Phil Sherman was on a business trip, taking an Aeroflot flight from Riga to Moscow, when a hijacker sought to take control and force the plane to the West. In a short gun battle with a Soviet sky marshal, the hijacker was dead and Sherman was in possession of a pack of cigarettes passed by the dying man.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. Please see:Don Smith
Don Smith (August 2, 1909-January 11, 1978) was a Canadian writer of detective and spy fiction. He is best remembered for his Secret Mission series of novels, starring the businessman-turned-spy Phil Sherman.
Smith was born Donald Taylor Smith in Port Colborne, Ontario. In 1934-1939 he was a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star in Beijing and he piloted a fighter in the Royal Air Force during WWII. He was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross for his participation in the Dieppe Raid in 1942.After the war he lived in Morocco and Majorca, manning different businesses before becoming a full-time writer in his 50s.