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Midnight Plus One
With an industrial empire at stake, one of the best of Lyall's four-letter-surnamed protagonists goes back to his WWII haunts to take on some of his French Resistance comrades in a deadly chase.
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First published January 1, 1965
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653 people want to read
About the author
Gavin Lyall
69 books31 followersGavin was born and educated in Birmingham. For two years he served as a RAF pilot before going up to Cambridge, where he edited Varsity, the university newspaper. After working for Picture Post, the Sunday Graphic and the BBC, he began his first novel, The Wrong Side of the Sky, published in 1961. After four years as Air Correspondent to the Sunday Times, he resigned to write books full time. He was married to the well-known journalist Katherine Whitehorn and they lived in London with their children.
Lyall won the British Crime Writers' Association's Silver Dagger award in both 1964 and 1965. In 1966-67 he was Chairman of the British Crime Writers Association. He was not a prolific author, attributing his slow pace to obsession with technical accuracy. According to a British newspaper, “he spent many nights in his kitchen at Primrose Hill, north London, experimenting to see if one could, in fact, cast bullets from lead melted in a saucepan, or whether the muzzle flash of a revolver fired across a saucer of petrol really would ignite a fire”.
He eventually published the results of his research in a series of pamphlets for the Crime Writers' Association in the 1970s. Lyall signed a contract in 1964 by the investments group Booker similar to one they had signed with Ian Fleming. In return for a lump payment of £25,000 and an annual salary, they and Lyall subsequently split his royalties, 51-49.
Up to the publication in 1975 of Judas Country, Lyall's work falls into two groups. The aviation thrillers (The Wrong Side Of The Sky, The Most Dangerous Game, Shooting Script, and Judas Country), and what might be called "Euro-thrillers" revolving around international crime in Europe (Midnight Plus One, Venus With Pistol, and Blame The Dead).
All these books were written in the first person, with a sardonic style reminiscent of the "hard-boiled private-eye" genre. Despite the commercial success of his work, Lyall began to feel that he was falling into a predictable pattern, and abandoned both his earlier genres, and the first-person narrative, for his “Harry Maxim" series of espionage thrillers beginning with The Secret Servant published in 1980. This book, originally developed for a proposed BBC TV Series, featured Major Harry Maxim, an SAS officer assigned as a security adviser to 10 Downing Street, and was followed by three sequels with the same central cast of characters.
In the 1990s Lyall changed literary direction once again, and wrote four semi-historical thrillers about the fledgling British secret service in the years leading up to World War I.
Gavin Lyall died of cancer in 2003.
Lyall won the British Crime Writers' Association's Silver Dagger award in both 1964 and 1965. In 1966-67 he was Chairman of the British Crime Writers Association. He was not a prolific author, attributing his slow pace to obsession with technical accuracy. According to a British newspaper, “he spent many nights in his kitchen at Primrose Hill, north London, experimenting to see if one could, in fact, cast bullets from lead melted in a saucepan, or whether the muzzle flash of a revolver fired across a saucer of petrol really would ignite a fire”.
He eventually published the results of his research in a series of pamphlets for the Crime Writers' Association in the 1970s. Lyall signed a contract in 1964 by the investments group Booker similar to one they had signed with Ian Fleming. In return for a lump payment of £25,000 and an annual salary, they and Lyall subsequently split his royalties, 51-49.
Up to the publication in 1975 of Judas Country, Lyall's work falls into two groups. The aviation thrillers (The Wrong Side Of The Sky, The Most Dangerous Game, Shooting Script, and Judas Country), and what might be called "Euro-thrillers" revolving around international crime in Europe (Midnight Plus One, Venus With Pistol, and Blame The Dead).
All these books were written in the first person, with a sardonic style reminiscent of the "hard-boiled private-eye" genre. Despite the commercial success of his work, Lyall began to feel that he was falling into a predictable pattern, and abandoned both his earlier genres, and the first-person narrative, for his “Harry Maxim" series of espionage thrillers beginning with The Secret Servant published in 1980. This book, originally developed for a proposed BBC TV Series, featured Major Harry Maxim, an SAS officer assigned as a security adviser to 10 Downing Street, and was followed by three sequels with the same central cast of characters.
In the 1990s Lyall changed literary direction once again, and wrote four semi-historical thrillers about the fledgling British secret service in the years leading up to World War I.
Gavin Lyall died of cancer in 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
October 31, 2021
MIDNIGHT PLUS ONE is very nearly a perfect high adventure thriller. Its plot is linear and fast-paced. The dialogue is terrific, which is a rarity in thrillers of its era. It is two-parts John Buchan-style thriller and one part Raymond Chandler. Gavin Lyall is arguably the best thriller writer of his era, and MIDNIGHT PLUS ONE is his best book.
August 5, 2018
Midnight Plus One is considered to be one of Gavin Lyall's best novels and one of the few still in print (at least according to my Internet research). Published in 1965 it is a classic "Euro-thriller" that is part travelogue and part shopping catalog. The action sequences take us across France and Switzerland while providing loving detailed descriptions of the character's clothes, cars, food and firearms. The book is very much a product of the early sixties and reminds me of Eric Ambler. Ian Fleming, a young Jack Higgins and Raymond Chandler. Written in the first person narrative Lyall gives the novel a hard-edged noir type flavor which goes nicely with the European setting - believe it or not. I actually found myself enjoying the novel a lot more than I expected. I especially liked the sequences involving the Citroen DS and the hero's Mauser Broomhandle pistol. What had once been a contemporary novel is now an enjoyable period piece.
December 5, 2020
Midnight Plus One by Gavin Lyall has a cold-war, espionage, mid-'60's feel to it, BUT, the plot is actually quite different...a Brit operative and a young, alcoholic, American gun-man are hired to drive, and keep alive, a business man who needs to get from Brittany, France, to Lichtenstein for the signage of some documents...and certain factions want them halted! Sooooo, this novel is actually a road trip with danger at every turn...and it's very exciting when they are in fact traveling, but the plot bogs down each time they stop for an extended period, like in Montreux...Midnight also has a Parker feel to it, but I must say Midnight is much better written than any Parker I've read...Also, I enjoyed reading this book because other than Brittany, I have traveled through all these areas, so it was a fun read for me personally...I give it 3.75 stars!
September 18, 2018
This one was a nice surprise I have to admit. Also it shows that history only repeats itself.
It is almost 20 years after the WW2 and all the veterans that where involved in the dangerous hide-and-seek game behind German front-lines in France are now involved into more shadier activities as hired guns for underworld, assassins, bodyguards, information-brokers and every role in between that requires tough, action driven person that is more than capable to take care of oneself with or without weapons.
And here enters Lewis Cane, former SOE operator in France, hired to transport famous businessman from shores of France to Liechtenstein so that businessman can attend a very important meeting while avoiding the police wanting him for questioning in regard to the sexual abuse.
Cane is joined by Harvey Lovell, veteran bodyguard of US Secret Service and [as they elude hired guns that try to kill them all] his friends from days of WW2 struggle. All of the characters have their own problems, and "mental-baggage" from the past. But the way they act and behave shows that they are professionals in their field. I have to admit level of details is exquisite.
Story is very fast paced and very, very modern. I have read some of the older thrillers but for this one I would never guess that it was written int he 1960's. I would place it in the more recent time-range (90's, even 2000's).
I am currently looking out for more works by this author.
Highly recommended for all fans of action thrillers.
It is almost 20 years after the WW2 and all the veterans that where involved in the dangerous hide-and-seek game behind German front-lines in France are now involved into more shadier activities as hired guns for underworld, assassins, bodyguards, information-brokers and every role in between that requires tough, action driven person that is more than capable to take care of oneself with or without weapons.
And here enters Lewis Cane, former SOE operator in France, hired to transport famous businessman from shores of France to Liechtenstein so that businessman can attend a very important meeting while avoiding the police wanting him for questioning in regard to the sexual abuse.
Cane is joined by Harvey Lovell, veteran bodyguard of US Secret Service and [as they elude hired guns that try to kill them all] his friends from days of WW2 struggle. All of the characters have their own problems, and "mental-baggage" from the past. But the way they act and behave shows that they are professionals in their field. I have to admit level of details is exquisite.
Story is very fast paced and very, very modern. I have read some of the older thrillers but for this one I would never guess that it was written int he 1960's. I would place it in the more recent time-range (90's, even 2000's).
I am currently looking out for more works by this author.
Highly recommended for all fans of action thrillers.
June 24, 2022
This is one of Gavin Lyall’s best novels. I thought I would miss the gripping flying sequences so prevalent in his previous works but the rollercoaster ride through France more than compensated. Fine characters: an ageing hero coming to terms with his past as an SOE agent and an alcoholic bodyguard protecting a wealthy business tycoon who has been framed for rape. They soon find out they are pitted against the best gunmen in Europe. With crackling dialogue, a dry sense of humour, and Lyall’s descriptions of fashion, firearms and French cuisine, Midnight Plus One is an old fashioned but enjoyable thriller.
September 24, 2012
Originally published on my blog here in November 2000.
Lewis Cane was once a hero; under the nickname Caneton he was an SOE operative in the French resistance. After the war, he hasn't really found what he wants to do, until an expensive lawyer hires him to transport a businessman across France. Magonhard can't just travel in the usual manner; not only are his enemies seeking to stop him, but then have also arranged a false accusation of rape to ensure that the police will also be looking for him. He needs to arrive in Liechtenstein as soon as possible, to save a business that the death of one of his partners seems set to destroy.
The journey is partly about Caneton showing that he is still competent in this kind of work, but more interestingly also about him coming to terms not just with his own history but with the realisation that the past is past and that this is no longer what he does. It makes the novel more than a run of the mill thriller, as Lyall examines a side of "the hero" not so commonly part of the genre - what happens when the time for heroism is past. Cane is a contrast to the other man accompanying the party across France: an alcoholic bodyguard unable to cope psychologically with the work that he is supremely gifted in - another interesting character.
An excellent thriller, well worth reading.
Lewis Cane was once a hero; under the nickname Caneton he was an SOE operative in the French resistance. After the war, he hasn't really found what he wants to do, until an expensive lawyer hires him to transport a businessman across France. Magonhard can't just travel in the usual manner; not only are his enemies seeking to stop him, but then have also arranged a false accusation of rape to ensure that the police will also be looking for him. He needs to arrive in Liechtenstein as soon as possible, to save a business that the death of one of his partners seems set to destroy.
The journey is partly about Caneton showing that he is still competent in this kind of work, but more interestingly also about him coming to terms not just with his own history but with the realisation that the past is past and that this is no longer what he does. It makes the novel more than a run of the mill thriller, as Lyall examines a side of "the hero" not so commonly part of the genre - what happens when the time for heroism is past. Cane is a contrast to the other man accompanying the party across France: an alcoholic bodyguard unable to cope psychologically with the work that he is supremely gifted in - another interesting character.
An excellent thriller, well worth reading.
March 13, 2017
Old school post war suspense twists no sex.
As above. Re read would make a good road trip with a few bottles of wine and french cuisine. Be a good movie.
As above. Re read would make a good road trip with a few bottles of wine and french cuisine. Be a good movie.
July 30, 2021
Lewis Cane is an ex-OSE agent doing dodgy casual work in France for dodgy businessmen. By chance he meets an old dodgy resistance colleague Henri Merlin, now a lawyer to dodgy businessmen, who has a well-paid dodgy one-off job offer: to drive wanted dodgy businessman M. Manganhard to Liechtenstein for a vital dodgy business meeting. Cane takes the job and enters into forty-eight hours of trouble.
Lyall forsakes airplanes for cars in this one. Cane takes his charge and his youthful secretary through northern France accompanied by Harvey Lovell, an ex-CIA agent employed as a gun-for-hire. He needs him because the route is peppered with danger and intrigue and hoodlums galore.
Midnight Plus One is a strong thriller, with all the basic requirements fulfilled. I enjoyed it. Lyall lacks the golden descriptive touch of some writers. His location descriptions are uniformly ordinary, but he’s good with personalities. The dialogue is crisp and the action swift. The stand out sequences are a roadside car-jacking, a confrontation with a wizened old general with a hidden agenda and a host of hidden accomplices and a gunfight along the trenches of a Swiss frontier fortress. The novel lacks humour. It has an old-fashioned attitude towards rape. It has a very poor appreciation of addiction (Lovell is an alcoholic). This maybe because the novel is over fifty years old or it maybe because Lyall isn’t very knowledgeable about sex and drink. His characters are not overly sensual, even the women, who tend to be admirable objects with little character.
The novel does have drive and energy. The scenario is fine. I enjoyed it.
Lyall forsakes airplanes for cars in this one. Cane takes his charge and his youthful secretary through northern France accompanied by Harvey Lovell, an ex-CIA agent employed as a gun-for-hire. He needs him because the route is peppered with danger and intrigue and hoodlums galore.
Midnight Plus One is a strong thriller, with all the basic requirements fulfilled. I enjoyed it. Lyall lacks the golden descriptive touch of some writers. His location descriptions are uniformly ordinary, but he’s good with personalities. The dialogue is crisp and the action swift. The stand out sequences are a roadside car-jacking, a confrontation with a wizened old general with a hidden agenda and a host of hidden accomplices and a gunfight along the trenches of a Swiss frontier fortress. The novel lacks humour. It has an old-fashioned attitude towards rape. It has a very poor appreciation of addiction (Lovell is an alcoholic). This maybe because the novel is over fifty years old or it maybe because Lyall isn’t very knowledgeable about sex and drink. His characters are not overly sensual, even the women, who tend to be admirable objects with little character.
The novel does have drive and energy. The scenario is fine. I enjoyed it.
March 29, 2023
An story of high suspense and intrigue. Luis Canetón is an ex British Secret Service takes a job. The job is simple , guard a millionaire businessman Maganhard and take him safely to a business meeting. The enemy is a unknown person behind a fake name and planning to cash the company and needs to prevent Maggabhard to reach the meeting. Luis is accompanied only by Harvey, the 3rd best gunman in Europe. But the enemy seems to know everything , always one step ahead of them and also hired the best two gunman to stop Maganhard at any cost.
Written in 1965, still feels pretty good. Not many unrealistic action scene but always keeps you in suspense.
Written in 1965, still feels pretty good. Not many unrealistic action scene but always keeps you in suspense.
May 15, 2024
Livro de estilística interessante em estilo antigo, aposentado nas novelas atuais. O autor realmente tem controle absoluto do que escreve, e entrega um enredo de certa forma simples - uma viagem entre dois países - prendendo a atenção do leitor pela narração clara, quase poética e informativa. No entanto, é um livro de suspense que, para mim, como em quase todos os livros desse gênero, tem um final que não surpreende muito. Mas é boa a leitura.
August 12, 2025
It is such a smooth and fun thriller. The stakes and plan are simple, keeping all of the out maneuvering and gun fights quick, dirty and reasonable. The characters are each a collection of a couple traits bumping heads while spouting cool as hell noir-ish one liners. It may not be deep, but is a good time.
December 29, 2017
Some good lines and a couple of intriguing characters. But rather long-winded without a driving force behind the story or a strong reason to care about the people.
August 4, 2024
I loved this book as teenager when I read it the first time. As an adult I found that it was entertaining but pales in comparison to his other espionage/adventure novels.
June 6, 2025
Classic thriller
March 13, 2015
Κλασικό περιπετειώδες θρίλερ της δεκαετίας του '60 που ακολουθεί την πετυχημένη βρετανική συνταγή και αν ο Χάρος δεν προλάβαινε τον Στιβ Μακουίν που αγόρασε τα δικαιώματα για την μεταφορά του σε ταινία, με τον ίδιο πρωταγωνιστή, σίγουρα θα γινόταν πιο γνωστό.
Πως έχει η ιστορία: Ο Λιούις Κέιν, πρώην πράκτορας των μυστικών υπηρεσιών της Αγγλίας που πολέμησε στο πλευρό των Γάλλων της Αντίστασης κατά τον Β'ΠΠ και νυν δικηγόρος, συναντιέται μ'έναν πρώην συμπολεμιστή του που είχε να δει για χρόνια. Αυτός του προτείνει μια καλοπληρωμένη δουλειά, την ασφαλή μεταφορά ενός πολυεκατομμυριούχου επιχειρηματία από την Γαλλία στο Λιχτενστάιν. Ο συγκεκριμένος άνθρωπος καταζητείται από την γαλλική Ασφάλεια και από κάποιους πιστολάδες που τον θέλουν νεκρό. Ο Κέιν, με την βοήθεια ενός άλλου πιστολά, θα κάνει τα πάντα για να φτάσει ο επιχειρηματίας στο Λιχτενστάιν. Κάποια στιγμή θα μάθει φυσικά και τους λόγους που τον κυνηγάνε και γιατί σώνει και καλά πρέπει να φτάσει τόσο γρήγορα στο μικρό αυτό κρατίδιο...
Το μυθιστόρημα προτείνεται αποκλειστικά και μόνο στους φαν συγγραφέων όπως οι Ντέσμοντ Μπάγκλεϊ, Άλιστερ Μακλίν, Ντόναλντ Χάμιλτον κλπ, που θέλουν απλά να διαβάσουν μια σύντομη και καλογραμμένη περιπέτεια με άφθονη δράση και μικρές εκπληξούλες στην πλοκή, χωρίς όμως ιδιαίτερα αναπτυγμένους χαρακτήρες ή βαθύτερα νοήματα. Εγώ ήξερα τι περίμενα και οπωσδήποτε έμεινα ευχαριστημένος.
Η μετάφραση δείχνει τα σαράντα και βάλε χρόνια της και τα κόμματα θα μπορούσαν να ήταν λιγότερα, πάντως δεν με χάλασε, έκανε την δουλειά της.
"Μεσάνυχτα κι ένα λεπτό", εκδόσεις ΒΙΠΕΡ.
Πως έχει η ιστορία: Ο Λιούις Κέιν, πρώην πράκτορας των μυστικών υπηρεσιών της Αγγλίας που πολέμησε στο πλευρό των Γάλλων της Αντίστασης κατά τον Β'ΠΠ και νυν δικηγόρος, συναντιέται μ'έναν πρώην συμπολεμιστή του που είχε να δει για χρόνια. Αυτός του προτείνει μια καλοπληρωμένη δουλειά, την ασφαλή μεταφορά ενός πολυεκατομμυριούχου επιχειρηματία από την Γαλλία στο Λιχτενστάιν. Ο συγκεκριμένος άνθρωπος καταζητείται από την γαλλική Ασφάλεια και από κάποιους πιστολάδες που τον θέλουν νεκρό. Ο Κέιν, με την βοήθεια ενός άλλου πιστολά, θα κάνει τα πάντα για να φτάσει ο επιχειρηματίας στο Λιχτενστάιν. Κάποια στιγμή θα μάθει φυσικά και τους λόγους που τον κυνηγάνε και γιατί σώνει και καλά πρέπει να φτάσει τόσο γρήγορα στο μικρό αυτό κρατίδιο...
Το μυθιστόρημα προτείνεται αποκλειστικά και μόνο στους φαν συγγραφέων όπως οι Ντέσμοντ Μπάγκλεϊ, Άλιστερ Μακλίν, Ντόναλντ Χάμιλτον κλπ, που θέλουν απλά να διαβάσουν μια σύντομη και καλογραμμένη περιπέτεια με άφθονη δράση και μικρές εκπληξούλες στην πλοκή, χωρίς όμως ιδιαίτερα αναπτυγμένους χαρακτήρες ή βαθύτερα νοήματα. Εγώ ήξερα τι περίμενα και οπωσδήποτε έμεινα ευχαριστημένος.
Η μετάφραση δείχνει τα σαράντα και βάλε χρόνια της και τα κόμματα θα μπορούσαν να ήταν λιγότερα, πάντως δεν με χάλασε, έκανε την δουλειά της.
"Μεσάνυχτα κι ένα λεπτό", εκδόσεις ΒΙΠΕΡ.
January 5, 2022
I've always been a fan of Gavin Lyall. TBO, I think his earlier books (the ones with heros called Case, Card, Cane etc.) were better than the later Harry Maxim ones - or more imaginitive, anyway. They hit a spot somewhere between the implausibility of Alistair Maclean and the greyish realism of Hammond Innes, with a sort of dry humour that both of the other authors lacked. MPO is one of the best of them, with a neat, taught plot - a kind of extended, slow-motion car-chase - coupled to a cast of little more than half a dozen characters, most of whom are linked by both geography and history. Slowly but surely they spiral towards a showdown on the borders of Liechtenstein in which the various plot strands finally come together. Structurally, it's pretty neat, and I love the claustrophobia and mind-games between the fugitives. It's a bit dated, though. But then it was written sixty years ago.
December 24, 2019
This was a rollicking good read, fast moving, with a limited set of characters and a chase across Europe. It helped a good bit that I knew the geography and landscapes quite well. Recommended.
(Be aware that, perhaps true to its era, the way in which women are described can be shocking. Autres temps, autres moeurs, I hope.)
(Be aware that, perhaps true to its era, the way in which women are described can be shocking. Autres temps, autres moeurs, I hope.)
February 10, 2016
I actually like most books from this author, nice to see one of his listed here!
It's a dramatic story written shortly after the war in Europe (WW2).
It's about getting a businessman to a crucial meeting before a key deadline (midnight plus one minute on a specific day), while the "bad guys" are trying to stop that.
Quite a taught, well wrought drama leading up to a very exciting shoot out on the Swiss border!
It's a dramatic story written shortly after the war in Europe (WW2).
It's about getting a businessman to a crucial meeting before a key deadline (midnight plus one minute on a specific day), while the "bad guys" are trying to stop that.
Quite a taught, well wrought drama leading up to a very exciting shoot out on the Swiss border!
May 30, 2021
Re-read this book once more (fourth time, bought it way back in the early '80s), and yes, I think we can call it a timeless classic.
All the ingredients of a race against time are there, the good, the bad, the young girl, the old lover, morals (yes, even those and present), treason, loyalty…. everything. And for those who know France, even la couleur locale is there.
A quick reading page turner for a rainy day or two….amazing that (as it looks like) only few read this one….
All the ingredients of a race against time are there, the good, the bad, the young girl, the old lover, morals (yes, even those and present), treason, loyalty…. everything. And for those who know France, even la couleur locale is there.
A quick reading page turner for a rainy day or two….amazing that (as it looks like) only few read this one….
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October 15, 2008A Lya
Want to read
July 10, 2014I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12768122
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12768122
January 12, 2020
Excellent, well written espionage/noir story about a car ride through Western Europe.
September 22, 2020
Not bad, not great.
Read
February 1, 2019Erg leuk en spannend boek. Ik wist, toen ik aan het boek begon, niet waar het verhaal over ging dus het was een leuke verrassing. Het verhaal las erg makkelijk weg én was spannend, een echte pageturner.
Want to read
March 6, 2019Synopsis: with an industrial empire at stake, a WW2 underground vet goes back to France to take on former Resistance comrades in a deadly chase.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews