plus the Bill Kemp books, now three of them...
Life is great
Yes Bagley is from another time. Let's keep out of the trap of judging the ways of the past, with todays morale. Bagley writes perfectly for his time.
No a story written this way, in 2025 would not be received well, but you CANNOT write so that you can satisfy morale 50-60 years in the future.
I read Bagley in the 1980's, and have enjoyed his books since.
It pains me to see people who obviously started reading books within the last 10-15 years, ranting on about sexsism and racism and old fashioned male hero carectars.
As Stephen King's protagonist in the book: Duma Key says;
"It was a different Florida."
Well... Bagley's world was a different world.
Bahama Crisis is very suspencefull. Even on this, the... perhaps 10'th or 12'th time I spend time with the story, now in audiobook format, I want to bite my nails...
I love Bagleys books. They have made my life a little better, so I'll keep going back to them, all 16 of them, plus the Bill Kemp books, now three of them...
Life is great
March 21, 2018
I thought this was one of the better Bagley's I've read recently. There was a bit more mystery to it, as the motive behind the events is carefully obscured, and you're not sure if the business partners are really good or not. There was a fair amount of murder, though you don't get to feel any emotional impact from this, as the story is really about the plot, not the characters.
I liked the setting, and found the introduction interesting as a bit of the history of the Bahamas was described. As with most books from this era, the female characters are there to look good and provide some romance - it's essentially a male orientated book, with strong male characters. This works, as long as you don't want modern day feminism and can enjoy a view from a different (not so distant) era.
I liked the setting, and found the introduction interesting as a bit of the history of the Bahamas was described. As with most books from this era, the female characters are there to look good and provide some romance - it's essentially a male orientated book, with strong male characters. This works, as long as you don't want modern day feminism and can enjoy a view from a different (not so distant) era.
June 3, 2020
Pretty good. A lot of the content and context is showing it's age now and the ending doesn't make a lot of sense given a contemporary understanding of the regions and it's relationships (he says, valiantly attempting not to spoil this for you).
I was really disappointed in some of the characterisation, which seemed terrible stereotypical, but it was written a long time ago. I was particularly unhappy with the removal of one of the characters which seemed abrupt and their replacement was handled pretty poorly imho.
That said, Bagley is a master of the genre, and there's more than enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end. A great read.
I was really disappointed in some of the characterisation, which seemed terrible stereotypical, but it was written a long time ago. I was particularly unhappy with the removal of one of the characters which seemed abrupt and their replacement was handled pretty poorly imho.
That said, Bagley is a master of the genre, and there's more than enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end. A great read.
July 23, 2023
The Bahamas, boats and Bagley combine effectively to produce a solid 60s/70s thriller from the early 80s. The characters draw heavily on a bank of stereotypes channeling their inner Bond in exotic locations and there's a corresponding general atmosphere of misogyny around but if you can get past those, this is a very readable late example of a genre which flourished fifty years ago.
July 24, 2020
Bagley rounded out the 70s with ‘Flyaway’, a “boy’s own” adventure yarn in the mould of his earlier classic ‘High Citadel’. He saw in the 80s - an awkward decade for the Bagley/MacLean/Innes coterie of old-school thriller writers - with ‘Bahama Crisis’, a slice of lifestyle porn overlaid with thriller tropes that comes over like a cross between ‘Hawaii 5-O’ and ‘Howard’s Way’ only with more violence. It’s not a bad novel by any means - it’s succinct, delivers enough trademark set pieces to remind you who’s at the helm, and dabbles in some offbeat humour courtesy of a family of deliberately stereotypical good ol’ boys who come to the hero’s aid - but it doesn’t seem as, well, Bagleyesque as his other work. If there was ever a novel that suggested second tier, not quite essential Bagley, then this is it.
I’m struggling with the rating here. Head says three stars, heart says four. Goodreads won’t let me dabble in fractions. Let’s go with the heart.
I’m struggling with the rating here. Head says three stars, heart says four. Goodreads won’t let me dabble in fractions. Let’s go with the heart.
April 7, 2025
Enjoyable action thriller set in the Bahamas (a big plus, setting is beautiful and detailed in the right way)
Looking for an Alistair Maclean type - thriller, set in a sunny paradise location, this was a good selection at my local 2nd hand book store.
Bagley is great at writing action scenes and complex, heroic but not too heroic characters. I especially enjoyed the resourcefulness of Mangan, the main character whos a hard working scion of the Bahamas.
I found the books setup and final third of the chase and action the standout, it did slightly drag in the middle, besides a biy of darkness and death to shock you out of things. The mysteries were also resolved to some satisfaction but small explanation. The female characters were a bit one dimensional, and Mangans attitude and views towards them was described in quite a detached way.
Looking for an Alistair Maclean type - thriller, set in a sunny paradise location, this was a good selection at my local 2nd hand book store.
Bagley is great at writing action scenes and complex, heroic but not too heroic characters. I especially enjoyed the resourcefulness of Mangan, the main character whos a hard working scion of the Bahamas.
I found the books setup and final third of the chase and action the standout, it did slightly drag in the middle, besides a biy of darkness and death to shock you out of things. The mysteries were also resolved to some satisfaction but small explanation. The female characters were a bit one dimensional, and Mangans attitude and views towards them was described in quite a detached way.
July 21, 2023
My first Bagley thriller and it certainly won't be the last. Very much writing of his era, the author offers a lean, tough prose style in which an ordinary, decent man finds himself up against implacable foes. The seafaring aspects and exoticism of the setting reminded me of Bernard Cornwell's equally good seafaring thrillers. I particularly liked the way that the familiar tropes of action - shoot-outs, fights - are kept to a minimum in favour of a more insidious and wide-reaching threat which is well developed despite the brevity of the novel. There's a really good 'escape from a cell' scene and some surprisingly gritty moments. I look forward to reading more Bagley.
May 23, 2020
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The author grabbed me early and kept me interested throughout the entire book. While elements of the plot concern the entire Bahamas, the author has made the action very personal with respect to the protagonist. The story pre-dates mobile phones, however this has no impact on the pace or content of the story. If you are a fan of this genre you will enjoy this book. Four stars.
November 30, 2022
Somewhat dry affair even with so much water around . A bit too much of business deals and comparatively less adventure or action.The protagonist may have his heart at the right place but just too much invested in his business to have any other personal traits ,lovable or otherwise . However, Bagley is as always lucid in writing and I never felt like picking up another book.
August 16, 2017
Classic Desmond Bagley.
A little dated but a cracking yarn with plenty of pace, action and drama set again an as always meticulously researched backdrop.
The Bahamas really come to life in this one.
A little dated but a cracking yarn with plenty of pace, action and drama set again an as always meticulously researched backdrop.
The Bahamas really come to life in this one.
April 25, 2020
I am a fan of Desmond Bagley. The book did not disappoint me. It's an old book, I read it in dutch. It's written like it actually happened and it could have been. Realistic situations in the Bahama's.
July 13, 2018
Alku oli vähän junnaava, vähän liian paljon bisnekseen keskittyvä. Toiminnan alettua vauhti olikin kova. Bahamasaarilla mentiin saarelta toiselle ja välillä ehdittiin Texasiinkin.
June 9, 2019
An oldie but a goodie. Of its time.
July 16, 2019
Not his best book - there’s some rather sad events, the death of a wife and child, a rabe that results in an abortion. To sad for some light summer reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 19, 2019
not so good like other books of Bagley but it was a pleasant read.
December 2, 2019
In het begin moest ik me een beetje door het boek heen worstelen. Aan het einde wilde ik alleen maar verder lezen.
April 17, 2021
A racy plot, well researched locations...all in all a very good read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2021
Griping. Vice-like attention grabber. 5 *
July 12, 2021
Good plot!! But reasoning appears pretty weak!
August 2, 2021
A bit of a 'pot boiler' but decent plot (even if it does stretch the imagination a little) and as ever with Desmond Bagley, very well written.
July 15, 2022
Read in Norwegian. 4 minus. A good read.
Read
March 16, 2023I tried to get into this story, but my attention to the plot waned .....
September 14, 2023
Afraid I had to abandon reading this - just couldn't get into it - although the synopsis sounded great.
November 13, 2024
Very enjoyable book and a bit of a different kind of story. I never guessed who the bad guys were or the ending!
Loved reading about the Bahamas … been then once, need to return 🤩
Loved reading about the Bahamas … been then once, need to return 🤩
Want to read
August 19, 2025Bahamas
January 1, 2017
As a child/teenager I absolutely loved the ”simple” suspense novels by Desmond Bagley & Alistair MacLean, eating up every word. Triggered by an audio adaption of Landslide I fell upon, I decided to revisit Desmond Bagley to see if the Novels could withstand the wear of more than 35 years.
The first (pleasant) surprise was that even though I thought I had read all the books, not all were translated to Danish at that time, so I could start out with a couple of new experiences.
The Golden Keel (1963) , High Citadel (1965) , Wyatt's Hurricane (1966)
The first 3 books, all new to me, were pleasant surprises and it was plain to see why Bagley so quickly became a best-seller novelist, the stories are well written with a fast pace and a sense of detail which makes them readable even today.
Landslide (1967)
Landslide was a revisit and one of my favorites both back then and now, the story is catching and has a definite film manuscript feeling about it,
The Vivero Letter (1968)
Another “new” novel, it was not as strong as the first 4 but still enjoyable.
The Spoilers (1969)
Another new novel and a definitely low point, the story is weak and utterly unbelievable.
Running Blind (1970)
Another reread and another favorite, maybe his best novel, the story is strong, the setting in Iceland is brilliant and characters, simple as they are, are believable.
The Freedom Trap (1971)
Another new novel very loosely connected to "running blind", this time mostly placed in Ireland, slightly weaker than it's predecessor but still a enjoyable read.
The Tightrope Men (1973)
Another reread, Bagley's take on the Cold War political thriller, which Le Carre made famous in those years, The political intrigues falls somewhat flat for me, but the surrounding action story is Bagley at his best
The Snow Tiger (1975)
Another reread, I read this again in 2012 and decided not to reread it this time around. The story is well written and as something new constructed around a retrospektiv framework so the first half of the book retells events already happened whereas the story kicks off from there, Bagleys first attempt to play with the narrative form and well carried out. definitely in top 3 bagley.
The Enemy (1977)
Another "new" novel and a good one at that. Bagley is now a mature storyteller with more dimensions, the story are still fast paced but far more unpredictable than the earlier novels, this one actually spins off in a totally unexpected direction two thirds though, another solid novel and far from outdated.
Flyaway (1978)
Another "new" novel and the first max Stafford novel, the story mostly place in the middle east are well written and believable even today.
, Bahama Crisis (1980)
Another "new" novel, not a bad story but the political setup seems far fetched today.
, Windfall (1982), Night Of Error (1984), Juggernaut (1985)
The first (pleasant) surprise was that even though I thought I had read all the books, not all were translated to Danish at that time, so I could start out with a couple of new experiences.
The Golden Keel (1963) , High Citadel (1965) , Wyatt's Hurricane (1966)
The first 3 books, all new to me, were pleasant surprises and it was plain to see why Bagley so quickly became a best-seller novelist, the stories are well written with a fast pace and a sense of detail which makes them readable even today.
Landslide (1967)
Landslide was a revisit and one of my favorites both back then and now, the story is catching and has a definite film manuscript feeling about it,
The Vivero Letter (1968)
Another “new” novel, it was not as strong as the first 4 but still enjoyable.
The Spoilers (1969)
Another new novel and a definitely low point, the story is weak and utterly unbelievable.
Running Blind (1970)
Another reread and another favorite, maybe his best novel, the story is strong, the setting in Iceland is brilliant and characters, simple as they are, are believable.
The Freedom Trap (1971)
Another new novel very loosely connected to "running blind", this time mostly placed in Ireland, slightly weaker than it's predecessor but still a enjoyable read.
The Tightrope Men (1973)
Another reread, Bagley's take on the Cold War political thriller, which Le Carre made famous in those years, The political intrigues falls somewhat flat for me, but the surrounding action story is Bagley at his best
The Snow Tiger (1975)
Another reread, I read this again in 2012 and decided not to reread it this time around. The story is well written and as something new constructed around a retrospektiv framework so the first half of the book retells events already happened whereas the story kicks off from there, Bagleys first attempt to play with the narrative form and well carried out. definitely in top 3 bagley.
The Enemy (1977)
Another "new" novel and a good one at that. Bagley is now a mature storyteller with more dimensions, the story are still fast paced but far more unpredictable than the earlier novels, this one actually spins off in a totally unexpected direction two thirds though, another solid novel and far from outdated.
Flyaway (1978)
Another "new" novel and the first max Stafford novel, the story mostly place in the middle east are well written and believable even today.
, Bahama Crisis (1980)
Another "new" novel, not a bad story but the political setup seems far fetched today.
, Windfall (1982), Night Of Error (1984), Juggernaut (1985)
January 20, 2016
An outright thriller which makes for a pretty entertaining read but nothing great about the plot. This is despite the fact that the basic premise on which the plot of the story sits, by which I mean the intentions of the antagonist, could have had dramatically devastating consequences for the Bahama islands; so much so that the entire economy of the Bahamas is massively threatened so badly that it could destroy the Bahamas as a nation. Yet, throughout the read, the seriousness of the whole affair never hits the reader. The story moves at breakneck speed, maybe a little too fast, which could be one of the reasons that the magnitude of devastation planned by the antagonist does not settle into the reader, rather he/she gets it only after the story ends. On the other hand, this could be deliberate by Bagley. Maybe he wants that after the reader finishes the book, and closes his eyes for a moment, it is it strikes him/her and he/she thinks "Shit!! that was so damn close".
The story involves a series of seemingly unrelated and mysterious events that have only one thing in common; all of them seem to rock the tourism industry of the Bahamas which makes for eighty percent of the economy. The protagonist, Tom Mangan, is one of the richest and most influential businessman in the Bahamas, naturally with a lot of stakes in the tourism industry. But things take a turn for their worst when his wife and elder daughter aged five get murdered, though seemingly due to unknown reasons. Essentially the story is one of personal vendetta of Mangan against his wife's and daughter's murderers, and in the course of his actions, he discovers all the mysterious events including his wife's and daughter's murder, were all planned and unplanned events in the grand scheme of things set out by the antagonist to destroy the Bahamas.
Of course in the end, Mangan with some help, does manage to kill the antagonist and hence take his revenge, and also save the Bahamas. A bit too poetic for my liking.
The story involves a series of seemingly unrelated and mysterious events that have only one thing in common; all of them seem to rock the tourism industry of the Bahamas which makes for eighty percent of the economy. The protagonist, Tom Mangan, is one of the richest and most influential businessman in the Bahamas, naturally with a lot of stakes in the tourism industry. But things take a turn for their worst when his wife and elder daughter aged five get murdered, though seemingly due to unknown reasons. Essentially the story is one of personal vendetta of Mangan against his wife's and daughter's murderers, and in the course of his actions, he discovers all the mysterious events including his wife's and daughter's murder, were all planned and unplanned events in the grand scheme of things set out by the antagonist to destroy the Bahamas.
Of course in the end, Mangan with some help, does manage to kill the antagonist and hence take his revenge, and also save the Bahamas. A bit too poetic for my liking.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews