The 13th Spy

Killmaster #8

by Nick Carter

Moscow is the hot-spot for the "Axe" group's most explosive action

The story takes place in summer 1965. An American agent in Moscow crashes into the huge GUM department store in Red Square, Moscow. His body is full of deadly poison, and his briefcase contains verbatim transcripts of top secret meetings held in Russian and Chinese Government offices and embassies around the world. The Russians accuse the US of stealing official secrets and passing them to the Chinese to destabilize USSR-China relations. The Russians agree to let AXE investigate the security leak in Moscow.

Genres: Espionage

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Nick Carter is a house pseudonym used by Award, Ace, and later Jove, publishing for the series Nick Carter who later graduated to a special agent for the Killmaster novels, a series of 261+ spy adventures published from 1964 until late 1990s.

A great number of writers have written under the pen-name over the years, beginning in September 1886 when Nick Carter first appeared in the 'New York Weekly' in a 13-week serial, entitled 'The Old Detective's Pupil; or, The Mysterious Crime of Madison Square'.

The Nick Carter character was originally conceived by Ormond G. Smith, the son of one of the founders of Street & Smith, and realized by John R. Coryell.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great literature? No.
Fairly entertaining? Yes.
Brisk read which did not feature some of the madder aspects of other "Killmaster" novels I grabbed at a library sale. And while I would hardly call this novel a major victory for feminism, I must confess to being a bit surprised with how it handled certain things.
3.5 stars

[Lisachan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Voto finale pesantemente influenzato dalla bruttezza agghiacciante dell'ultima storia della raccolta, e dall'innocua anonimia delle prime 2-3. Ce ne sono due che ho trovato bellissime, una in particolare (la penultima) praticamente priva di difetti, mentre la precedente, pur essendo molto bella nel suo genere, soffriva un po' il finale forzatamente romantico. In ogni caso, si tratta di una raccolta di spy-story degli anni '60, e seguono i dettami del genere (e dell'epoca): virile protagonista maschile, tanta azione, un mucchio di comunisti demoniaci, per non parlare poi degli ex nazisti passati sotto i rossi perché hashtag retorica americana. Nel loro genere, si tratta di storie incredibilmente intrattenitive, alcune di esse molto appassionanti, davvero, e peraltro, al netto dell'ultima storia che è un inno al maschilismo e alla misoginia come poche ne avevo viste prima, tutte le altre si distinguono per vedere protagoniste donne che, pur non mancando mai di cedere al virile fascino dell'agente Carter, detto Sterminio, sono quasi sempre donne forti, libere, in alcuni casi perfino autoritarie (Valentina, ti amerò per sempre, la tua storia d'amore con Nick è la più bella che NON sia mai stata raccontata). Insomma, non troverete, qua dentro (sempre al netto dell'ultima storia), la signorina dalle caviglie deboli che ha sempre bisogno di essere salvata. E questa caratteristica ha spesso salvato la trama e i racconti in sé. Magari avrei potuto spingermi sulle tre stelle, ma le due stelle significano "it was okay" e, all in all, it was okay, per cui mi fermo lì. Comunque, nonostante sia stata una lettura interminabile, è stata anche piuttosto piacevole.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, quick read. Learned that the ZIM was a Soviet limousine manufactured by GAZ as the result of this, which amuses me greatly.

Hoping Valentina puts in another appearance in the series.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first of this series, made some random quarter buys at a local used book store and got a dozen or so of these. Really enjoyed it, is sort of a typical Bond like story but seemed more energetic in a way.

Nick is an interesting character though a giant Russian lady named Valentine steals the show, I want a series with just her. The plot is interesting as well with the Chinese trying to get the US and Russia into a more heated war then the somewhat loose truce they had.

This one is recommended, a fun read. The only slight gripe is a couple of the fight scenes were a little hard to grasp and seemed even less realistic then even fight scenes usually are in Men's Adventures.

[Ethan Hulbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly entertaining pulp thriller. Had all the aspects of a good pulp, but the hook of the plot was surprisingly interesting. I think at points the book got pretty slow or had letdowns here and there but overall it was pretty strong and enjoyable.

Nick got beaten up a LOT. Almost too much.

Also this book was definitely written in a different time with some very low values in terms of women. YIKES. This sort of thing would never get published now, thank god. Those aspects stained what was otherwise a pretty solid pulp.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice rewrite of an old Pulp character. Recast more in the James Bond spy mode. Good quick men's adventure read. If you are looking for some fast paced action and adventure then this is a recommended read.