Imperial 109

by Richard Doyle

Bantam MM paperback, 1978

Genres: Fiction, Thriller

401 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

I'm a fiction writer trying to break away from typecasting. For a while I was focusing on disasters, books like Flood and Volcano - London threatened by a storm surge, an eruption-caused tsunami devastating the coast of Maine.
I could have gone on with the theme - publishers always want more of the same and Flood had made it into a movie - bit I couldn't face it. So I'm back to straight thrillers with MUTE, out now on amazon kindle. It's about a little guy taking on the big ones. Nothing earth shattering, just a simple story of a fellow who doesn't give up when threatened.
A bit about me. I'm a Brit who's spent most of his life elsewhere. I was raised in North Africa and Kuwait and I've lived in lots of countries since - USA, France, Ireland, West Indies and the UK. Hard to say which was the most fun. I married a girl who likes travelling and she's usually planning where to go next. Any suggestions welcome. We love sailing and our son is a yachtsman so a bit of water would be good.
If any of you decide to stray on to my amazon kindle entry, you'll see I've put Imperial 109 out there too. It's a novel I wrote in 1978 about a flying boat service between South Africa and America. It sold a million copies.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely 1st rate and wonderful to read thriller. There are an incredible number of twists and turns throughout the story, and it is almost mind boggling how the author is able to weave and connect all the various characters together. This is the epitome of a page turning book where you cannot wait to find out what will happen next. The ending is spectacular.

[Feliks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its a surprisingly nifty thriller. What it suffers from is that after the first half of the book, it becomes something in the model of an Alex Hailey read: ensemble cast of characters; lots of time-worn conventions and thin ruses thrown in. 'Grand Hotel' on an airplane, etc.

But hey that's perfectly forgivable in certain cases like this one. How many novels can you name which are not only thrillers but historical period-pieces from the 1930s involving airplanes?

The author demonstrates commendable writing chops. He's comfortable and confident in telling this story. You feel yourself in sure hands.

I myself appreciate the book for its detail relating to flying boats and the mystique of this vanished era. Another good book in this vein is 'Zeppelin' which deals with the first transatlantic flights of Germany's famous Graf zeppelin.

If you think I'm just a hobbyist, then how to explain Ken Follet taking up the exact same aeronautical setting for his recent, 'Night Over Water'?

Anyway. Listen, forget all I've stated above and boil my praise down to just this: 'Imperial 109' has one of the all-time great opening sequences for any action novel ever. Its transcendent and sublime. Whatever the rest of the book is, it stands tall for the invention found in the first few pages. Ingenious and gripping.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, what i consider, my favorite book. I believe I have ready this 6 times. I lent it out to a friend and never got it back. I tracked down a copy and bought it from Australia and shipped it my home in California. The intricacy with which all characters are intertwined is astounding. At one point I did have to turn the pages back to be sure I didn't miss something. If I had the recourses and connections, I would make this into a Mini-series (Limed series).
Read it, if you have the opportunity

[Leslie]

This was an “accidental” read. Some how it found its way from my husbands bookshelf to my bedside. It’s an older book, and I was surprised to find it has never been made into a movie. As I was reading it, I thought what a good movie it would make. It was a great read. Suspense, romance, mystery, etc etc. Not my usual fair but very entertaining. So much so, that I didn’t read it for 3 days because I knew I’d be done with it.

[Andy Horton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this and re-read it in a spirit of nostalgia. It's an airport/beach novel I read as a teenager. A period-set drama/adventure, on board a flying boat. I originally picked it up for the cool aeroplanes, and enjoyed the human interest. Not bad, and has some great moments of genuine tension, but the characters are often flat. The villain's plot is either audaciously imagined or rather silly, but it does involve another cool aeroplane so it's not all bad.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up at a second hand book shop purely because the title and cover appealed! What an absolute joy! It’s a wonderful thriller than plunges the reader into a world that seems somehow far more romantic and adventurous than our own. I can’t recommend it highly enough!

[Alan Cobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

An excellently written novel that keeps your interest to the very end ,excellent Characters ,excellent storyline made up of various interlocking story's of how they arrived and all in all an interesting read. I enjoyed it So should you.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

[Germaine De · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspirational

[Mark Braun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read. Many subplots to keep track of. Well done.

[Tony Roden · Rating 5 out of 5]

multi plots and very compulsive reading.

This is a very varied plot novel and holds your interest in every page m. Well written and clearly segmented story

[Alan Waye]

Bloody great

Bloody, great book. Although it ended with, in my opinion, a lacklustre ending, it was great, and anybody who reads this will have a good time reading it.

[Lou Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

timeless

Excellent read, thoroughly enjoyed. Richard had a great way with words that kept me waiting to turn each page. Now onto the next of his great works.

[wally walter]

A very good yarn if somewhat difficult to imagine all that happening to an aeroplane and it still survives

[Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful descriptions and a riveting story with multiple colliding subplots. One of my favorite books.

[Tord Eriksson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the only book by Richard Doyle I've read, and own. And while I have got rid of a lot of books through the years, this one is still here, even if the book (a paperback edition) is falling to pieces!

Someone wrote that this well-written thriller starts in a crisp and unusual way, but later turns into a Arthur Hailey-like story, but I don't mind at all.

Surprising is that it hasn't been turned into a movie, as it would easily be turned into one, in this day and age of computer graphics!

The story is in short about a British flying boat (Imperial 109) and the people aboard, plus a guy with a plan, an evil plan.

There is even one or two of these old flying boats around, so yes very much like a do-able thing for Hollywood, or Pinewood Studios!

A good read, thrilling, and exotic, what more would you need?! A little Poirot mixed with Biggles, if you get my drift ;-)!

[Sandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book by Richard Doyle that I read, and it was the book that made me a fan and put me on the search for any and all books by Mr. Doyle. His straightforward style and clarity of descriptions of the characters and settings and plot draws a reader into the story...sometimes until the book is totally read! In Imperial 109, the reader is transported into the past and carried along on the adventure unfolding on its pages which depict adventure after adventure with such a sense of reality that the reader is there with the characters whether on the airplane, battling the elements, in the race car or hurriedly sneaking out ahead of the bad guys. Mr. Doyle is an author who deserves more accolades than he receives.

[Joe White · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written as more of a sweeping epic. Too many details on too many secondary characters with individual stories converging on a final flight. The plot became so far-fetched that it was unable to maintain the suspense element the author was apparently attempting to create. The finale was a useless token action sequence that thank goodness only lasted for less than 10 pages.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story and adventure. Enjoyed the pace and the action.

[Veronica Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paperback - (A+)