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Mike Delaney #1
L'uomo isotopo
Delaney è un giornalista americano che è stato temporaneamente ceduto dal suo giornale a una grande rivista inglese, il View Magazine con sede a Londra. A Londra c'è il Tamigi, e in questo fiume, come in ogni corso d'acqua che si rispetti, ogni tanto viene ripescato qualcuno, annegato o ancora vivo, uomo o donna, suicidi o ubriachi o vittime di incidenti. Un giornalista quindi non si emoziona molto quando succede una cosa del genere. Però il giorno in cui vede la fotografia di un uomo di mezza età disteso su una barella dopo essere stato ripescato dal Tamigi, Delaney se ne preoccupa, eccome. Se ne preoccupa tanto da mettersi in guai molto seri, perché Delaney è fatto in modo che non esita a rischiare tutto per andare a fondo di un suo sospetto. E in quel particolare caso Delaney sospetta che l'uomo del Tamigi sia lo scienziato atomico Stephen Rayner. Ma il dottor Rayner sta lavorando tranquillamente nei laboratori dell'Istituto Brant. Ha qualche cerotto sulla faccia perché è appena uscito da un incidente di macchina, ma questo non significa niente. Anche gli scienziati possono avere un incidente come chiunque altro. Eppure Delaney, più cocciuto di un mulo, continua a seguire il suo fiuto. I casi sono due: o ha messo le mani sul più grosso colpo giomalistico dell'anno, o sta commettendo il più colossale errore della sua carriera.
Copertina di: Carlo Jacono
Copertina di: Carlo Jacono
- GenresScience Fiction
128 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1957
22 people want to read
About the author
Charles Eric Maine
59 books12 followersCharles Eric Maine (pseudonym of David McIlwain; 21 January 1921 – 30 November 1981) was an English science fiction writer whose most prominent works were published in the 1950s and 1960s. His stories were thrillers that dealt with new scientific technology
Biography
McIlwain was born in Liverpool.
He published three issues of a science fiction magazine called The Satellite which he co-edited along with J. F. Burke. From 1940 to 1941, he published his own magazine called Gargoyle.
During World War II, he was in the Royal Air Force and served in Northern Africa in 1943.
After the war, he worked in TV engineering, and became involved in editorial work with radio and TV. During 1952, he sold his first radio play, Spaceways, to the BBC. Due to its popularity, it became a novel as well as a movie.
One of his best known stories, Timeliner, was about a scientist who experiments with a time machine, only to be maliciously thrust into the future by a fellow scientist who was having an affair with his wife. It was originally written as a radio play known as The Einstein Highway.
He died in London in 1981.
Bibliography
Spaceways (1953) (Variant Title: Spaceways Satellite)
Timeliner (1955)
Escapement (1956) (Variant Title: The Man Who Couldn't Sleep)
High Vacuum (1956)
The Tide Went Out (1958) (Revised in 1997 with Variant Title: Thirst!)
World Without Men (1958) (Revised in 1972 with Variant Title: Alph)
Count-Down (1959) (Variant Title: Fire Past the Future)
Crisis 2000 (1959)
Subterfuge (1959)
Calculated Risk (1960)
He Owned the World (1960) (Variant Title: The Man Who Owned the World)
The Mind of Mr. Soames (1961)
The Darkest of Nights (1962) (Variant Title: Survival Margin)
B.E.A.S.T. (1966)
Alph (1972)
Biography
McIlwain was born in Liverpool.
He published three issues of a science fiction magazine called The Satellite which he co-edited along with J. F. Burke. From 1940 to 1941, he published his own magazine called Gargoyle.
During World War II, he was in the Royal Air Force and served in Northern Africa in 1943.
After the war, he worked in TV engineering, and became involved in editorial work with radio and TV. During 1952, he sold his first radio play, Spaceways, to the BBC. Due to its popularity, it became a novel as well as a movie.
One of his best known stories, Timeliner, was about a scientist who experiments with a time machine, only to be maliciously thrust into the future by a fellow scientist who was having an affair with his wife. It was originally written as a radio play known as The Einstein Highway.
He died in London in 1981.
Bibliography
Spaceways (1953) (Variant Title: Spaceways Satellite)
Timeliner (1955)
Escapement (1956) (Variant Title: The Man Who Couldn't Sleep)
High Vacuum (1956)
The Tide Went Out (1958) (Revised in 1997 with Variant Title: Thirst!)
World Without Men (1958) (Revised in 1972 with Variant Title: Alph)
Count-Down (1959) (Variant Title: Fire Past the Future)
Crisis 2000 (1959)
Subterfuge (1959)
Calculated Risk (1960)
He Owned the World (1960) (Variant Title: The Man Who Owned the World)
The Mind of Mr. Soames (1961)
The Darkest of Nights (1962) (Variant Title: Survival Margin)
B.E.A.S.T. (1966)
Alph (1972)
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 4, 2011
From 1957, THE ISOTOPE MAN was the first of three novels to feature Mike Delaney, science reporter. The author, Charles Eric Maine(1921-1981) was a British writer that also worked in television and movies.
The story here had an interesting genesis. It was first made into a thirty minute television show, then developed into a film(The Atomic Man in America, Time-Slip in England) in 1955, then finally the novel a couple of years later.
Mike Delaney spots a photo of a man, barely alive, pulled from the Thames, with two bullets in his back. He recognizes the man as Dr. Stephen Raynor, an American scientist he'd interviewed a couple of years before. There was a mysterious fog around the body, dismissed as bad film by the police.
Delaney keeps insisting on the man's identity, a man who sounds educated, but gives nonsensical answers to all questions. Also, the company Raynor worked for insists that he's at work that very minute supervising work on a coming test of a new reactor.
The man superficially resembles Raynor, his face partially bandaged from a car accident, and the husky voice the result of a cold.
So they say.
Delaney is suspicious and begins an investigation. Much to they dismay of the police and his editor at the magazine. He corrals his girl friend, a photographer, to help.
A company in South America is involved, thugs of dangerous looking visages pursue him, and a thrilling climax finish the story off.
The story here had an interesting genesis. It was first made into a thirty minute television show, then developed into a film(The Atomic Man in America, Time-Slip in England) in 1955, then finally the novel a couple of years later.
Mike Delaney spots a photo of a man, barely alive, pulled from the Thames, with two bullets in his back. He recognizes the man as Dr. Stephen Raynor, an American scientist he'd interviewed a couple of years before. There was a mysterious fog around the body, dismissed as bad film by the police.
Delaney keeps insisting on the man's identity, a man who sounds educated, but gives nonsensical answers to all questions. Also, the company Raynor worked for insists that he's at work that very minute supervising work on a coming test of a new reactor.
The man superficially resembles Raynor, his face partially bandaged from a car accident, and the husky voice the result of a cold.
So they say.
Delaney is suspicious and begins an investigation. Much to they dismay of the police and his editor at the magazine. He corrals his girl friend, a photographer, to help.
A company in South America is involved, thugs of dangerous looking visages pursue him, and a thrilling climax finish the story off.
October 17, 2022
Un libro che francamente non capisco bene cosa ci faccia tra gli Urania, visto che questo "L'uomo isotopo", a parte l'ambientazione incentrata sul nucleare e una stranezza relativa ad uno dei personaggi principali, è uno spy book con pochissima fantasia e ricco di stereotipi degli anni sessanta. Il protagonista è francamente insopportabile, pieno di se e mezzo misogino, ed affiancato da una fanciulla che lui tende sempre a sminuire (ma che poi s'innamorerà di lui), ed ogni tanto escono fuori anche battute un po' razziste e fuori luogo. Il libro in se non è nemmeno malaccio, scorre liscio senza troppi sussulti, come se fosse un vecchio film in bianco e nero che uno si guarda il sabato notte di ritorno da una nottata di bagordi...
December 21, 2023
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After I was impressed by Charles Edward Maine's Calculated Risk, I bought a nice hardcover copy of The Isotope Man, hoping for the same sci-fi excitement. This didn't come up to the same level, but was entertaining. I see from another reviewer that this story began originally as a thirty minute television show, then a film in 1955, and then a novel form in 1957. It was the first of three novels starring Mike Delaney, Science Reporter. I was still expecting science fiction (even though it says 'a novel of menace' on the cover) so I was a little disappointed that it's more like an espionage thriller.
Mike Delaney is an American working in London for the popular photo journal View. When he happens across the photo of a famous scientist being pulled from the Thames, he skirts his next assignment to investigate. Having met Dr. Rayner in the past, he alerts the police ~ yet they are baffled to discover "Dr. Rayner" alive and working at a large atomic energy plant.
Who is the man from the river? Why does his photograph appear blurry and no X-rays turn out? Why is he seemingly incoherent when interviewed? And if he is Dr. Rayner - who is impersonating him and why?
The real Dr. Rayner has been called The Isotope Man from his experiments with the Tungsten isotope K and the plot revolves around the production of synthetic Tungsten metal. While it is mostly chasing the bad guys around London, Maine does include a few neat science points with the real Dr. Rayner's long time radioactivity exposure causing his brain to time-slip into the future! Cool.
Delaney delves deeper into the mystery with photographer Jill Friday, finding a nest of South American spies and thugs, British scientists selling secrets, kidnapping, flying bullets and explosive fires. Delaney seems to be one step ahead of the irritated police (with the help of MI5 and the FBI no less) yet needs their help to fit the final pieces into the puzzle.
The first half of the book was more 'reporter chasing a story and finding romance' than I was expecting, so I grew bored waiting for the action to begin. Once it hit the halfway mark though, it really started to roll with scene after scene of action, fighting and a finale set during the test of a new atomic reactor experiment that could blow the whole plant sky-high.
While there is always the hope after reading a really great book that the authors other novels will be as good, this was an original story with a memorable finale. It had a charm, like watching a 1960's episode of The Avengers. I enjoyed it and will read more of Charles Eric Maine.
After I was impressed by Charles Edward Maine's Calculated Risk, I bought a nice hardcover copy of The Isotope Man, hoping for the same sci-fi excitement. This didn't come up to the same level, but was entertaining. I see from another reviewer that this story began originally as a thirty minute television show, then a film in 1955, and then a novel form in 1957. It was the first of three novels starring Mike Delaney, Science Reporter. I was still expecting science fiction (even though it says 'a novel of menace' on the cover) so I was a little disappointed that it's more like an espionage thriller.
Mike Delaney is an American working in London for the popular photo journal View. When he happens across the photo of a famous scientist being pulled from the Thames, he skirts his next assignment to investigate. Having met Dr. Rayner in the past, he alerts the police ~ yet they are baffled to discover "Dr. Rayner" alive and working at a large atomic energy plant.
Who is the man from the river? Why does his photograph appear blurry and no X-rays turn out? Why is he seemingly incoherent when interviewed? And if he is Dr. Rayner - who is impersonating him and why?
The real Dr. Rayner has been called The Isotope Man from his experiments with the Tungsten isotope K and the plot revolves around the production of synthetic Tungsten metal. While it is mostly chasing the bad guys around London, Maine does include a few neat science points with the real Dr. Rayner's long time radioactivity exposure causing his brain to time-slip into the future! Cool.
Delaney delves deeper into the mystery with photographer Jill Friday, finding a nest of South American spies and thugs, British scientists selling secrets, kidnapping, flying bullets and explosive fires. Delaney seems to be one step ahead of the irritated police (with the help of MI5 and the FBI no less) yet needs their help to fit the final pieces into the puzzle.
The first half of the book was more 'reporter chasing a story and finding romance' than I was expecting, so I grew bored waiting for the action to begin. Once it hit the halfway mark though, it really started to roll with scene after scene of action, fighting and a finale set during the test of a new atomic reactor experiment that could blow the whole plant sky-high.
While there is always the hope after reading a really great book that the authors other novels will be as good, this was an original story with a memorable finale. It had a charm, like watching a 1960's episode of The Avengers. I enjoyed it and will read more of Charles Eric Maine.
October 2, 2016
Un buon giallo che vede all'opera un giornalista impiccione, sostituzioni di persone e teorie fantascientifiche sulla radioattività sinceramente divertenti sessant'anni dopo la stesura.
Abbastanza nelle corde del genere, scorrevole, simpatico per la caratterizzazione "naif" dell'uomo isotopo - lo scienziato le cui radiazioni appannano le fotografie e che risponde alle domande prima che gli vengano a poste.
Abbastanza nelle corde del genere, scorrevole, simpatico per la caratterizzazione "naif" dell'uomo isotopo - lo scienziato le cui radiazioni appannano le fotografie e che risponde alle domande prima che gli vengano a poste.
September 6, 2013
Pro-nuclear propaganda.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews