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Matt Helm #23
The Vanishers
Norseland intrigue
The disappearances are baffling. The victim rate is mounting. And the next likely target is Mac, the wily old spymaster & Matt Helm's boss.
Only Matt can stop the dirty work of the Vanishers.
Matt follows the trail of two women - both treacherous & beautiful - to chilly Scandinavia, ancestral home of the Helm clan.
Facing a coup from within the agency & a terrorist threat from without, Matt may very well join his ancestors sooner than he'd hoped.
The disappearances are baffling. The victim rate is mounting. And the next likely target is Mac, the wily old spymaster & Matt Helm's boss.
Only Matt can stop the dirty work of the Vanishers.
Matt follows the trail of two women - both treacherous & beautiful - to chilly Scandinavia, ancestral home of the Helm clan.
Facing a coup from within the agency & a terrorist threat from without, Matt may very well join his ancestors sooner than he'd hoped.
295 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1986
21 people are currently reading
120 people want to read
About the author
Donald Hamilton
102 books108 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 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 9, 2020
In Matthew Helm's world, there is no time for quibbles over what's best to do or what the consequences are. If someone plans to kill you, you had best take care of them first. We have our land where freedom
rings because people like Helm do the dirty work that has to be done.
Realistic, unsentimental, and the best spy fiction ever written, the Helm series has an aura of realness and authenticity about it. From the complications between men and women to the choices that have to be
made in a split second, this series has always strived to be realistic.
The Vanishers is one of the later books in the series. It takes place in Maryland, Sweden, and Finland and the plot shifts quite a bit as the story progresses. There are subplots about double agents and
peacenik protestors and counts and countesses and kidnappers. Amidst it all there's a civil war in the Agency and Helm never knows who is friend or who is foe.
It just missed being a great book but, for me, the plot was a bit too diffused and unfocused and the action seemed a little slow at least as compared to other books in the series. If you haven't read Helm
before, perhaps not the best one to start with. Overall, though, a solid, compelling story well worth reading
rings because people like Helm do the dirty work that has to be done.
Realistic, unsentimental, and the best spy fiction ever written, the Helm series has an aura of realness and authenticity about it. From the complications between men and women to the choices that have to be
made in a split second, this series has always strived to be realistic.
The Vanishers is one of the later books in the series. It takes place in Maryland, Sweden, and Finland and the plot shifts quite a bit as the story progresses. There are subplots about double agents and
peacenik protestors and counts and countesses and kidnappers. Amidst it all there's a civil war in the Agency and Helm never knows who is friend or who is foe.
It just missed being a great book but, for me, the plot was a bit too diffused and unfocused and the action seemed a little slow at least as compared to other books in the series. If you haven't read Helm
before, perhaps not the best one to start with. Overall, though, a solid, compelling story well worth reading
July 29, 2021
Mrs. Watrous said "Just because your chief has disappeared, and the person you expected to take charge in his place, temporarily, has been pushed aside by this man called Bennett...Why does that mean that we have to leave the country, Matt?"
"Washington is a funny place, Mrs. W. Discreet thievery is perfectly all right, of course - let's not be unreasonable - but if you're found with your hand in the till and the new gets out, they'll clobber you self-righteously to show how they really hate dishonesty, being so honest themselves...The guardians of public morality will bury you. But if all you're caught doing is betraying your country, no sweat. Don't give it another thought...Sometimes they don't quite have the gall to take you back into the government afterwards...I've now been involved in two different cases where a high-ranking bureaucrat allowed himself to become a patsy for folks who, let's say, were not exactly working for the good of the USA or the preservation of its constitution. In each case, even though we'd exposed him thoroughly, the man went on to more prestigious posts in Washington."
"The Mr. Bennett we are discussing?" I nodded.
"...his dubious organization was abolished; the FBI took up the slack. However, Bennett didn't appear to be a very bright guy, and is seemed that he'd merely acted as figurehead while the smart boys did the dirty work. We took care of them; but we decided that Bennett wasn't dangerous and it was safe to make a deal with him. We agree to let him tell us some things we needed to know in order to wind up the dirty business, in return for immunity. The decision was mine, and I'm afraid I was wrong. Apparently the guy wasn't as dumb and harmless as he acted. Somehow, after we turned him loose, he got himself welcomed back, even promoted himself a new position with a bit of salary and influence from which, it seems, he's been keeping an eye on us, the agency that smashed his beautiful government career. Now, with my chief missing he seems to have embarked upon a second, bossing our outfit...Now consider Mr. Bennett. After receiving a serious setback to his career through no fault of his own, as he sees it, he's managed to fight his way back to the kind of powerful position for which he is, he feels, superbly qualified by talent and experience. In this position he has at his disposal the services of a gang of rabid wolves like me, who don't much care whose throats they mangle as long as they get to taste a little blood....What's the matter?"
"You are not like that, Matt."
I grimaced."It's sweet of you to say so, but you don't know what I'm like, Mrs. W. You've only seen me on my best behaviour. Anyway, Bennett's right where he wants to be now, in full control of a government agency pretty much like the one I helped smash for him a few years back. The appointment's only temporary, in Mac's absence, but do you think for a moment that Bennett's going to let it be taken away from him if there's any possible way he can prevent it? If Mac fails to return, he's got it made...Bennett knows that he probably doesn't need to take direct action against my chief. All he has to do is prevent help from finding and reaching him wherever he's being held.
"Washington is a funny place, Mrs. W. Discreet thievery is perfectly all right, of course - let's not be unreasonable - but if you're found with your hand in the till and the new gets out, they'll clobber you self-righteously to show how they really hate dishonesty, being so honest themselves...The guardians of public morality will bury you. But if all you're caught doing is betraying your country, no sweat. Don't give it another thought...Sometimes they don't quite have the gall to take you back into the government afterwards...I've now been involved in two different cases where a high-ranking bureaucrat allowed himself to become a patsy for folks who, let's say, were not exactly working for the good of the USA or the preservation of its constitution. In each case, even though we'd exposed him thoroughly, the man went on to more prestigious posts in Washington."
"The Mr. Bennett we are discussing?" I nodded.
"...his dubious organization was abolished; the FBI took up the slack. However, Bennett didn't appear to be a very bright guy, and is seemed that he'd merely acted as figurehead while the smart boys did the dirty work. We took care of them; but we decided that Bennett wasn't dangerous and it was safe to make a deal with him. We agree to let him tell us some things we needed to know in order to wind up the dirty business, in return for immunity. The decision was mine, and I'm afraid I was wrong. Apparently the guy wasn't as dumb and harmless as he acted. Somehow, after we turned him loose, he got himself welcomed back, even promoted himself a new position with a bit of salary and influence from which, it seems, he's been keeping an eye on us, the agency that smashed his beautiful government career. Now, with my chief missing he seems to have embarked upon a second, bossing our outfit...Now consider Mr. Bennett. After receiving a serious setback to his career through no fault of his own, as he sees it, he's managed to fight his way back to the kind of powerful position for which he is, he feels, superbly qualified by talent and experience. In this position he has at his disposal the services of a gang of rabid wolves like me, who don't much care whose throats they mangle as long as they get to taste a little blood....What's the matter?"
"You are not like that, Matt."
I grimaced."It's sweet of you to say so, but you don't know what I'm like, Mrs. W. You've only seen me on my best behaviour. Anyway, Bennett's right where he wants to be now, in full control of a government agency pretty much like the one I helped smash for him a few years back. The appointment's only temporary, in Mac's absence, but do you think for a moment that Bennett's going to let it be taken away from him if there's any possible way he can prevent it? If Mac fails to return, he's got it made...Bennett knows that he probably doesn't need to take direct action against my chief. All he has to do is prevent help from finding and reaching him wherever he's being held.
December 10, 2024
For a “Boomer,” it’s always interesting to go back as a “spectator” and visit the Cold War era, but I wouldn’t want to live there. Of course, I read some of the original Matt Helm novels during that era when we thought in terms of the capacity for nuclear overkill. He was the U.S. version of James Bond, but his missions didn’t always seem as obvious as saving from the world from some psychopathic madman (but I’m almost redundant there). Bond was always more popular, perhaps because of the movies (Dean Martin’s on-screen appearance as Helm didn’t quite capture the character). Yet, Helm has more verisimilitude, functioning on a need-to-know basis versus Bond’s awareness of the entire situation, as well as featuring more incidents (across the series) of cutthroat internecine rivalry.
Bond seduces the women; Helm suspiciously allows himself to be seduced. Bond’s villains tend to brag about what they’ve accomplished (especially when they’ve entrapped him) but Helm only gets a little more than the bare minimum out of his “bad guys.” Bond is always in the center of the action; Helm is occasionally used as a distraction. There is more than a difference between the two Cold Warriors than is accountable between Anglo and American.
There is an irony in The Vanishers. Ostensibly, Helm is chasing down a kidnapping (primarily for espionage), but it turns out that his conundrum is a result of two different “peace” movements. The ante is raised by virtue of the fact that Helm’s longtime boss and mentor has been kidnapped. You don’t picture that happening to “M.” The story tracks over portions of Finland and Sweden. Helm’s own ancestral background comes into play in an interesting way, as does his ability to feign ignorance at the correct time.
The Vanishers offers some tricks, some surprises, some betrayals, and some curiosity. It’s even better than the Helm books I read back in my high school days. Donald Hamilton may well have been at the top of his game when he penned this one.
Bond seduces the women; Helm suspiciously allows himself to be seduced. Bond’s villains tend to brag about what they’ve accomplished (especially when they’ve entrapped him) but Helm only gets a little more than the bare minimum out of his “bad guys.” Bond is always in the center of the action; Helm is occasionally used as a distraction. There is more than a difference between the two Cold Warriors than is accountable between Anglo and American.
There is an irony in The Vanishers. Ostensibly, Helm is chasing down a kidnapping (primarily for espionage), but it turns out that his conundrum is a result of two different “peace” movements. The ante is raised by virtue of the fact that Helm’s longtime boss and mentor has been kidnapped. You don’t picture that happening to “M.” The story tracks over portions of Finland and Sweden. Helm’s own ancestral background comes into play in an interesting way, as does his ability to feign ignorance at the correct time.
The Vanishers offers some tricks, some surprises, some betrayals, and some curiosity. It’s even better than the Helm books I read back in my high school days. Donald Hamilton may well have been at the top of his game when he penned this one.
January 7, 2018
Matt Helm books are always good and easy to digest
March 11, 2022
Matt Helm has always been my favorite espionage series. Readers should, of course, recognize that the Dean Martin Matt Helm films are almost nothing like the books. Instead, they are almost a parody of the novels.
Helm is an older spy-- part of the old guard of a top secret government agency that tends to carry out the policies necessary to keep the United States safe. The capers are not the overblown plots that will destroy the world, but rather real espionage type activity. Hamilton wrote about twenty of these gritty, realistic gems from the 1960's to the 1980's.
What makes these stories realistic? First, Hamilton seems to know his firearms. He knows the calibers, the operation, and even understands ballistics. Second, since these were written between the 60's and 80's there is little reliance on modern tech. Finally, there is a huge amount of double-crossing taking place. Helm is constantly finding traitors among those he must work with. The motives given for these double-crosses are always quite plausible.
This novel explores a bit more than simple espionage. The reader will learn a few Swedish words and a bit of culture. He will also learn about how some of the aristocracy of Sweden works. There are a few other interesting tidbits and what I found to be a satisfying conclusion both in action and international intrigue.
I don't consider this one of the best of the series, but it was enjoyable and entertaining and made me want to begin searching out others in the series I have missed.
Helm is an older spy-- part of the old guard of a top secret government agency that tends to carry out the policies necessary to keep the United States safe. The capers are not the overblown plots that will destroy the world, but rather real espionage type activity. Hamilton wrote about twenty of these gritty, realistic gems from the 1960's to the 1980's.
What makes these stories realistic? First, Hamilton seems to know his firearms. He knows the calibers, the operation, and even understands ballistics. Second, since these were written between the 60's and 80's there is little reliance on modern tech. Finally, there is a huge amount of double-crossing taking place. Helm is constantly finding traitors among those he must work with. The motives given for these double-crosses are always quite plausible.
This novel explores a bit more than simple espionage. The reader will learn a few Swedish words and a bit of culture. He will also learn about how some of the aristocracy of Sweden works. There are a few other interesting tidbits and what I found to be a satisfying conclusion both in action and international intrigue.
I don't consider this one of the best of the series, but it was enjoyable and entertaining and made me want to begin searching out others in the series I have missed.
October 24, 2017
I recall reading some Matt Helm novels in the 60s/70s - he's a CIA-type agent, with a license to kill akin to James Bond.
This is from 1986, but the way women are portrayed by the author, and perceived by the first person POV of Helm, it might as well be from the 1950s.
The plot is overly complicated - the story ranging from Maryland/Washington to Sweden to Norway - and didn't make a lot of sense to me. Now, Matt Helm plots are sometimes as crazy as Fleming's Bond novels, but try to exist in a recognizable reality. This time it is a lot of words that don't really help. And there is much duplicity, from the top of the spy agency to the femmes fatales.
I enjoyed parts of the narrative, but mostly because of the retro excess of the story.
This is from 1986, but the way women are portrayed by the author, and perceived by the first person POV of Helm, it might as well be from the 1950s.
The plot is overly complicated - the story ranging from Maryland/Washington to Sweden to Norway - and didn't make a lot of sense to me. Now, Matt Helm plots are sometimes as crazy as Fleming's Bond novels, but try to exist in a recognizable reality. This time it is a lot of words that don't really help. And there is much duplicity, from the top of the spy agency to the femmes fatales.
I enjoyed parts of the narrative, but mostly because of the retro excess of the story.
January 17, 2025
People are vanishing. But Mac has other plans for Helm. He sends Mac after a woman named Astrid who has been attacked and is recovering in a hospital. The two of them flee to Sweden.
Helm learns that Mac has been kidnapped, but instead of the reins of power being handed over to Doug Barnett as planned their old foe Bennett takes over the agency.
Helm decides to leave Astrid with distant cousins. But those distant cousins have plans of their own. Bennett sends several teams to kill Helm while he tries to figure out what his relatives are up to.
This one was way too long.
Helm learns that Mac has been kidnapped, but instead of the reins of power being handed over to Doug Barnett as planned their old foe Bennett takes over the agency.
Helm decides to leave Astrid with distant cousins. But those distant cousins have plans of their own. Bennett sends several teams to kill Helm while he tries to figure out what his relatives are up to.
This one was way too long.
January 2, 2025
These books continue to gt worse by the publication. Why do I do this to myself you may ask - my answer is weak. I began reading them in hopes of finding the American James Bond, what i found was an idiot, who drinks to much, has sex with anything that has at least room temperature, has had more concussions that Troy Aikman, and is an alcoholic. If you've read the previous 22 books, you are probably like me, just getting through to the end - make it stop!
September 3, 2020
This is a very manly-man doing manly spy stuff for our government, even going so far as to have sex with TWO women cohorts in the process! He’s a good soldier, for sure. I remember reading Mack Bolan books in high school, and this isn’t THAT macho, but reminiscent in a good way. I enjoyed it, with caveats.
February 21, 2019
Shoot out at the OK ... tundra???
Once again, Matt ends up back in his ancestral homeland, where he must do double duty during this inventive caper. Hamilton even manages an ending different from the usual for this series.
Once again, Matt ends up back in his ancestral homeland, where he must do double duty during this inventive caper. Hamilton even manages an ending different from the usual for this series.
October 19, 2024
Excellent read!
Very convoluted suspenseful tale. Told in first person, by the main character, Mathew Helm. Wry sense of humor, deprecating at times. Amorous interludes punctuated by sophisticated violence drive this story of intercontinental intrigue.
Very convoluted suspenseful tale. Told in first person, by the main character, Mathew Helm. Wry sense of humor, deprecating at times. Amorous interludes punctuated by sophisticated violence drive this story of intercontinental intrigue.
June 1, 2020
Didn’t bother finishing.
July 1, 2020
Matt Helm just keeps getting better. Only a few left to go now. Sad!
August 18, 2014
I enjoyed The Detonators so much I picked up The Vanishers right away(something I dont normally do. I try to read different authors and genres before going back to a series) This is #23 in the Matt Helm series, there are only a few books left before my re-read will be over,and I will miss spending time with Mr Hamilton and Mr Helm.
People are vanishing and one of them is a friend of Helms boss. Using the circumstances to his advantage an old enemy, of the organization, moves in politically and try to take over. Matt's boss will handle the vanished, but Matt is fighting politics with violence, his specialty. At the core of Matt's side of the mission is a family connection, and of course a woman or two cant help being in the middle of it.
If you're a fan of Helm you pretty much know what you get here. If you havent had the pleasure I came across a quote in this book that tells you something about the Helm character, that is probably central to who he is and how he things. At some point some calls him a "strange man" his answer is "Why,because I'm always ready and willing to kill a two-legged animal that's trying to kill me, but occasionally I pass up a shot at a four-legged one that isn't? Seems quite logical to me,ma'am." There's a logic to it that goes beyond "orders" and "politics", and a heroism that is more every day then superhero like.
Again Titan books is reprinting the series so its a good time to go find Death of a Citizen and find out what you think of Matt Helm and Donald Hamilton.
People are vanishing and one of them is a friend of Helms boss. Using the circumstances to his advantage an old enemy, of the organization, moves in politically and try to take over. Matt's boss will handle the vanished, but Matt is fighting politics with violence, his specialty. At the core of Matt's side of the mission is a family connection, and of course a woman or two cant help being in the middle of it.
If you're a fan of Helm you pretty much know what you get here. If you havent had the pleasure I came across a quote in this book that tells you something about the Helm character, that is probably central to who he is and how he things. At some point some calls him a "strange man" his answer is "Why,because I'm always ready and willing to kill a two-legged animal that's trying to kill me, but occasionally I pass up a shot at a four-legged one that isn't? Seems quite logical to me,ma'am." There's a logic to it that goes beyond "orders" and "politics", and a heroism that is more every day then superhero like.
Again Titan books is reprinting the series so its a good time to go find Death of a Citizen and find out what you think of Matt Helm and Donald Hamilton.
October 23, 2014
I didn't like this book as much as the others the first time I read it. I think I took it too seriously. Actually, there was quite a bit of subtle humor in it that made it a great read on two levels; a good adventure story & the other was subtly poking fun at itself & the series or even genre as a whole.
Again, some older characters make their way into the story. Helm has been to Scandinavia before & we are reminded of it, which lends some depth to the story. Hamilton's eye caught many of the changes that took place in the 20 odd years since Helm's first visit & that was interesting. Other characters also make an appearance, some quite unexpected &, while the story depicted by the back cover description is technically correct, that's not the main thrust of the story. We're also given a deeper glimpse into another area of the organization that Helm works for, which I found quite interesting.
Another great read by Hamilton. On to The Demolishers!
(We're getting close to the end of the series!)
Again, some older characters make their way into the story. Helm has been to Scandinavia before & we are reminded of it, which lends some depth to the story. Hamilton's eye caught many of the changes that took place in the 20 odd years since Helm's first visit & that was interesting. Other characters also make an appearance, some quite unexpected &, while the story depicted by the back cover description is technically correct, that's not the main thrust of the story. We're also given a deeper glimpse into another area of the organization that Helm works for, which I found quite interesting.
Another great read by Hamilton. On to The Demolishers!
(We're getting close to the end of the series!)
April 10, 2016
The Matt Helm books were extremely popular in the 70s and 80s, and have been revived recently. They never displayed the hard-edged tradecraft of Adam Hall (the Quiller books), the quiet menace of Eric Ambler, or the cold-war-driven atmosphere of Len Deighton, but they were quick reads that were driven by Helm's snarky attitude and set of lethal skills. Helm was particularly good at standing up to torture while making wisecracks, and then getting even. The books were marked by the ill-concealed misogyny of the times (women fell in bed with Helm like leaves fall in autumn despite, or because of, his self-confidence, his willingness to use them, and his propensity for violence), but they always had serviceable plots and moved rapidly. They were transformed into the worst of the Hollywood spy films (Dean Martin and a host of cartoon-like villains trapped in a swamp of campy and unsuccessful attempts at humor).
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews