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The Vivero Letter
Jeremy Wheale's well-ordered life is torn apart when his brother is murdered by a mob hit man, whose bait was a family heirloom - a sixteenth-century gold tray. The trail takes Wheale from Devon to Mexico and the wild tropical rain forests of Yucatan. In dense jungle, he helps two archaeologists locate the rest of a fabled hoard of gold - treasure from Uaxuanoc, the centuries-old lost city of the Mayas. But his brother's enemies are on Wheale's trail, and with them are the Chicleros, a vicious band of convict mercenaries.
290 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
9 people are currently reading
211 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 49 reviews
May 24, 2014
The Vivero Letter is a thriller very much of its time (1968): contained violence, purely decorative female characters, no sex, a low body count, and small stakes for the world (though large enough for the direct participants).
Jeremy Wheale, author Bagley's everyman hero, is a London accountant whose brother is murdered immediately after a long-overlooked, family-heirloom tray is found to be nearly solid gold. As the official police investigation fades into the mists, Wheale tries to figure out what happened, and why so many Americans are suddenly interested in grabbing the aforementioned tray. His figuring leads to an expedition to the then-exotic Yucatan in the company of two feuding archaeologists (one old and rich, the other young and angry). Their party is followed by the Big Bad and his evil minions.
Wheale tells the story himself, and he's good enough company. Up until he inserts himself into the Yucatan excursion, he thinks and acts in more-or-less reasonable ways for a man such as he -- an average professional man who feels unsuited to the London of the Swinging Sixties. The two archaeologists are nicely differentiated in their speech and actions. Settings are sketched economically but with enough color to give the reader a good idea of the physical space. Unlike many British writers of his era, Bagley is able to keep his American characters speaking mostly American English, a good thing since other than Wheale, nearly every other major character is from west of the Atlantic.
Unfortunately, the novel has a host of other issues. The largest is best illustrated by saying I had to think pretty hard before finally shelving the book in mystery-intrigue rather than action-adventure. Nothing especially thrilling happens in the first 2/3 of the story; it's notably talky, and suffers from several major infodumps of varying levels of interest. Wheale's forced entry into the Yucatan expedition makes very little sense (even to him). It's at this point that the story veers from mild intrigue to a boy's-own-adventure tale with people tromping through the jungle and finding lost cities and so on. It's also when Wheale stops being a self-described "gray little man" and becomes (not entirely convincingly) Action Man. By the time the actual violence starts, it seems almost an afterthought. Perhaps Bagley got two-thirds the way through a nice little drawing-room mystery and realized, "Oh, hell, this is supposed to be a thriller!"
A note about Katherine, the only significant female character in the story (and one of only three with a name): while she has more spunk than many female leads in thrillers of the time, she still manages to fold back into period type when the going gets rough. If you're looking for the stirrings of 20th Century literary feminism, you'll not find them here.
Bagley has been compared to Hammond Innes and Alistair MacLean, which isn't entirely fair to any of them. While Innes also worked the everyman-hero angle, the couple books of his I've read had considerably more action scattered throughout. MacLean more often cast hard men as his protagonists, and had them doing hard (and often murky) deeds involving considerably more peril. Eric Ambler, whose career overlapped Bagley's, also plowed this ground.
The Vivero Letter is neither an especially good book nor an especially bad one, just workmanlike and not particularly notable. Perhaps his other books are more thrilling thrillers; perhaps his works simply haven't weathered the passage of time. With its general absence of action through the first 2/3 of its run, it could well serve as a gateway for cozy fans into the action-adventure genre. If you long for old-fashioned action thrillers in which the British male heroes carry shillings in their pockets, send telexes and use Webley revolvers, you may be better served by heading directly to Alistair MacLean.
Jeremy Wheale, author Bagley's everyman hero, is a London accountant whose brother is murdered immediately after a long-overlooked, family-heirloom tray is found to be nearly solid gold. As the official police investigation fades into the mists, Wheale tries to figure out what happened, and why so many Americans are suddenly interested in grabbing the aforementioned tray. His figuring leads to an expedition to the then-exotic Yucatan in the company of two feuding archaeologists (one old and rich, the other young and angry). Their party is followed by the Big Bad and his evil minions.
Wheale tells the story himself, and he's good enough company. Up until he inserts himself into the Yucatan excursion, he thinks and acts in more-or-less reasonable ways for a man such as he -- an average professional man who feels unsuited to the London of the Swinging Sixties. The two archaeologists are nicely differentiated in their speech and actions. Settings are sketched economically but with enough color to give the reader a good idea of the physical space. Unlike many British writers of his era, Bagley is able to keep his American characters speaking mostly American English, a good thing since other than Wheale, nearly every other major character is from west of the Atlantic.
Unfortunately, the novel has a host of other issues. The largest is best illustrated by saying I had to think pretty hard before finally shelving the book in mystery-intrigue rather than action-adventure. Nothing especially thrilling happens in the first 2/3 of the story; it's notably talky, and suffers from several major infodumps of varying levels of interest. Wheale's forced entry into the Yucatan expedition makes very little sense (even to him). It's at this point that the story veers from mild intrigue to a boy's-own-adventure tale with people tromping through the jungle and finding lost cities and so on. It's also when Wheale stops being a self-described "gray little man" and becomes (not entirely convincingly) Action Man. By the time the actual violence starts, it seems almost an afterthought. Perhaps Bagley got two-thirds the way through a nice little drawing-room mystery and realized, "Oh, hell, this is supposed to be a thriller!"
A note about Katherine, the only significant female character in the story (and one of only three with a name): while she has more spunk than many female leads in thrillers of the time, she still manages to fold back into period type when the going gets rough. If you're looking for the stirrings of 20th Century literary feminism, you'll not find them here.
Bagley has been compared to Hammond Innes and Alistair MacLean, which isn't entirely fair to any of them. While Innes also worked the everyman-hero angle, the couple books of his I've read had considerably more action scattered throughout. MacLean more often cast hard men as his protagonists, and had them doing hard (and often murky) deeds involving considerably more peril. Eric Ambler, whose career overlapped Bagley's, also plowed this ground.
The Vivero Letter is neither an especially good book nor an especially bad one, just workmanlike and not particularly notable. Perhaps his other books are more thrilling thrillers; perhaps his works simply haven't weathered the passage of time. With its general absence of action through the first 2/3 of its run, it could well serve as a gateway for cozy fans into the action-adventure genre. If you long for old-fashioned action thrillers in which the British male heroes carry shillings in their pockets, send telexes and use Webley revolvers, you may be better served by heading directly to Alistair MacLean.
January 12, 2013
First of all, let me clear something:
Reading value: 3 stars
Emotional value: 5 stars
This little gem was one of the first books that I bought with my OWN money as a kid.
All of you who as kids, saved pennies, smashed piggy banks or did something of short, know the feeling I'm talking about!
Back then I paid the insane amount of 0,20 euro (or 60 drachmas for the fellow Greek readers) in a second hand bookstore which, by all means is not a big deal even for a kid. What is a big deal, is the fact that since then I started buying my own books according to my taste and stopped relying on other people to buy books for me, as presents or otherwise.
The book itself is in no way a classic masterpiece. The plot is not breath taking and the characters never burned into my memory for the rest of my days.
It's a simple and entertaining book. An easy reading to pass a pleasant evening or a trip. Above all it's an honest book. It promises adventure, some mystery, exotic places, the good guy will win (and he'll get the girl too) and it delivers.
A book of this kind is like chocolate. You don't necessarily need it, but every now and then is a welcomed little pleasure.
Reading value: 3 stars
Emotional value: 5 stars
This little gem was one of the first books that I bought with my OWN money as a kid.
All of you who as kids, saved pennies, smashed piggy banks or did something of short, know the feeling I'm talking about!
Back then I paid the insane amount of 0,20 euro (or 60 drachmas for the fellow Greek readers) in a second hand bookstore which, by all means is not a big deal even for a kid. What is a big deal, is the fact that since then I started buying my own books according to my taste and stopped relying on other people to buy books for me, as presents or otherwise.
The book itself is in no way a classic masterpiece. The plot is not breath taking and the characters never burned into my memory for the rest of my days.
It's a simple and entertaining book. An easy reading to pass a pleasant evening or a trip. Above all it's an honest book. It promises adventure, some mystery, exotic places, the good guy will win (and he'll get the girl too) and it delivers.
A book of this kind is like chocolate. You don't necessarily need it, but every now and then is a welcomed little pleasure.
September 22, 2022
Book that takes as to treasure hunt like in Indiana or Lara stories, yet it takes us further.
XVI c Spaniard had to leave his dream of going back to his sons back to Europe and stay with Mayans, first had to learn language, then explain who he is, and by good law of Chieftain instead of being killed, gets house and job at making jewelry of gold. - This is only one letter, merely two, three pages. But his jewelry is the gold that treasure hunters of this story are gathering to find and collect, to liquidize on the market.
No to bad, this book was. It's just not that densed plot , not that thick with plenty ladder pieces that is knowledge which allows us to grab next level of understanding, it was like skirmish.
XVI c Spaniard had to leave his dream of going back to his sons back to Europe and stay with Mayans, first had to learn language, then explain who he is, and by good law of Chieftain instead of being killed, gets house and job at making jewelry of gold. - This is only one letter, merely two, three pages. But his jewelry is the gold that treasure hunters of this story are gathering to find and collect, to liquidize on the market.
No to bad, this book was. It's just not that densed plot , not that thick with plenty ladder pieces that is knowledge which allows us to grab next level of understanding, it was like skirmish.
January 1, 2020
Jeremy Wheale an accountant by profession has a nasty surprise when he found his brother murdered at his farm house at Totnes. The object of his murder is a family heirloom unknown to him belongs to the de Vivero family. Suddenly, two prominent archeologists Fallon and Halstead are at his doorstep in a bidding war for the tray.
It might be due to the shock over the death of his brother but all of a sudden Jeremy engineers his way into an extraordinary adventure in the Yucatan peninsula in search of Mayan relics. Unbeknown to him, another ruthless mobster Gatt are on a collision course to intercept them in the wilderness of Quintana Roo for a showdown of epic proportions. With the beautiful and alluring Katherine along side him, the stake is high as to who will come up on top.
It might be due to the shock over the death of his brother but all of a sudden Jeremy engineers his way into an extraordinary adventure in the Yucatan peninsula in search of Mayan relics. Unbeknown to him, another ruthless mobster Gatt are on a collision course to intercept them in the wilderness of Quintana Roo for a showdown of epic proportions. With the beautiful and alluring Katherine along side him, the stake is high as to who will come up on top.
June 28, 2024
This is an exciting story that I remembered only for the big points. I really enjoyed all the bits I'd forgotten as well. I liked Desmond Bagley better than Alistair McLean way back when each had new books coming out. So many years later I still like both but Bagley is my favorite.
December 7, 2014
An enjoyable action/ adventure story, just enough character description, and an interesting setting. The central character was refreshingly chaste, which I liked.
July 30, 2021
They used to have this in the school library so I read it there, about 40 years ago. I read it again yesterday.
It's purely and simply an entertainment and I like it on that level. It isn't brainless, for example the technicalities of diving in a limestone waterhole are delivered succinctly and made quite clear without being dull, and the unusual science of the hidden message in the "tray" is also well explained. You don't come to a pot boiler action-adventure story expecting to learn much, so learning odds and ends of factual knowledge is a bit of a bonus.
Essentially, this is a revenge thriller in which Jeremy Wheale, the first person narrator, visits his childhood family home only to find that his brother and only surviving relative has been brutally slain for the sake of a poxy little tray. It soon becomes apparent that the murder is too senseless and too inexplicable for the British police to solve it quickly, especially as all the "material witnesses" seem to be American citizens with no connections to the UK at all, and there aren't a lot of clues.
Even though the tray is more than it seemed, made of gold rather than brass and with antiquarian value as well, that's a paltry reason for someone to be killed; and Jeremy, after absorbing the initial emotional shock, becomes a little bit more calm than is quite right, because he has decided not to get mad, but simply to get even. The British police aren't showing a lot of commitment to this dead-end investigation, but Jeremy is starting to feel like he doesn't know more than they know, but might be willing to make more effort than they will make. Jeremy seems like a gray and uninteresting man, but that's because he doesn't make a parade of his hobbies, such as scuba diving and fencing with sabres. He isn't about impressing other people, that's not his thing. If other people underestimate him, that's a problem for them, not for him. And if Jeremy ever does manage to gain quality alone time with the man who had his brother violently and bloodily murdered, the wailing sirens will not wail, and the flashing blue lights will not flash...
Meanwhile, people keep appearing who are interested in this tray but self-evidently want to pump Jeremey for information without divulging what they themselves know. So the first step will be to find out what they are not telling. The next step will be to find out what is so special about this tray and about the companion piece, another "tray", that might be important enough to get a man killed. Then, while Jeremy knows he is up against organised criminals and will never be able to hunt for his brother's murderer - he might still be able to set a trap for him.
It's purely and simply an entertainment and I like it on that level. It isn't brainless, for example the technicalities of diving in a limestone waterhole are delivered succinctly and made quite clear without being dull, and the unusual science of the hidden message in the "tray" is also well explained. You don't come to a pot boiler action-adventure story expecting to learn much, so learning odds and ends of factual knowledge is a bit of a bonus.
Essentially, this is a revenge thriller in which Jeremy Wheale, the first person narrator, visits his childhood family home only to find that his brother and only surviving relative has been brutally slain for the sake of a poxy little tray. It soon becomes apparent that the murder is too senseless and too inexplicable for the British police to solve it quickly, especially as all the "material witnesses" seem to be American citizens with no connections to the UK at all, and there aren't a lot of clues.
Even though the tray is more than it seemed, made of gold rather than brass and with antiquarian value as well, that's a paltry reason for someone to be killed; and Jeremy, after absorbing the initial emotional shock, becomes a little bit more calm than is quite right, because he has decided not to get mad, but simply to get even. The British police aren't showing a lot of commitment to this dead-end investigation, but Jeremy is starting to feel like he doesn't know more than they know, but might be willing to make more effort than they will make. Jeremy seems like a gray and uninteresting man, but that's because he doesn't make a parade of his hobbies, such as scuba diving and fencing with sabres. He isn't about impressing other people, that's not his thing. If other people underestimate him, that's a problem for them, not for him. And if Jeremy ever does manage to gain quality alone time with the man who had his brother violently and bloodily murdered, the wailing sirens will not wail, and the flashing blue lights will not flash...
Meanwhile, people keep appearing who are interested in this tray but self-evidently want to pump Jeremey for information without divulging what they themselves know. So the first step will be to find out what they are not telling. The next step will be to find out what is so special about this tray and about the companion piece, another "tray", that might be important enough to get a man killed. Then, while Jeremy knows he is up against organised criminals and will never be able to hunt for his brother's murderer - he might still be able to set a trap for him.
February 4, 2022
Desmond Bagley wrote thrillers in the classic British tradition, from the sixties through the eighties. Books in this tradition feature ordinary men ensnared by chance in criminal mischief or geopolitical intrigue. They are not security or law enforcement professionals, and they have to survive on wits and grit.
Jeremy Wheale is a London accountant, just beginning to grow discontented with his dull life. His brother back in Devon runs the family farm; when he is murdered in an apparent burglary attempt, Jeremy is shocked out of his humdrum routine. The apparent object of the burglary attempt is a family heirloom, an old brass tray of uncertain origin. When two competing archeologists show up on the heels of the police, both offering to buy the tray, Wheale wants to know what's going on. The tray, it turns out, is one of a pair which together, along with a letter from a Spanish soldier who was held captive by the Mayas for years, hold a clue to the location of a fabulous lost city, jammed with gold, in the Yucatan. One of the archeologists has the other tray and is obsessed with finding the place. His rival is equally determined to beat him to the punch. The upshot is that Wheale imposes a truce on the two and donates his tray to the effort on the condition that he accompany the archeologists on the search.
That's a complicated setup for the main action, which takes Wheale, the two archeologists and the comely wife of the younger one into the jungle in Quintana Roo, in search of the lost city. They're not the only ones on the hunt; an American gangster has gotten wind of the story and brings his own team to the event. The impenetrable jungle teems with snakes and ruthless escaped convicts. The younger archeologist is insanely jealous and slowly going mad. In short, it's no picnic. There is a violent denouement.
It's a good adventure yarn, well-written and surprisingly full of interesting facts; while the lost city is fictional, there's a lot of background about Mayan history and the unusual geography of the Yucatan that had me rushing to Wikipedia to find out more. Did you know that the last Maya resistance to Spanish/Mexican rule was not stamped out until 1901? Neither did I. Good novels inform as well as entertain, and Desmond Bagley wrote a number of them.
Jeremy Wheale is a London accountant, just beginning to grow discontented with his dull life. His brother back in Devon runs the family farm; when he is murdered in an apparent burglary attempt, Jeremy is shocked out of his humdrum routine. The apparent object of the burglary attempt is a family heirloom, an old brass tray of uncertain origin. When two competing archeologists show up on the heels of the police, both offering to buy the tray, Wheale wants to know what's going on. The tray, it turns out, is one of a pair which together, along with a letter from a Spanish soldier who was held captive by the Mayas for years, hold a clue to the location of a fabulous lost city, jammed with gold, in the Yucatan. One of the archeologists has the other tray and is obsessed with finding the place. His rival is equally determined to beat him to the punch. The upshot is that Wheale imposes a truce on the two and donates his tray to the effort on the condition that he accompany the archeologists on the search.
That's a complicated setup for the main action, which takes Wheale, the two archeologists and the comely wife of the younger one into the jungle in Quintana Roo, in search of the lost city. They're not the only ones on the hunt; an American gangster has gotten wind of the story and brings his own team to the event. The impenetrable jungle teems with snakes and ruthless escaped convicts. The younger archeologist is insanely jealous and slowly going mad. In short, it's no picnic. There is a violent denouement.
It's a good adventure yarn, well-written and surprisingly full of interesting facts; while the lost city is fictional, there's a lot of background about Mayan history and the unusual geography of the Yucatan that had me rushing to Wikipedia to find out more. Did you know that the last Maya resistance to Spanish/Mexican rule was not stamped out until 1901? Neither did I. Good novels inform as well as entertain, and Desmond Bagley wrote a number of them.
June 25, 2025
“Jungle heat does strange things to men—especially when there’s gold buried beneath their boots and betrayal in their blood.”
The Vivero Letter is a classic Bagley jungle adventure with a pulpy heart and a conspiratorial grin. It begins with a murder in England and leads straight into the green hell of Central America, where ancient Mayan secrets, a lost city, and a lethal treasure map lie in wait. Our hero, Jeremy Wheale, is an antique dealer, not a trained killer—but Bagley delights in throwing ordinary men into extraordinary, life-threatening chaos.
This is one of Bagley’s more Indiana-Jones-adjacent tales—booby traps, hidden temples, greedy mercenaries, and something glittering just out of reach. The pacing is brisk, the betrayals sting, and the jungle feels like a living, snarling character. No deep Cold War politics here—just survival, obsession, and buried gold.
I picked up The Vivero Letter during my legendary 2008 Kolkata Book Fair haul—the cover had vines, guns, and the kind of title font that screams pulp gold. I remember reading it over a lazy summer week, sticky with mango juice and sweat, fully immersed in that humid, deadly world. It was pure escapism—Bagley at his most action-adventurous.
The Vivero Letter is a classic Bagley jungle adventure with a pulpy heart and a conspiratorial grin. It begins with a murder in England and leads straight into the green hell of Central America, where ancient Mayan secrets, a lost city, and a lethal treasure map lie in wait. Our hero, Jeremy Wheale, is an antique dealer, not a trained killer—but Bagley delights in throwing ordinary men into extraordinary, life-threatening chaos.
This is one of Bagley’s more Indiana-Jones-adjacent tales—booby traps, hidden temples, greedy mercenaries, and something glittering just out of reach. The pacing is brisk, the betrayals sting, and the jungle feels like a living, snarling character. No deep Cold War politics here—just survival, obsession, and buried gold.
I picked up The Vivero Letter during my legendary 2008 Kolkata Book Fair haul—the cover had vines, guns, and the kind of title font that screams pulp gold. I remember reading it over a lazy summer week, sticky with mango juice and sweat, fully immersed in that humid, deadly world. It was pure escapism—Bagley at his most action-adventurous.
November 3, 2024
The Vivero Letter by Desmond Bagley is a thriller that combines mystery and adventure, but with a slower pace compared to many modern thrillers. The story centers on Jeremy Wheale, a British businessman who journeys to Mexico to find answers about his brother’s murder and a rumored Mayan treasure. Though the plot is intriguing and filled with suspense, it unfolds gradually, allowing for more detailed descriptions and deeper character development than is typical in faster-paced thrillers.
Bagley’s writing style creates a vivid sense of place, especially in the Mexican jungle, but readers expecting nonstop action may find the pacing leisurely. Instead of constant thrills, Bagley focuses on building atmosphere and tension. This book is a good read for those who enjoy thrillers with a blend of history, complex settings, and an old-fashioned approach to suspense.
Bagley’s writing style creates a vivid sense of place, especially in the Mexican jungle, but readers expecting nonstop action may find the pacing leisurely. Instead of constant thrills, Bagley focuses on building atmosphere and tension. This book is a good read for those who enjoy thrillers with a blend of history, complex settings, and an old-fashioned approach to suspense.
December 27, 2019
Yet another of Bagley kind of impossible thrillers...The main character hails from Devon, South of England, the author connects his forefathers to the battles with Spanish Armada and through that to the Mexican tropical forests where Mayan treasures are buried.
And he has to team up with professional archaeologists, who are constantly fighting each other, to find the treasure, for which only he has a claim. All because of a letter which was written by a captured Spaniard centuries ago.
The drama builds up when a Texas based mafia also wants the same treasure and co-opts the local savages for finding it.
And the story goes on. All 300+ pages of it. In air, in thick forests and under water too.
A very good read indeed.
And he has to team up with professional archaeologists, who are constantly fighting each other, to find the treasure, for which only he has a claim. All because of a letter which was written by a captured Spaniard centuries ago.
The drama builds up when a Texas based mafia also wants the same treasure and co-opts the local savages for finding it.
And the story goes on. All 300+ pages of it. In air, in thick forests and under water too.
A very good read indeed.
March 8, 2020
If you wanted to be critical, you could say that the high-tension last three chapters of Bagley’s fifth novel combines elements of ‘Wyatt’s Hurricane’ and ‘Landslide’, but - damnit - ‘The Vivero Letter’ is flat-our entertaining and his most action-packed since ‘High Citadel’. Interestingly, as amped-up as the thrilleramics are, the novel proceeds from the protagonist’s self-examination re: his masculinity. Naturally, Bagley doesn’t let this get in the way of the propulsive narrative, but it’s not a gambit you can imagine, say, Alistair MacLean kicking off a novel with.
March 15, 2024
I wanted to read this book for a very long time since I love adventures and flyaway is still one of my all time favorite. However this one was somewhat of a disappointment. The plot was good enough and the setting was good too, however the hero was a bit of an ass. Most of the problems were caused by the asinine decisions made by the hero.
I understand that an ordinary accountant is very likely to behave just like he did but still the rabbit like behaviour towards in coming disaster is frustrating. The factual researches were good, and the book was fairly gripping but it just does not go anywhere near Bagley's best.
I understand that an ordinary accountant is very likely to behave just like he did but still the rabbit like behaviour towards in coming disaster is frustrating. The factual researches were good, and the book was fairly gripping but it just does not go anywhere near Bagley's best.
May 8, 2020
An easy action thriller, implausible but nevertheless enjoyable and I am sure the detail about the Maya is pretty accurate.
The author doesn't go much into the characters themselves but deep enough to like the main ones and dislike the bad ones, it is like other Bagley books, a good honest story to enjoy.
The author doesn't go much into the characters themselves but deep enough to like the main ones and dislike the bad ones, it is like other Bagley books, a good honest story to enjoy.
February 13, 2023
Iam so pleased I discovered this author. What a fabulous story teller he is. Each book is unique and very well researched which makes for not only a brilliant story , but an educational one as well !
From the leafy lanes of Devon to the depths of the Mexican jungle he takes you on a fabulous hunt for treasure and a murderer.
From the leafy lanes of Devon to the depths of the Mexican jungle he takes you on a fabulous hunt for treasure and a murderer.
March 10, 2019
As all Desmond Bagley novels go, The Vivero Letter is rich in nail biters and some very useful information about a lot of not so common things. It keeps you guessing throughout the pages so you cannot simply put it down. The book has a beautiful flow and a rich vocabulary
October 25, 2021
I'm giving it 4 starts for the writing, but maybe three for the plot. This is very old-style writing and not much happens until the last quarter of the book. The characters are well-drawn and, as some other reviewer noted, the the plot is a bit implausible.
May 22, 2019
What an amazing book! Read the book in 2011. Reading it again in 2019
September 17, 2019
Entertaining adventure about the search for a lost city and its treasures in the central American rainforest.
April 5, 2020
Super spannend, goed verhaal
November 25, 2020
This is the only book by Bagley I’ve read. It was fairly slow in places, but interesting enough to keep me going to the end.
December 5, 2020
Good adventure story however dated the book is! Written in1968
December 16, 2020
3.5 stars. An enjoyable romp.
March 22, 2021
Leuk verhaal, ondanks de gedateerdheid van het boek.
October 3, 2021
Non ricordo nulla di questo romanzetto di avventura che inaugurò la collana Cerchiorosso quando ero in V elementare, se non una lettura molto piacevole
July 15, 2022
Read n Norwegian twice. A solid thriller.
September 25, 2022
Good read
November 22, 2022
Above average if routine mid-century thriller faire, still a fine read if you like the genre, but don't expect any big surprises. Probably hit harder when it debuted.
April 27, 2025
I did enjoy this thriller immensly. It of course is not Pulitzer Prize material, but highly entertaining. A nice setting and a main character one is unable to not like!
October 30, 2025
Another classic from the master thriller writer.
One of my favourite tales of his with ancient treasure, adventure and intrigue all interwoven in a taught tale.
A fab read - great stuff.
One of my favourite tales of his with ancient treasure, adventure and intrigue all interwoven in a taught tale.
A fab read - great stuff.
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