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The Angry Mountain
Dick Farrell is a man haunted by his wartime memories of torture and fear - a time better forgotten. But past and present merge when a trip to Eastern Europe embroils him in the twilight world of the industrial spy. His trip culminates beneath the blazing summit of Vesuvius in full eruption. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1952
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About the author
Hammond Innes
104 books107 followersRalph Hammond Innes was an English novelist who wrote over 30 novels, as well as children's and travel books.He was awarded a C.B.E. (Commander, Order of the British Empire) in 1978. The World Mystery Convention honoured Innes with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bouchercon XXIV awards in Omaha, Nebraska, Oct, 1993.
Innes was born in Horsham, Sussex, and educated at the Cranbrook School in Kent. He left in 1931 to work as a journalist, initially with the Financial Times (at the time called the Financial News). The Doppelganger, his first novel, was published in 1937. In WWII he served in the Royal Artillery, eventually rising to the rank of Major. During the war, a number of his books were published, including Wreckers Must Breathe (1940), The Trojan Horse (1941) and Attack Alarm (1941); the last of which was based on his experiences as an anti-aircraft gunner during the Battle of Britain at RAF Kenley. After being discharged in 1946, he worked full-time as a writer, achieving a number of early successes.
His novels are notable for a fine attention to accurate detail in descriptions of places, such as in Air Bridge (1951), set partially at RAF Gatow, RAF Membury after its closure and RAF Wunstorf during the Berlin Airlift.
Innes went on to produce books in a regular sequence, with six months of travel and research followed by six months of writing. Many of his works featured events at sea. His output decreased in the 1960s, but was still substantial. He became interested in ecological themes. He continued writing until just before his death. His last novel was Delta Connection (1996).
Unusually for the thriller genre, Innes' protagonists were often not "heroes" in the typical sense, but ordinary men suddenly thrust into extreme situations by circumstance. Often, this involved being placed in a hostile environment (the Arctic, the open sea, deserts), or unwittingly becoming involved in a larger conflict or conspiracy. The protagonist generally is forced to rely on his own wits and making best use of limited resources, rather than the weapons and gadgetry commonly used by thriller writers.
Four of his early novels were made into films: Snowbound (1948)from The Lonely Skier (1947), Hell Below Zero (1954) from The White South (1949), Campbell's Kingdom (1957), and The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959). His 1973 novel Golden Soak was adapted into a six-part television series in 1979.
Innes was born in Horsham, Sussex, and educated at the Cranbrook School in Kent. He left in 1931 to work as a journalist, initially with the Financial Times (at the time called the Financial News). The Doppelganger, his first novel, was published in 1937. In WWII he served in the Royal Artillery, eventually rising to the rank of Major. During the war, a number of his books were published, including Wreckers Must Breathe (1940), The Trojan Horse (1941) and Attack Alarm (1941); the last of which was based on his experiences as an anti-aircraft gunner during the Battle of Britain at RAF Kenley. After being discharged in 1946, he worked full-time as a writer, achieving a number of early successes.
His novels are notable for a fine attention to accurate detail in descriptions of places, such as in Air Bridge (1951), set partially at RAF Gatow, RAF Membury after its closure and RAF Wunstorf during the Berlin Airlift.
Innes went on to produce books in a regular sequence, with six months of travel and research followed by six months of writing. Many of his works featured events at sea. His output decreased in the 1960s, but was still substantial. He became interested in ecological themes. He continued writing until just before his death. His last novel was Delta Connection (1996).
Unusually for the thriller genre, Innes' protagonists were often not "heroes" in the typical sense, but ordinary men suddenly thrust into extreme situations by circumstance. Often, this involved being placed in a hostile environment (the Arctic, the open sea, deserts), or unwittingly becoming involved in a larger conflict or conspiracy. The protagonist generally is forced to rely on his own wits and making best use of limited resources, rather than the weapons and gadgetry commonly used by thriller writers.
Four of his early novels were made into films: Snowbound (1948)from The Lonely Skier (1947), Hell Below Zero (1954) from The White South (1949), Campbell's Kingdom (1957), and The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959). His 1973 novel Golden Soak was adapted into a six-part television series in 1979.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 5, 2017
I picked this book to read for three reasons.
1. I like Hammond Innes. I can rely on him for edge of your seat hold your breath action by a hero who is haunted by a past he has tried to forget but which eventually forces itself to be dealt with.
2. The title suits my mood of the moment.
3. This is one of the paperbacks that will fill a certain empty space in one section of my bookcase.
Now if those aren't practical reasons for reading a book, I don't know what are!
Besides that, this was the first title in a couple of weeks that could actually take my mind off current events for a little while so a big THANK YOU to Mr. Innes for that.
I do have to admit that I figured out a lot of things that our hero couldn't (much of it was just SO obvious) but he was running from that haunting past, and I didn't have that blind spot, so I can sort of overlook that. However, it did make Farrell seem a bit dense throughout most of the book, and sometimes I wanted to smack him and holler 'You are supposed to be The Hero, dude! How can you not see what I'm seeing here?!'
Written in 1950, the story revolves around a former pilot who lost a leg in horrid circumstances during WWII. What happens when he goes behind The Iron Curtain for his new business and suddenly finds himself tangled up with his past? Moving from Czechoslovakia to Italy, we run into all sorts of trouble from official translators to nosy hotel porters to alluring women and a mysterious man who might not be who he claims to be. There is an erupting volcano and a pissed off mule to boot. (George the mule is my new hero, by the way. What a pal!)
A much needed short escape from reality. I am tempted to go back and start it all over again. And I wish I could get a visa for George. He could be useful in high places.
1. I like Hammond Innes. I can rely on him for edge of your seat hold your breath action by a hero who is haunted by a past he has tried to forget but which eventually forces itself to be dealt with.
2. The title suits my mood of the moment.
3. This is one of the paperbacks that will fill a certain empty space in one section of my bookcase.
Now if those aren't practical reasons for reading a book, I don't know what are!
Besides that, this was the first title in a couple of weeks that could actually take my mind off current events for a little while so a big THANK YOU to Mr. Innes for that.
I do have to admit that I figured out a lot of things that our hero couldn't (much of it was just SO obvious) but he was running from that haunting past, and I didn't have that blind spot, so I can sort of overlook that. However, it did make Farrell seem a bit dense throughout most of the book, and sometimes I wanted to smack him and holler 'You are supposed to be The Hero, dude! How can you not see what I'm seeing here?!'
Written in 1950, the story revolves around a former pilot who lost a leg in horrid circumstances during WWII. What happens when he goes behind The Iron Curtain for his new business and suddenly finds himself tangled up with his past? Moving from Czechoslovakia to Italy, we run into all sorts of trouble from official translators to nosy hotel porters to alluring women and a mysterious man who might not be who he claims to be. There is an erupting volcano and a pissed off mule to boot. (George the mule is my new hero, by the way. What a pal!)
A much needed short escape from reality. I am tempted to go back and start it all over again. And I wish I could get a visa for George. He could be useful in high places.
November 30, 2019
One of Hammond Innes' earlier works, The Angry Mountain is a prototype, in many ways, for all the books to follow. Still suffering from the effects of combat fatigue and his imprisonment and torture by an Italian Fascist doctor in World War II, Dick Farrell seems to be making his way back in life, until the world of espionage puts a claim on him while he's visiting Pilsen, Czechoslavakia. This would be true to form for many an Innes hero, most of whom would be plucked out of their serene postwar existence into adventure and deathly challenges caused by nature. Here, the natural world awakens from its placid beauty with the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, no less. Inspired by the actual eruption of the mountain in 1944, which forms part of the background to his own story, the destruction of all or part of four Italian villages in the 1944 explosion is something Innes manages to refashion into a desperate flight from entrapment in his fictional eruption in 1950.
The storytelling, here, is satisfying and gripping enough to make for a one or two session read of the entire novel. Somehow, Innes can do that. In the same way his protagonists are suddenly snared out of their everyday world and plunged into danger and excitement, so is the reader quickly made to feel they are along for the journey by no more than a few pages into the first chapter.
The storytelling, here, is satisfying and gripping enough to make for a one or two session read of the entire novel. Somehow, Innes can do that. In the same way his protagonists are suddenly snared out of their everyday world and plunged into danger and excitement, so is the reader quickly made to feel they are along for the journey by no more than a few pages into the first chapter.
May 23, 2025
It's a pretty silly novel. Had the typical man who gets in over his head at first through no fault of his own (though later is a different story). Nothing really makes much sense. None of the humans act like humans. There is a random character that is whatever he needs to be at the time. Innes keeps writing into corners and then has a character do something completely stupid to fix it. Basically, a one-legged man is given something he knows nothing about, which pulls him into a dangerous business. He ends up with all the principles near Vesuvious while it's erupting trapping them.
Can't recommend, none of the characters are written well. The pacing is also quite slow, and most of the characters are unlikeable to boot.
Can't recommend, none of the characters are written well. The pacing is also quite slow, and most of the characters are unlikeable to boot.
May 22, 2025
Some great flawed-hero stuff here from Innes who pulls a terrific denouement from the ashes (literally!) of an otherwise rather humdrum thriller.
It’s 1950 and, true to his formula, Innes introduces us to Dick Farrell, a former WWII flying ace who lost a leg to a sadistic surgeon in excruciating circumstances while a POW in Northern Italy. Unable to fly, he’s now a sales rep for a machine tool company working his way around the industrial centres of Europe in pursuit of an honest living while not dealing with the guilt of being responsible for the deaths of two fellow POWs.
At a Pilsen steelworks he meets the boss, Tuček, a Czech pilot with whom Farrell had flown and who wants him to arrange a meeting with an agent in the town but can’t give details as they’re being observed by someone from “The Party”.
Farrell is not good at this stuff due to his nerves and drinks heavily. He learns later that Tuček has disappeared and a sweating Farrell is questioned by the Czech police.
Later, in Milan he is accosted by his angry former fiancée (she never forgave his “cowardice”) and learns that the men he thought were dead had survived somehow.
The story then hits a bit of a rough patch while he gets involved with a femme fatale (for goodness sake just leave it, Farrell) and, unbelievably, winds up in a villa on the slopes of Vesuvius just as the volcano wakes from dormancy. However unlikely this series of events seems the story is rescued by the author’s skill at describing the eruption and the danger encountered by the protagonists in their increasingly desperate attempt to escape the slowly advancing and encircling lava.
It’s 1950 and, true to his formula, Innes introduces us to Dick Farrell, a former WWII flying ace who lost a leg to a sadistic surgeon in excruciating circumstances while a POW in Northern Italy. Unable to fly, he’s now a sales rep for a machine tool company working his way around the industrial centres of Europe in pursuit of an honest living while not dealing with the guilt of being responsible for the deaths of two fellow POWs.
At a Pilsen steelworks he meets the boss, Tuček, a Czech pilot with whom Farrell had flown and who wants him to arrange a meeting with an agent in the town but can’t give details as they’re being observed by someone from “The Party”.
Farrell is not good at this stuff due to his nerves and drinks heavily. He learns later that Tuček has disappeared and a sweating Farrell is questioned by the Czech police.
Later, in Milan he is accosted by his angry former fiancée (she never forgave his “cowardice”) and learns that the men he thought were dead had survived somehow.
The story then hits a bit of a rough patch while he gets involved with a femme fatale (for goodness sake just leave it, Farrell) and, unbelievably, winds up in a villa on the slopes of Vesuvius just as the volcano wakes from dormancy. However unlikely this series of events seems the story is rescued by the author’s skill at describing the eruption and the danger encountered by the protagonists in their increasingly desperate attempt to escape the slowly advancing and encircling lava.
August 28, 2012
This book farted in my mouth in the first chapter. It spent a few chapters trying to convince me that I was actually enjoying a nice ice cream sunday, but by about chapter 5 there was no doubt that the taste in my mouth was indeed fart.
The front cover makes promises that "she was beautiful and depraved..." and suggests some hilarious 1950's misogyny with an image of a naked woman covering herself on the cover. The text excerpt on the back cover is misleadingly pieced together from sentences in various chapters of the book to imply that this book may be an uncomfortably amusing romance novel. What it turned out to be was a groan-inducing string of minor conflicts centered on an alcoholic coward who Fortunately my old copy of this book fell apart as I was reading it so that no one else will be let down.
The front cover makes promises that "she was beautiful and depraved..." and suggests some hilarious 1950's misogyny with an image of a naked woman covering herself on the cover. The text excerpt on the back cover is misleadingly pieced together from sentences in various chapters of the book to imply that this book may be an uncomfortably amusing romance novel. What it turned out to be was a groan-inducing string of minor conflicts centered on an alcoholic coward who Fortunately my old copy of this book fell apart as I was reading it so that no one else will be let down.
July 22, 2019
This was actually a re-read, as I read a lot of Hammond Innes as a teen. My mum was a big fan. When she passed, I put her copies on my bookshelf, and I've started trying to reread them. Most of them, I must confess I've given up on. They feel dated, and take too long scene setting and character building before the story really gets going.
This one is somewhat better in that regard.
I felt some affinity for it, because I remembered that certain passages made a big impression on me, and influenced my writing back in the day.
So I read this one all through.
But I was still somewhat disappointed. It didn't thrill me in the way my memory suggested it would. And Dick annoyed me.
Sorry, Hammond, it is heading for the boot sale.
This one is somewhat better in that regard.
I felt some affinity for it, because I remembered that certain passages made a big impression on me, and influenced my writing back in the day.
So I read this one all through.
But I was still somewhat disappointed. It didn't thrill me in the way my memory suggested it would. And Dick annoyed me.
Sorry, Hammond, it is heading for the boot sale.
May 21, 2020
The story has a lot of elements going for it: post-war intrigue, secret agents, a beautiful contessa, a dastardly villain, sparkling scenery, and a smoldering volcano. Too bad the hero, former RAF pilot Dick Farrell, is so tortured mentally and physically his role strains the reader's credulity. Farrell vacillates between paralyzing self-doubt and euphoria, self-medicating with cognac and seltzer. He stumbles from one scene to the next, afraid he's a coward, running away from danger only to foolishly approach it again. It takes the love of a good woman - someone he'd met briefly three whole times - to snap him out of his funk. We've all heard of 'snakes on a plane' but this is the first I've encountered a donkey on a Dakota. Nuff said.
October 30, 2017
Personally, I find this to be Innes' best book, or at least the best one of those I've read so far.
August 15, 2025
Innes is at his best when his characters need to endure something — survival in the mountains, in the snow or in the open sea. And not so good with psychological tribulations. The first two thirds of this book is a very prolonged psychological battle of the main character with oneself, a cat and mouse spy game, where the hero is a very unsure and weak mouse.
It would be basically a 2-2.5 star book, if not for the third act, wich is unique, unusual and exciting. Also, a whole extra star for a scene with a mule.
It would be basically a 2-2.5 star book, if not for the third act, wich is unique, unusual and exciting. Also, a whole extra star for a scene with a mule.
March 22, 2022
Read a lot of innes lately and this seemed intriguing. But apart from a really nice set piece ending as Vesuvius explodes it was a bit disappointing. The hero was too weak and unpleasant to like and the villain was obvious from the start. Will continue to read innes books but he couldn't be brilliant all the time
January 4, 2020
I am a huge fan of Hammond Innes, I have read a lot of his books many times and am never disappointed until I finished this book. It’s so frustrating to read, it has a very weak storyline imho, it’s like Innes quickly slapped the story together with no substance.
May 4, 2021
I liked this book alot. An eruption was going on, on Iceland, while I was reading - so I got some vivid lava imagery on TV. Very fitting! The vulcano descriptions in the book are very realistic. Not everything in the plot is quite that realistic, however. Still very enjoyable!
December 13, 2018
A very good read.
January 11, 2020
An okay read but it was all a bit overwrought.
December 2, 2021
Hammond Innes is one of my favourite writers of suspense stories. His best genre is the sea and extreme climate, especially far north/south polar or tundra environment. The Angry Mountain is not his best. The protagonist is quite irritating, something of a whiner. Rather choose Innes's (far) better stories like The Wreck of the Mary Dear/The Land God gave to Cain etc.
September 12, 2016
Hammond Innes wrote a book a year in his prime: six months of travel and research, six months of writing. The attention to detail paid off in this fine thriller. The letter-perfect rendition of a man recovering from traumatic stress, and the awe-inspiring tale of escaping from a Mt. Vesuvius eruption are only the main highlights. I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to finish this one.
July 23, 2011
Hammond Innes (b1913-1998) was born in Horsham Sussex (I have been to Horsham!!) and was a great story teller. This story is gripping and tense. Innes saw active service in World War II and brings his experience to the narrative of the novel. This book was published in 1950 and the plot culminates with the explosion of Mount Vesuvius and was based on the author's own experience as he had witnessed an eruption of the same volcano. ""It was Pompeii over again. We knew what was going to happen, yet we felt no fear. It was all too vast." The central theme in most of Innes's novels seems to be " man against the forces of nature" and this book is no different. The protagonist is an innocent and yet is drawn unwillingly into chaos. Classed as a thriller, it is still a good read all these years later.
November 7, 2017
Not one of Innes's best. Reads like a 1950s men's pulp magazine story with hero caught in ridiculous situations involving sexy females. Would have made a great B movie in the 50s. The wackiest subplot involves a mule which the hero has befriended, and as they make their escape on an airplane, the hero refuses to go unless the mule is allowed on board. And this was not a comedic interlude; the mule had a pivotal role in the story. The author must have had a reason to involve a mule into the story, but it is baffling. Most mules would not fit in a small airplane.
October 8, 2009
An adventure thriller set in the 50s, after World War II but prior to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, of which said eruption happens to be the book's finale. The main character has to deal with his own demons as well as the enemies of his past as a simple trip ended up with him being embroiled in industrial espionage. I wasn't much impressed with this, but that could be due to the setting and my youth).
February 22, 2011
a solid thriller from a master of the genre. It was a little slow in build-up, and the style is slightly dated, but when it got to the actual mountain getting angry, it became a gripping tale. Characters and plot are pretty standard fare.
Conclusion: a good enough choice for a holiday or for an airplane trip
Conclusion: a good enough choice for a holiday or for an airplane trip
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July 22, 2012I really enjoyed a number of Hammond Innes books as a teenager.
September 28, 2013
Enjoyed it immensely!
Loved the suspense!
Another superb Hammond Innesmystery!
Loved the suspense!
Another superb Hammond Innesmystery!
November 1, 2013
Slow start but soon had me hooked. First Hammond Innes book I've read, will be looking out for more.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews