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Matt Helm #8
Matt Helm - The Ravagers
It was not a peaceful way to die, but there was nothing Matt Helm could do for his fellow agent. He had found him in a Canadian motel room, his once-handsome face eaten away, corroded by acid. Scratch one agent. The women wouldn’t be lining up for him now. But it created further problems. The most likely culprit was a woman Helm had orders to protect - no matter what the cost.
197 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 1964
20 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
Donald Hamilton
101 books107 followersDonald Hamilton was a U.S. writer of novels, short stories, and non-fiction about the outdoors. His novels consist mostly of paperback originals, principally spy fiction but also crime fiction and Westerns such as The Big Country. He is best known for his long-running Matt Helm series (1960-1993), which chronicles the adventures of an undercover counter-agent/assassin working for a secret American government agency.
Hamilton began his writing career in 1946, fiction magazines like Collier's Weekly and The Saturday Evening Post. His first novel Date With Darkness was published in 1947; over the next forty-six years he published a total of thirty-eight novels. Most of his early novels whether suspense, spy, and western published between 1954 and 1960, were typical paperback originals of the era: fast-moving tales in paperbacks with lurid covers. Several classic western movies, The Big Country and The Violent Men, were adapted from two of his western novels.
The Matt Helm series, published by Gold Medal Books, which began with Death of a Citizen in 1960 and ran for 27 books, ending in 1993 with The Damagers, was more substantial.
Helm, a wartime agent in a secret agency that specialized in the assassination of Nazis, is drawn back into a post-war world of espionage and assassination after fifteen years as a civilian. He narrates his adventures in a brisk, matter-of-fact tone with an occasional undertone of deadpan humor. He describes gunfights, knife fights, torture, and (off-stage) sexual conquests with a carefully maintained professional detachment, like a pathologist dictating an autopsy report or a police officer describing an investigation. Over the course of the series, this detachment comes to define Helm's character. He is a professional doing a job; the job is killing people.
Hamilton was a skilled outdoorsman and hunter who wrote non-fiction articles for outdoor magazines and published a book-length collection of them. For several years he lived on his own yacht, then relocated to Sweden where he resided until his death in 2006.
Hamilton began his writing career in 1946, fiction magazines like Collier's Weekly and The Saturday Evening Post. His first novel Date With Darkness was published in 1947; over the next forty-six years he published a total of thirty-eight novels. Most of his early novels whether suspense, spy, and western published between 1954 and 1960, were typical paperback originals of the era: fast-moving tales in paperbacks with lurid covers. Several classic western movies, The Big Country and The Violent Men, were adapted from two of his western novels.
The Matt Helm series, published by Gold Medal Books, which began with Death of a Citizen in 1960 and ran for 27 books, ending in 1993 with The Damagers, was more substantial.
Helm, a wartime agent in a secret agency that specialized in the assassination of Nazis, is drawn back into a post-war world of espionage and assassination after fifteen years as a civilian. He narrates his adventures in a brisk, matter-of-fact tone with an occasional undertone of deadpan humor. He describes gunfights, knife fights, torture, and (off-stage) sexual conquests with a carefully maintained professional detachment, like a pathologist dictating an autopsy report or a police officer describing an investigation. Over the course of the series, this detachment comes to define Helm's character. He is a professional doing a job; the job is killing people.
Hamilton was a skilled outdoorsman and hunter who wrote non-fiction articles for outdoor magazines and published a book-length collection of them. For several years he lived on his own yacht, then relocated to Sweden where he resided until his death in 2006.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
May 2, 2018
Apr2018: Even though I knew all the twists, this was still a lot of fun. Rudnicki's voice is a perfect fit for Helm so the first person POV comes across wonderfully.
Sep2015: This is a new release by Skyboat Media. Read by Stephen Rudnicki who did a great job, as usual.
Hamilton did a wonderful job, too. He starts out with a time worn plot & even says so & makes fun of it within the story. Then he twists it around & turns it into a fantastic plot that sucks me in.
Helm is in a particularly difficult position this time. His job is to help the bad guys. That means doing so without arousing their suspicions AND keeping the good guys at bay. It's not a nice job which is why his department got the job. Loved the ending.
As usual, it was very well done & packed a LOT of very logical action into a few short pages. This might be a good book to start with if you haven't read the series. It's best to read them in chronological order, although not strictly necessary.
Sep2015: This is a new release by Skyboat Media. Read by Stephen Rudnicki who did a great job, as usual.
Hamilton did a wonderful job, too. He starts out with a time worn plot & even says so & makes fun of it within the story. Then he twists it around & turns it into a fantastic plot that sucks me in.
Helm is in a particularly difficult position this time. His job is to help the bad guys. That means doing so without arousing their suspicions AND keeping the good guys at bay. It's not a nice job which is why his department got the job. Loved the ending.
As usual, it was very well done & packed a LOT of very logical action into a few short pages. This might be a good book to start with if you haven't read the series. It's best to read them in chronological order, although not strictly necessary.
July 22, 2017
I've been reading the Matt Helm books one after the other for a bit now. I find as I "review" them that I tend to repeat myself about some things but then i alwys have to assume that some will will be reading the "given review" while possibly not having the read the ones which went before.
So as noted before, back in the 1960s and into the 1970s i was "very into" the spy/fi sub-culture. 007, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, Danger Man and whatever others I could find. The Matt Helm films I saw casually (usually at a Drive-In Movie with my girl) and they were largely played for laughs and revolved around skimpily clad actresses. They were at best fair and probably (with movies like Our Man Flint) contributed to the decline of the genre. Thus I avoided the Matt helm books.
Once I tried them I found that they are not only "not anything like" the movies but are very well written and set in a gritty world of blood and violence. Helm is not only "not" a frivolous playboy but an assassin who started with the OSS during WWII.
Here we get an excellent addition to the series with a couple of nice twists. I usually (probably due to the number of books I've read over the years) see plot twists before they "twist" or "hit". But not here. There are a couple I really didn't see coming ( though in retrospect the clues were there and I was left feeling I should have). I will make it a point not to go close to them here as I don't want to tip the hand just in case you (reader) may miss them to.
These are excellent books with a lead character (protagonist) who is believable, tough, gritty and sometimes a little less than likable (in spite of the fact that as a WWII vet the age thing may require a little suspension of "disbelief").
So as you may have figured from my rating, I like the books (all so far) and can recommend them, this one enthusiastically included. Enjoy.
So as noted before, back in the 1960s and into the 1970s i was "very into" the spy/fi sub-culture. 007, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, Danger Man and whatever others I could find. The Matt Helm films I saw casually (usually at a Drive-In Movie with my girl) and they were largely played for laughs and revolved around skimpily clad actresses. They were at best fair and probably (with movies like Our Man Flint) contributed to the decline of the genre. Thus I avoided the Matt helm books.
Once I tried them I found that they are not only "not anything like" the movies but are very well written and set in a gritty world of blood and violence. Helm is not only "not" a frivolous playboy but an assassin who started with the OSS during WWII.
Here we get an excellent addition to the series with a couple of nice twists. I usually (probably due to the number of books I've read over the years) see plot twists before they "twist" or "hit". But not here. There are a couple I really didn't see coming ( though in retrospect the clues were there and I was left feeling I should have). I will make it a point not to go close to them here as I don't want to tip the hand just in case you (reader) may miss them to.
These are excellent books with a lead character (protagonist) who is believable, tough, gritty and sometimes a little less than likable (in spite of the fact that as a WWII vet the age thing may require a little suspension of "disbelief").
So as you may have figured from my rating, I like the books (all so far) and can recommend them, this one enthusiastically included. Enjoy.
October 23, 2014
An excellent murder mystery. Helm is sent to Canada to check on an agent who has failed to call in. He finds him dead & must take over his mission. As usual, no one knows the full story & Helm is told to complete his mission, no matter who gets hurt. Just who are the good/bad guys is up for grabs until the very end.
The characters are very believable as is all the action. Helm is good, but no superman. He makes mistakes; sometimes just human blunders, other times because he doesn't know everything that's going on. Occasionally, he even gets a bit soft-hearted, always a remedy for disaster. There are plenty of twists & turns to keep you guessing on a first read. Even later reads are fun.
One of the things I love is that Helm doesn't appear on the scene in a fancy car with fancy gadgets. His department is underfunded & unliked. They get the dirty jobs when all other options have been exhausted. In this book, he drives 500 miles in a VW bug & arrives tired, just like a normal person.
On to the next! One of the best things about this series is how well it all strings together. Helm is still a WWII veteran. It's not until much later in the series that his character becomes ageless. I'd guess the time is about 1963 (published 1964), although I'm not positive. He'd be in his mid-forties, I think, & he acts like it.
The characters are very believable as is all the action. Helm is good, but no superman. He makes mistakes; sometimes just human blunders, other times because he doesn't know everything that's going on. Occasionally, he even gets a bit soft-hearted, always a remedy for disaster. There are plenty of twists & turns to keep you guessing on a first read. Even later reads are fun.
One of the things I love is that Helm doesn't appear on the scene in a fancy car with fancy gadgets. His department is underfunded & unliked. They get the dirty jobs when all other options have been exhausted. In this book, he drives 500 miles in a VW bug & arrives tired, just like a normal person.
On to the next! One of the best things about this series is how well it all strings together. Helm is still a WWII veteran. It's not until much later in the series that his character becomes ageless. I'd guess the time is about 1963 (published 1964), although I'm not positive. He'd be in his mid-forties, I think, & he acts like it.
February 1, 2015
Mike Hammer meets James Bond can adequately describe the Matt Helm series of books by author Donald Hamilton. Published in the 1960's these books are an American tough guy take on the Cold War. Matt Helm is a rough and ready guy that is ready and willing to mix it up with tough guys or with international spies. In this story Matt finds himself having to protect an American woman who has some sensitive information that she is going to leak to a spy with whom she is having an affair.
I have been curious about these books looking for another Mike Hammer-type series where action and intrigue take center stage. But I found this story to take too long to get to the action and the intrigue less than intriguing. The characters seem very flat and more cliché than genuine. I know some of this is the vocabulary of the times but most of the dialogue struck me more as cliché than real-life.
The story turns out to be a good one at the end but it took some time to find itself to get there. I have read that most people think this may be the best in the series but I am willing to read a couple more to see if the stories get more interesting or the character of Matt Helm gets more likable.
As it is, Matt Helm is no Mike Hammer and he certainly is not James Bond.
I have been curious about these books looking for another Mike Hammer-type series where action and intrigue take center stage. But I found this story to take too long to get to the action and the intrigue less than intriguing. The characters seem very flat and more cliché than genuine. I know some of this is the vocabulary of the times but most of the dialogue struck me more as cliché than real-life.
The story turns out to be a good one at the end but it took some time to find itself to get there. I have read that most people think this may be the best in the series but I am willing to read a couple more to see if the stories get more interesting or the character of Matt Helm gets more likable.
As it is, Matt Helm is no Mike Hammer and he certainly is not James Bond.
September 10, 2015
Government Agent Matt Helm is in Canada in this adventure involved with a scientist's wife and young daughter who are on the run with secret laser formula documents. He must dodge foreign agents, members of other American government agencies, and discover who killed one of his confederates with an acid spurting gun. THis one had a kicker surprise in the last few pages that I never saw coming. Clever stuff. Still pretty misogynistic stuff for 2015, but clever and fun.
March 24, 2014
Matt Helm books are based on the "cowboy" story. The good guy wins the girl and rides off into the sunset at the end of the story. Although the story is the interesting part. This was an interesting plot that had several interesting quirks. The references to technology is dated by being about 30 years old. Still a good story.
July 6, 2008
All these Matt Helm books are great reads. Too bad they've gone out of vogue. And that the Dean Martin movies loosely based on them were so grotesquely different from the philosophy of the books.
August 29, 2012
I want to be Matt Helm when I grow up.
January 22, 2013
This is the one to read. The best of the Matt Helm series. After this one, they became longer, and lost the toughness of those that came before.
October 7, 2022
One of the better books in the series. It’s taken many books into this series for the character to develop into interesting ways and scenarios.
In the early books the mysogny is both dated and boring and stereotypical and just tired…
But after a dozen or more books the author seems to have gotten tired of it as well and has started twisting some of that boring sexist mysogny and come up with plot twists that work ‘if’ the reader either expects and wants mysogny or if the reader has read the previous 7 books and sort of expects it to continue…
Bursting that expectation finally starts to make this series interesting.
There’s still a 60’s era mysognistic dialogue. But the ‘hit man professionalism’ now seems to only use that as a schtik when it’s needed and throws it out when it’s not needed.
Gone are the weird early bodice ripping seems as well.
This book does have a cringe worthy bit where the hit man seems to calculate the potential of raping a 15 year old girl but this thru plot twists that are important later gets explained when not only is the 15 year old twenty but anyone who has the mindset that they should assume the twenty year old is 15 is making a deadly mistake.
It’s an interesting ploy(for a plot) and I suspect it’s one that might even work more effectively in 2022 than it did then but for all new reasons.
In the early books the mysogny is both dated and boring and stereotypical and just tired…
But after a dozen or more books the author seems to have gotten tired of it as well and has started twisting some of that boring sexist mysogny and come up with plot twists that work ‘if’ the reader either expects and wants mysogny or if the reader has read the previous 7 books and sort of expects it to continue…
Bursting that expectation finally starts to make this series interesting.
There’s still a 60’s era mysognistic dialogue. But the ‘hit man professionalism’ now seems to only use that as a schtik when it’s needed and throws it out when it’s not needed.
Gone are the weird early bodice ripping seems as well.
This book does have a cringe worthy bit where the hit man seems to calculate the potential of raping a 15 year old girl but this thru plot twists that are important later gets explained when not only is the 15 year old twenty but anyone who has the mindset that they should assume the twenty year old is 15 is making a deadly mistake.
It’s an interesting ploy(for a plot) and I suspect it’s one that might even work more effectively in 2022 than it did then but for all new reasons.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2024
Jenny Drilling has stolen documents from her physicist husband for her lover, Hans Ruyter. Her husband works with lasers. She is traveling through Canada with her daughter, Penny, who is very near-sighted.
“Eric” is sent to take over the assignment when another agent, Greg, is killed using sulfuric acid. Mac tells him that he must help the women reach the Atlantic coast of Canada to hand over the documents. He is not to blow his cover as a Denver PI.
The FBI has sent people to stop Jenny from achieving her goal.
The women are kidnapped by two convicts who have escaped prison. Eric rescues them. They are suspicious of him, accusing him of being a government agent, but allow him to travel with them.
There is a confrontation in a hotel between the women, the FBI agents, and Hans Ruyter. They race away from the scene.
Eric attempts to repair Penny’s glasses that were damaged during the scuffle in the hotel, but discovers the prescription is wrong. “Naomi” points her water gun filled with acid at him.
Eric overpowers her. Naomi says that Penny is being held somewhere in western Canada.
They continue driving east, retrieve the information and go to meet Gaston Muir, a Soviet agent. Naomi decides that Eric and Jenny must die.
Good read.
“Eric” is sent to take over the assignment when another agent, Greg, is killed using sulfuric acid. Mac tells him that he must help the women reach the Atlantic coast of Canada to hand over the documents. He is not to blow his cover as a Denver PI.
The FBI has sent people to stop Jenny from achieving her goal.
The women are kidnapped by two convicts who have escaped prison. Eric rescues them. They are suspicious of him, accusing him of being a government agent, but allow him to travel with them.
There is a confrontation in a hotel between the women, the FBI agents, and Hans Ruyter. They race away from the scene.
Eric attempts to repair Penny’s glasses that were damaged during the scuffle in the hotel, but discovers the prescription is wrong. “Naomi” points her water gun filled with acid at him.
Eric overpowers her. Naomi says that Penny is being held somewhere in western Canada.
They continue driving east, retrieve the information and go to meet Gaston Muir, a Soviet agent. Naomi decides that Eric and Jenny must die.
Good read.
July 25, 2021
Helm is sent to check on a tardy agent Greg Green, and found him, his face destroyed by acid. Checking in with Mac, Helm is to take over for agent Green. He is to gain Genevieve Drilling’s confidence. She is traveling east on the Trans Canada Highway with her daughter Penelope in a pickup and house trailer. She is suspected of making off with sensitive documents from her physicist husband, and possibly killing agent Green. She is also to meet with a man named Hans Reuter, not his real name, who is an enemy agent. Helm, aka David Kletinger, poses as a private detective hired by her husband, Herbert Drilling to ask Genevieve if she would send Penelope back home. Covertly, he is to determine if she had anything to do with the other accusations and her involvement with Reuter. So much for the setup of the story. Agents of various organizations are very interested in Genevieve Drilling. Elaine Harms is one such agent. Speaking of agents, Hans Reuter was high on the interest list. All these people are connected and to be chaperoned by Helm, who has his orders to follow through to the end. Will all Mac’s orders come to fruition? Surprises?
December 20, 2017
International intrigue takes Matt Helm to Canada on the trail of a lady who is delivering top secret documents to the other side. The catch is that Helm is to see that these documents get to the bad guys while making it look like every attempt was made to stop her. This being the 8th book of the series Helm is further and further away from the domestic life and family he gave up to return to the service just a few years prior. It's getting a little hard to understand what Helm sees in the life. He has no politics. His superiors share no real information on strategy. He isn't idealistic. His loved ones have been hurt and killed due to his service. He has entered a cycle of risking his life as a chess piece on a larger board he cannot see. If he's well paid he doesn't say. The only reward I can detect is the thrill he gets by coming so close to death and then killing others. Can we get this guy a beach house or something to even the effort?
November 13, 2020
Another great entry in the Matt Helm series. In this one, a woman is apparently leaving her scientist husband and running off with a Russian spy, taking some secret documents with her. She also brings her teenage daughter along. Since the papers she stole are actually fake, Matt has to help her escape. Agents from another department, unaware of this, are trying to stop her. Several murders later, there are a series of wonderful plot twists involving the real identities and hidden motivations of several of the players in this complex espionage game.
I've been going through the series via audio books. The reader, Stefan Rudnicki, does an excellent job of giving Helm's first-person narration just the right down of weary professionalism and cynical humor.
I've been going through the series via audio books. The reader, Stefan Rudnicki, does an excellent job of giving Helm's first-person narration just the right down of weary professionalism and cynical humor.
June 16, 2022
Really enjoy this series, Helm is perfect as a ruthless government assassin/fix it man. This time he has to take over a case quickly when the agent assigned to a case was killed. Helm found him with his face gone, due to acid, in a hotel room. He now is assigned to make sure a wife of a prominent scientist, who she stole top secret papers from, and her Russian spy lover actually get away. The papers were a plant and other agencies don't know that, but its important for those papers to get where they are going and Helm, like usual, is giving a license to kill who he needs to, friend or foe.
Highly recommended, Hamilton is a terrific writer and the first person, no nonsense, narration is perfect. All of the ones to this point are recommended, been reading them in order.
Highly recommended, Hamilton is a terrific writer and the first person, no nonsense, narration is perfect. All of the ones to this point are recommended, been reading them in order.
May 24, 2022
All the Matt Helm thrillers are excellent, but this one was exceptional. This time around, he is ordered to make sure the villains get away with their plot. Needless to say, it's not as easy as it sounds, especially when things get complicated, and somebody involved is throwing acid into people's faces. Helm has to ingratiate himself with an errant wife and her teenaged daughter who are on the run in Canada, only to discover that several other agencies, who are supposed to be on his side, have very different instructions...
Utterly brilliant plotting and writing. And huge fun to read.
Utterly brilliant plotting and writing. And huge fun to read.
January 16, 2021
One of the Best of the Helm secret agent stories
I'm a big fan of the Matt Helm spy stories. I think this might be one of the best. Helm is a much tougher and smarter secret agent than Bond, and this story is very clever without being confusing. The Helm stories each stand on their own but if you want to read them in order, the first is Death of a Citizen.
I'm a big fan of the Matt Helm spy stories. I think this might be one of the best. Helm is a much tougher and smarter secret agent than Bond, and this story is very clever without being confusing. The Helm stories each stand on their own but if you want to read them in order, the first is Death of a Citizen.
January 23, 2019
"n" Crosses
The venerable double cross is a favorite of mystery and spy novels. Mr. Hamilton upped that number considerably in Helm #8. Not sure exactly what "n" should equal. Frankly, I lost count...
The venerable double cross is a favorite of mystery and spy novels. Mr. Hamilton upped that number considerably in Helm #8. Not sure exactly what "n" should equal. Frankly, I lost count...
February 6, 2019
Helm is always a light entertainment. Far darker and grittier than the abbreviated movies from decades ago, these novels still contain a dry and earthy sense of humor along with fun insights into human behavior. For a light read they can't be beaten.
February 20, 2018
This is a great series. Each one is better than the next.
November 28, 2018
Another great Matt Helm book.
July 5, 2019
Good summer time reading. This time, Matt is undercover in Canada. Let's see, we have a femme fatale, a pistol that fires acid, the normal twists and turns of 60s era spies. So all good!
April 20, 2020
Another great Matt Helm adventure. The secret agent who just is not fancy! It's just plain and simple and get the job done! On to the next one!
October 21, 2021
Just another great thriller by Donald Hamilton’s Matt Helm.
January 27, 2022
Ravagers
Good from start to finish. Donald Hamilton writes good stories. I have been reading his books since the late 80s. I enjoy reading my them as well.
Good from start to finish. Donald Hamilton writes good stories. I have been reading his books since the late 80s. I enjoy reading my them as well.
April 29, 2023
A chase across Canada. A few more twists and intrigues than in the earlier books
June 20, 2023
Typical Matt Helm with an extra twist.
November 9, 2024
This was so good!
Donald Hamilton has the knack for a good yarn that draws you in and allows no escape.
Donald Hamilton has the knack for a good yarn that draws you in and allows no escape.
September 6, 2021
TYPICAL EXCELLENT MATT HELM STORY! ANOTHER ALWAYS GOOD READ! REALISTIC AS WELL AS KEEPS READER FULLY ONBOARD AND INTERESTED.
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