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The Lonely Skier: A taut, high-altitude espionage thriller
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY STELLA RIMINGTON
It lies somewhere beneath the snow, high in the Dolomites: Nazi gold, tainted with the blood of murdered men. Only a few know its secrets, and one by one they come in search of it - a hot-tempered Italian Comtessa, a racketeering pimp, a Greek criminal, a film-maker and a hapless writer. A tense battle of wits leads to an explosive finale in Innes' classic tale of revenge and deadly greed.
194 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1947
73 people are currently reading
1437 people want to read
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 - 30 of 76 reviews
March 12, 2021
This was my first Innes book & it quite definitely won't be my last!
Post World War Two, ex-soldier & ex-journalist Neil Blair is down on his luck. A chance meeting with another former soldier in London sees him travelling to Cortina to write a film script. It all sounds too good to be true - & it is!
I liked Neil & there were parts of the story I found genuinely thrilling, such as the ski run from hell. I did used to ski (very badly) and the narrative perfectly captured the out of control feeling of being on a ski slope that was just too hard for you - & I never had anyone wishing me harm! There was also one funny & quite bizarre scene which I won't spoil for other readers. And the ending was well done and I could see it working well on film.
But some things were a bit too implausible for me - in particular anything to do with photographer, Joe. A few parts dragged - surprising in such a short book.
But the best parts show a writer who can have you on the edge of your chair.
I own another five Innes titles & I look forward to reading them.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
Post World War Two, ex-soldier & ex-journalist Neil Blair is down on his luck. A chance meeting with another former soldier in London sees him travelling to Cortina to write a film script. It all sounds too good to be true - & it is!
I liked Neil & there were parts of the story I found genuinely thrilling, such as the ski run from hell. I did used to ski (very badly) and the narrative perfectly captured the out of control feeling of being on a ski slope that was just too hard for you - & I never had anyone wishing me harm! There was also one funny & quite bizarre scene which I won't spoil for other readers. And the ending was well done and I could see it working well on film.
But some things were a bit too implausible for me - in particular anything to do with photographer, Joe. A few parts dragged - surprising in such a short book.
But the best parts show a writer who can have you on the edge of your chair.
I own another five Innes titles & I look forward to reading them.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
April 8, 2021
The Dolomite mountains in Italy
3.5 stars for this 1947 thriller/suspense novel, set in the mountains of Italy in the post-WWII era ... so it’s a safe bet that there will be a bunch of Nazis menacing our hero. British journalist Neil Blair, recently released (demobbed) from the army, is having a hard time finding a decent job. He happens to run into his former superior officer, Engles, who offers him a job ostensibly writing a film script in an isolated ski chalet in the Dolomites, but Blair’s real job is to keep his eyes open and report anything unusual. If a usable script comes out of the trip too, so much the better.
Turns out there’s an awful lot to report. Something valuable is stashed up in those mountains in or near the chalet, and there are several different players who will stop at nothing to get their hands on it.
The Lonely Skier shows its age sometimes, with stereotypical characters. But the thriller parts are generally done well, with the exception of a scene or two that I found too hard to swallow. Still, there’s a really hair-raising chase in the snowy, foggy mountains that I won’t soon forget, and a solid ending with a good twist.
Group read with the Retro Reads group!
December 26, 2024
Hammond Innes' breakthrough novel captures the fears and uncertainty of the immediate postwar years. It also highlights the opportunities that someone like its protagonist, Neil Blair, could see right over the horizon. Until then, however, former Nazi agents, would-be mafiosos, filmmakers poised between the bright lights of the cinema and the twilight of former espionage careers, and vengeful courtesans make for an intimate group of plotters seeking to uncover a wartime cache of Nazi gold.
It's all just as wonderful as it sounds. Clearly influenced by Eric Ambler, here, Innes creates a claustrophobic setting amidst the rugged landscape of the Italian Dolomites. Avalanches, blizzards, and the cold check the aspirations of everyone at every turn. Already, Innes has begun to incorporate the formula that would generate so much success in subsequent books--a not too out of the ordinary man suddenly taken from his gentle surroundings and made to face the scheming of deadly enemies and the fierceness of natural forces.
A few minor flaws: in places the story is repetitive, even the very same words and sentences reappearing just a few pages later in the telling of things. And Innes, early on, had an obsession with his characters "slithering" and "whilsting" through their adventures. Otherwise, The Lonely Skier is a nicely plotted story, whose pace increases almost as quickly as the accumulation of snow and ice that traps the visitors in the remote mountain hut that holds all that gold.
It's all just as wonderful as it sounds. Clearly influenced by Eric Ambler, here, Innes creates a claustrophobic setting amidst the rugged landscape of the Italian Dolomites. Avalanches, blizzards, and the cold check the aspirations of everyone at every turn. Already, Innes has begun to incorporate the formula that would generate so much success in subsequent books--a not too out of the ordinary man suddenly taken from his gentle surroundings and made to face the scheming of deadly enemies and the fierceness of natural forces.
A few minor flaws: in places the story is repetitive, even the very same words and sentences reappearing just a few pages later in the telling of things. And Innes, early on, had an obsession with his characters "slithering" and "whilsting" through their adventures. Otherwise, The Lonely Skier is a nicely plotted story, whose pace increases almost as quickly as the accumulation of snow and ice that traps the visitors in the remote mountain hut that holds all that gold.
September 26, 2021
Нелош, но забравим трилър. Идеята с нацисткото съкровище е била актуална за времето си, но в наши дни е доста изтъркана. Героите са от една страна любопитни, а от друга - не твърде убедителни. Книжката е подходяща за губене на времето, но нищо повече.
March 4, 2021
3.5 stars - I had never read this thriller author before, but was intrigued by the post World War II plot premise involving Nazi gold hidden at an Italian ski lodge.
Our hero is Neil Blair, a down on his luck former soldier in London looking for work. He runs into his former commanding officer, Engles, who has become a very successful film director, and offers Neil a job as a screenwriter. Neil is thrilled with the offer, but Engles is rather shy on details of the project – but Neil is desperate, and soon on his way to the Dolomite Mountains in Italy, where the film is supposed to be shot. Engles was rather mysterious about the job, saying he already had a script, just telling Neil to keep an eye on whatever happens and keep him informed - he has to finish up another film, and will join him in Italy as soon as possible.
Right away I mistrusted Engles as a character, he seemed quite shifty and pompous. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Neil - I understood his desperation for work, and he knew Engles was not a very likable guy, indeed, hard on subordinates (sounded like a real jerk to me), but they had gotten along during the war, and he seemed to think this could be a good opportunity to break into writing.
So, Neil heads off to Italy meet some interesting people, and attends an auction for the ski hut he is staying at. He is assured by a local power broker and hotelier bidding on the chalet, that the deal is all cut and dried, he will walk away with the property, turn it into a luxury ski destination. But in a very exciting and tense scene, unknown and unexpected parties starting a bidding war. Something is up at the very basic chalet that several people seem to want!
Another very exciting scene happens on the slopes, as a villain attempts to lose Neil in the snow -by the time he realizes what is happening and how how much danger he is in, it’s almost too late. The snow is falling heavily, he is alone and trapped and exhausted and has a deadly journey ahead of him. This was a very gripping and terrifying scene, and very well done.
I started getting frustrated, however, with some of the behaviors of the several of the characters in the last few chapters of the book – stiff upper lips aside, it just seemed nonsensical. No spoilers, but I skimmed to the end. For the most part it was an exciting post-war thriller, and I’m glad I read this new-to-me author with the Retro Reads group.
Our hero is Neil Blair, a down on his luck former soldier in London looking for work. He runs into his former commanding officer, Engles, who has become a very successful film director, and offers Neil a job as a screenwriter. Neil is thrilled with the offer, but Engles is rather shy on details of the project – but Neil is desperate, and soon on his way to the Dolomite Mountains in Italy, where the film is supposed to be shot. Engles was rather mysterious about the job, saying he already had a script, just telling Neil to keep an eye on whatever happens and keep him informed - he has to finish up another film, and will join him in Italy as soon as possible.
Right away I mistrusted Engles as a character, he seemed quite shifty and pompous. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Neil - I understood his desperation for work, and he knew Engles was not a very likable guy, indeed, hard on subordinates (sounded like a real jerk to me), but they had gotten along during the war, and he seemed to think this could be a good opportunity to break into writing.
So, Neil heads off to Italy meet some interesting people, and attends an auction for the ski hut he is staying at. He is assured by a local power broker and hotelier bidding on the chalet, that the deal is all cut and dried, he will walk away with the property, turn it into a luxury ski destination. But in a very exciting and tense scene, unknown and unexpected parties starting a bidding war. Something is up at the very basic chalet that several people seem to want!
Another very exciting scene happens on the slopes, as a villain attempts to lose Neil in the snow -by the time he realizes what is happening and how how much danger he is in, it’s almost too late. The snow is falling heavily, he is alone and trapped and exhausted and has a deadly journey ahead of him. This was a very gripping and terrifying scene, and very well done.
I started getting frustrated, however, with some of the behaviors of the several of the characters in the last few chapters of the book – stiff upper lips aside, it just seemed nonsensical. No spoilers, but I skimmed to the end. For the most part it was an exciting post-war thriller, and I’m glad I read this new-to-me author with the Retro Reads group.
November 22, 2013
Having read this I am a little confused as to why it is Ian Fleming and not Hammond Innes who is our classic writer of thrillers. This is a gripping and fast paced story, with Nazi gold and amazing depictions of skiing thrown in. Not a dry martini in sight, nor the endless card games that Fleming is so obsessed with. You won't forget this book in a hurry.
December 19, 2023
Visit JetBlackDragonfly (The Man Who Read Too Much) at www.edenthompson.ca/blog
Hammond Innes also wrote The Wreck of the Mary Deare, a wartime ship mystery that I was going to read next. Somehow, my hands picked up The Lonely Skier instead, and it was an exciting tale well told.
It's 1947 and Neil Blair is recently demobilized, looking for work in London. He runs into Derek Engles, and acquaintance who is now making films. He offers Neil a job to write a film script and on location in Cortina, but actually to observe and report on the few other guests at the mountain top lodge named Col de Varda. Built on top of the machine house for a slittovia (a cable drawn funicular sleigh), the lodge was the scene many years ago where a German convoy of gold disappeared. Neil and a film location scout soon meet the other guests; Edouardo Mancini, looking to purchase the lodge in an auction; Stefan Valdini, a nattily dressed Sicilian gangster; Contessa Forelli, really a prostitute named Carla; Kereminos, formerly of Greek intelligence; and Gabriel Mayne, an expert skier in a white suit with a yellow scarf.
They are all liars with hidden back stories and common histories, which Neil (and the late arriving Derek) must discover. There is a hair raising section where Mayne abandons Neil on a ski path over a mountain range to another town, crossing the Cristallino glacier in a building snowstorm - was it a way to lose him forever? Back at the refugio, tensions mount as motives are revealed and the guests are forced to remain snowbound until the storm has passed. The characters were tough and well drawn and there is genuine tension and danger, ski chases, hidden Nazi gold, a whiteout snowstorm, escapes and murders - all set over the noisy slittovia machine house with its grinding motor and tightening cables. A dynamite setting.
I was hoping for intrigue and danger, and found it in The Lonely Skier. The story was narrated by Neil, and at the end of the novel he sets down the events as the film script he was hired to write. Art spills over into real life as it was filmed in 1948 as Snowbound. I was happy to see someone has posted a copy on YouTube for my viewing pleasure!
A great spy thriller from Hammond Innes, and a treat to discover.
Hammond Innes also wrote The Wreck of the Mary Deare, a wartime ship mystery that I was going to read next. Somehow, my hands picked up The Lonely Skier instead, and it was an exciting tale well told.
It's 1947 and Neil Blair is recently demobilized, looking for work in London. He runs into Derek Engles, and acquaintance who is now making films. He offers Neil a job to write a film script and on location in Cortina, but actually to observe and report on the few other guests at the mountain top lodge named Col de Varda. Built on top of the machine house for a slittovia (a cable drawn funicular sleigh), the lodge was the scene many years ago where a German convoy of gold disappeared. Neil and a film location scout soon meet the other guests; Edouardo Mancini, looking to purchase the lodge in an auction; Stefan Valdini, a nattily dressed Sicilian gangster; Contessa Forelli, really a prostitute named Carla; Kereminos, formerly of Greek intelligence; and Gabriel Mayne, an expert skier in a white suit with a yellow scarf.
They are all liars with hidden back stories and common histories, which Neil (and the late arriving Derek) must discover. There is a hair raising section where Mayne abandons Neil on a ski path over a mountain range to another town, crossing the Cristallino glacier in a building snowstorm - was it a way to lose him forever? Back at the refugio, tensions mount as motives are revealed and the guests are forced to remain snowbound until the storm has passed. The characters were tough and well drawn and there is genuine tension and danger, ski chases, hidden Nazi gold, a whiteout snowstorm, escapes and murders - all set over the noisy slittovia machine house with its grinding motor and tightening cables. A dynamite setting.
I was hoping for intrigue and danger, and found it in The Lonely Skier. The story was narrated by Neil, and at the end of the novel he sets down the events as the film script he was hired to write. Art spills over into real life as it was filmed in 1948 as Snowbound. I was happy to see someone has posted a copy on YouTube for my viewing pleasure!
A great spy thriller from Hammond Innes, and a treat to discover.
July 3, 2023
This book was fantastic, the most thrilling one I’ve read in a while. The writing is excellent and the story, brief yet gripping, keeps you guessing until the end.
August 28, 2022
I have never been skiing but this little gem of a thriller made me feel as though I was right there in the snow. Extremely well crafted description of its icy setting and giving you a strong sense of place that you feel you are right in there amongst the action.
He generates tremendous tension with his characters and puts them under great pressure using claustrophobic snow bound conditions.
Another positive is you get a good story and a neat thriller in a short book. A modern author would have made it the size of door stop.
The only thing holding back a 4th star is that it is a little dated and therefore the cast is 90% male and feels unbalanced reading it 2022
Very much enjoyed it
He generates tremendous tension with his characters and puts them under great pressure using claustrophobic snow bound conditions.
Another positive is you get a good story and a neat thriller in a short book. A modern author would have made it the size of door stop.
The only thing holding back a 4th star is that it is a little dated and therefore the cast is 90% male and feels unbalanced reading it 2022
Very much enjoyed it
July 30, 2022
It's July, outside the sun is shining and the temperatures are high... so what better topic to read about than freezing winds and glistering snow? It was somehow refreshing, even though the story itself was nothing special. Nazi gold, dark secrets, unexpected murders - we've seen all these things before. Overall, definitely not a bad book, but not a unique one either.
February 27, 2025
Dad would have lovedddd this 💙
December 23, 2025
Excellent
January 12, 2023
It probably wouldn’t be a 5* book for most, but I had fun over the Christmas/New Year period reading this. It’s an old fashioned thriller and I just loved it.
June 23, 2025
How the hell do you expect me to write a film script in these circumstances
September 7, 2024
Nice good book. I enjoyed.
December 30, 2016
"And he wanted to die, sitting at a typewriter with a cigarette dangling from his lips, typing the title of the film and your name underneath."
Oh, Joe - the unseen hero of this story, with startling insight and quiet mother-henning.
I was originally going to call this a sketched version of an Alastair Maclean novel but I think Innes deserves a place in his own right amongst some of the standards - Maclean focused on character, good humour and pace; Adam Hall, trials, a certain wry cynicism, action and mysticism; le Carré more on intrigue and the politics of it all. Innes - from the one slight novel I've read - more on the narrative and the vulgar elements of man doeth unto man.
I'll be keeping an eye out for other novels of his.
Oh, Joe - the unseen hero of this story, with startling insight and quiet mother-henning.
I was originally going to call this a sketched version of an Alastair Maclean novel but I think Innes deserves a place in his own right amongst some of the standards - Maclean focused on character, good humour and pace; Adam Hall, trials, a certain wry cynicism, action and mysticism; le Carré more on intrigue and the politics of it all. Innes - from the one slight novel I've read - more on the narrative and the vulgar elements of man doeth unto man.
I'll be keeping an eye out for other novels of his.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2024
Picked up the book on a whim at a motorway service station charity table - mainly because it was set in the Dolomites. Never heard of the author before but my other half says his mother used to read them all! It's well written and short, set post WW2 with some military and intelligence background and most characters are men with one woman whose 'every movement proclaimed an almost animal consciousness of her body' plus a couple of female bit parts not involved in the action. Most of the action happens in the past and is recounted by one or other of the characters, but it's a nice taste of a Dolomiti refuge and you learn quite a few skiing terms. The body count I leave to your imagination.
August 18, 2019
It's been a while since I read a mystery or thriller novel, and I ended up with this book quite at random--from a lending library on the side of the road. It did not disappoint! His descriptions of the Dolomites and the scenery are excellent and make you very much want to travel there. The plot and style of narrative is entertaining. Enjoyed and recommended!
August 30, 2016
Hooked from page one this is a perfect thriller.
Tension is skilfully ratcheted up as the characters gradually reveal their real selves and the realistic ending is the icing on the cake.
Superb, suspenseful writing from a master.
Tension is skilfully ratcheted up as the characters gradually reveal their real selves and the realistic ending is the icing on the cake.
Superb, suspenseful writing from a master.
September 3, 2018
A fun thriller in the atmospheric setting of a ski hut at the top of a cable car. Snow, shooting, skiing and Nazi gold.
January 6, 2021
All icy ski runs and murder, so a chilling read.
April 24, 2024
An easy to read, fast paced thriller. Gripping story line and plenty of action in a good setting. Just what I needed after my previous book.
May 1, 2024
The Lonely Skier was Hammond Innes’s tenth published novel (1947).
Neil Blair, the narrator, is recently demobbed, unemployed, married to Peggy, and penniless. He stumbles upon a job with an old Army comrade – writing a screenplay set in the Italian Dolomites. Though in fact the screenplay has been written already by his pal, Engles; what his friend wants is for Neil to ‘keep your eyes and ears open. I’m interested in the slittovia [sledge lift] and the hut, the people who are staying there, regular visitors, anything unusual that happens’ (p10). Apparently the rifugio [ski lodge] Col da Varda, near Cortina, and the slittovia were previously owned by a German War Criminal, who has since committed suicide. The place is up for sale: ‘an incredibly beautiful property, thoroughly equipped by brilliant German engineers, a small hotel with finer panoramic views than the Eagle’s Nest at Berchtesgaden’ (p40).
Neil is accompanied by photographer Joe Wesson. They are others stay at the refugio: a hot-tempered Italian Contessa Forelli, a racketeering pimp, Stefan Valdini, a Greek criminal, Karamikos, and the mysterious worldly Gilbert Mayne.
Neil is witness to the conflicting personalities of these characters in the claustrophobic situation and begins to realise that something is very wrong. Dangerous. Even deadly. And stemming from the recent inglorious past. Ultimately, he is pitted against someone who is determined to kill – and he is among those targeted!
As ever, Innes brings his descriptive powers to bear on the story. He underwent a skiing course in the Dolomites a while before writing the book. The narrative is swamped in verisimilitude; the reader is there. Naturally, as it’s a first-person story, we know he will survive. But others are in jeopardy, not least the likeable if clueless Wesson.
The book was made into a film titled Snowbound – ‘Another few hours and we’ll be snowbound up here’ (p99). Dated 1948, the film featured Robert Newton, Dennis Price, Stanley Holloway, Herbert Lom, and Zena Marshall, among others.
Oddly, throughout the book the spelling is ski-er, while the title is hyphen-less.
It’s not a true spoiler since it is mentioned in the back cover blurb: ‘It lies somewhere beneath the snow, high in the Dolomites, Nazi gold, tainted with the blood of murdered men’. The gold is in essence Hitchcock’s McGuffin. Some of the chapter headings come very close to being spoilers in themselves.
Talking of spoilers, in this Vintage copy there’s an introduction by Stella Rimington; don’t read this first, read the novel then the intro.
Neil Blair, the narrator, is recently demobbed, unemployed, married to Peggy, and penniless. He stumbles upon a job with an old Army comrade – writing a screenplay set in the Italian Dolomites. Though in fact the screenplay has been written already by his pal, Engles; what his friend wants is for Neil to ‘keep your eyes and ears open. I’m interested in the slittovia [sledge lift] and the hut, the people who are staying there, regular visitors, anything unusual that happens’ (p10). Apparently the rifugio [ski lodge] Col da Varda, near Cortina, and the slittovia were previously owned by a German War Criminal, who has since committed suicide. The place is up for sale: ‘an incredibly beautiful property, thoroughly equipped by brilliant German engineers, a small hotel with finer panoramic views than the Eagle’s Nest at Berchtesgaden’ (p40).
Neil is accompanied by photographer Joe Wesson. They are others stay at the refugio: a hot-tempered Italian Contessa Forelli, a racketeering pimp, Stefan Valdini, a Greek criminal, Karamikos, and the mysterious worldly Gilbert Mayne.
Neil is witness to the conflicting personalities of these characters in the claustrophobic situation and begins to realise that something is very wrong. Dangerous. Even deadly. And stemming from the recent inglorious past. Ultimately, he is pitted against someone who is determined to kill – and he is among those targeted!
As ever, Innes brings his descriptive powers to bear on the story. He underwent a skiing course in the Dolomites a while before writing the book. The narrative is swamped in verisimilitude; the reader is there. Naturally, as it’s a first-person story, we know he will survive. But others are in jeopardy, not least the likeable if clueless Wesson.
The book was made into a film titled Snowbound – ‘Another few hours and we’ll be snowbound up here’ (p99). Dated 1948, the film featured Robert Newton, Dennis Price, Stanley Holloway, Herbert Lom, and Zena Marshall, among others.
Oddly, throughout the book the spelling is ski-er, while the title is hyphen-less.
It’s not a true spoiler since it is mentioned in the back cover blurb: ‘It lies somewhere beneath the snow, high in the Dolomites, Nazi gold, tainted with the blood of murdered men’. The gold is in essence Hitchcock’s McGuffin. Some of the chapter headings come very close to being spoilers in themselves.
Talking of spoilers, in this Vintage copy there’s an introduction by Stella Rimington; don’t read this first, read the novel then the intro.
September 29, 2025
First published in 1947, "Fire in the Snow" provides some interesting insights into the British film industry at the time and of life in a ski resort town in post-war Italy. The resort in question, Col Da Varda, is hardly the type of ski resort modern readers may be familiar with. It's basically a run-down inn on a mountain, with uncomfortable rooms and crummy food. Visitors generally don't stay overnight at the inn. They stay at a hotel near the bottom of the ski-run, and only go up to the inn for the day.
Visitors ride up to the inn not in a cable car, but in a "slittovia"--a sleigh on a track that is pulled up and lowered down the mountain by cable. It's described as a rickety thing that, at one point, has the passengers at a virtual 90 degree angle with the mountainside. The slittovia is one of the scariest parts of the story. I always got a little nervous when the screenwriter and cameraman who've been sent to Col Da Varda to soak up some local color for a screenplay and get some location footage have to ride in the slittovia.
Of course, this being a thriller, the real danger is from the other guests at the inn. It transpires that almost all of them are there because stolen Nazi gold was buried somewhere up there towards the end of World War II. Most of the overnight guests are there for the gold, not the skiing.
Innes creates an international cast of characters vying for a the gold--an Italian countess, a Sicilian gangster, a Greek who collaborated with the Nazis, and an Irish deserter from the British Army. In addition to the screenwriter and cameraman, their film producer, who has an interest in the gold as well, also shows up.
It all makes for a nice thriller set in a confined space--with occasional sojourns out in the snow. It feels a bit to me like "Key Largo" in the alps, with a bit of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" thrown in. There's plenty of tension, exciting ski action, and a spectacular climax.
Too bad that the film producer in the novel never made his dream project, "The Lonely Skier"--although the story was filmed as "Snowbound."
Visitors ride up to the inn not in a cable car, but in a "slittovia"--a sleigh on a track that is pulled up and lowered down the mountain by cable. It's described as a rickety thing that, at one point, has the passengers at a virtual 90 degree angle with the mountainside. The slittovia is one of the scariest parts of the story. I always got a little nervous when the screenwriter and cameraman who've been sent to Col Da Varda to soak up some local color for a screenplay and get some location footage have to ride in the slittovia.
Of course, this being a thriller, the real danger is from the other guests at the inn. It transpires that almost all of them are there because stolen Nazi gold was buried somewhere up there towards the end of World War II. Most of the overnight guests are there for the gold, not the skiing.
Innes creates an international cast of characters vying for a the gold--an Italian countess, a Sicilian gangster, a Greek who collaborated with the Nazis, and an Irish deserter from the British Army. In addition to the screenwriter and cameraman, their film producer, who has an interest in the gold as well, also shows up.
It all makes for a nice thriller set in a confined space--with occasional sojourns out in the snow. It feels a bit to me like "Key Largo" in the alps, with a bit of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" thrown in. There's plenty of tension, exciting ski action, and a spectacular climax.
Too bad that the film producer in the novel never made his dream project, "The Lonely Skier"--although the story was filmed as "Snowbound."
October 22, 2025
Set in an isolated and mostly empty hotel atop a snow bound mountain in the Italian Dolomites, a group of seemingly unconnected, disparate and mostly shady characters have one thing in common and one thing alone. Nazi gold. They all want it and they will literally kill each other to get hold of it. Everyone knows it is hidden somewhere in or around the hotel. The search is on.
This is a story of the ruthless pursuit of greed and it's inevitable tragic outcome. We see events unfold through the eyes of the main protagonist, Neil Blair, who finds himself in the middle of potentially lethal situations while being unaware why.
Mystery. Intrigue. Action. The Lonely Skier has it all. The characters are well drawn. The plotting is precise. The story engaging. All in all, a good read.
The ending is not as dramatic as it could have been, but is not a let down. However, set as it is in the Dolomites, a lot of description is given over to describing the mountains and the snow. Too much in fact. Scenic description should be brief but vivid. Piling on description upon description doesn't conjure up the protagonist's surroundings, it overwhelms and obscures it. This is a common error of many adventure writers. Have they not read and learnt from Hemmingway?
Apart from that, an enjoyable thriller and one I can recommend.
This is a story of the ruthless pursuit of greed and it's inevitable tragic outcome. We see events unfold through the eyes of the main protagonist, Neil Blair, who finds himself in the middle of potentially lethal situations while being unaware why.
Mystery. Intrigue. Action. The Lonely Skier has it all. The characters are well drawn. The plotting is precise. The story engaging. All in all, a good read.
The ending is not as dramatic as it could have been, but is not a let down. However, set as it is in the Dolomites, a lot of description is given over to describing the mountains and the snow. Too much in fact. Scenic description should be brief but vivid. Piling on description upon description doesn't conjure up the protagonist's surroundings, it overwhelms and obscures it. This is a common error of many adventure writers. Have they not read and learnt from Hemmingway?
Apart from that, an enjoyable thriller and one I can recommend.
April 5, 2019
To be honest it's been years since I read any Hammond Innes...that was in my teenage years and I think the book was called 'the blue ice' or something...it may have been O.K it may even be that I need to re-read it as maybe back then well wartime or post war time espionage books weren't really my thing.
I'm honesty they aren't now neither..well inasmuch as I don't read lots of them..seeing this slender book at a charity shop however I thought it's paucity in size would make it worthy of my time even if terrible as I wouldn't have wasted too much time...luckily as a bonus I found a good book.
To give a synopsis kind of recalls a Agatha Christie type all in the mansion house whodunit yarn which would be unfair...this is only because a chalet with a few interrelated characters with pasts generally overlapping is where the action takes place...plus there's the fact that for a time those characters are trapped together as the narrative continues...that may sound a spoiler but in honesty the cover of the book above is a far bigger one!!😆
It's a book involving Nazi's, treasure and the great outdoors...amongst many other elements..I will have to redress the fact I haven't read much Innes since my brief teenage read as this was a robust and compelling thriller.
I'm honesty they aren't now neither..well inasmuch as I don't read lots of them..seeing this slender book at a charity shop however I thought it's paucity in size would make it worthy of my time even if terrible as I wouldn't have wasted too much time...luckily as a bonus I found a good book.
To give a synopsis kind of recalls a Agatha Christie type all in the mansion house whodunit yarn which would be unfair...this is only because a chalet with a few interrelated characters with pasts generally overlapping is where the action takes place...plus there's the fact that for a time those characters are trapped together as the narrative continues...that may sound a spoiler but in honesty the cover of the book above is a far bigger one!!😆
It's a book involving Nazi's, treasure and the great outdoors...amongst many other elements..I will have to redress the fact I haven't read much Innes since my brief teenage read as this was a robust and compelling thriller.
December 20, 2019
I noticed this in a Vintage Classics edition in Waterstones recently, with an introduction by former MI5 head honcho Stella Rimington, and picked it up on impulse. I read most of the Innes canon in my mid to late teens: during the same period, I happily binged on Alistair MacLean and Desmond Bagley. I re-read the MacLean output last year, and on the basis of reacquainting myself with ‘The Lonely Skier’ I might undertake an Innes retrospective in 2020. ‘The Lonely Skier’ boasts much of the Innes formula: a narrator who isn’t necessarily the protagonist, a couple of big set pieces that pit man against the elements, and an evocative sense of place. The isolated setting, festering skulduggery, pressure cooker environment and cast of nefarious characters all out for themselves, the whole thing playing out as a snowstorm batters at their precarious bit of shelter, made me wonder if Tarantino didn’t have the novel in mind (or it’s almost forgotten film version, ‘Snowbound’) in mind when he sat down to write ‘The Hateful Eight’.
April 2, 2024
Another nail-biting thriller. It’s 1947 and Neil Blair has written a film script that has been made into a hit film. He knows it’s great and doesn’t need to watch it as he’s already lived throughout the story in real life.
Jobless, he’s been sent to Cortina in the Dolomites by Engles, a film director who was his commanding officer during the war.
“Queer fellow. Mother was Welsh you know. That’s where he gets that love of music and that flashy brilliance of speech and intellect. They’re all the same, the Welsh - flashy, superficial, no depth to them.”
Bloody cheek, I’m Welsh. Have you seen my fake-tan bottle anywhere?
Neil’s brief is not to write a script but to look out for an Italian woman who had been friends with a ruthless but now dead German officer who had been given a routine but potentially lucrative mission towards the end of the war.
We learn a lot about slittovias and rifugios as well as some excellent skiing action as it becomes clear that the ski lodge holds a secret for which people are prepared to kill.
Jobless, he’s been sent to Cortina in the Dolomites by Engles, a film director who was his commanding officer during the war.
“Queer fellow. Mother was Welsh you know. That’s where he gets that love of music and that flashy brilliance of speech and intellect. They’re all the same, the Welsh - flashy, superficial, no depth to them.”
Bloody cheek, I’m Welsh. Have you seen my fake-tan bottle anywhere?
Neil’s brief is not to write a script but to look out for an Italian woman who had been friends with a ruthless but now dead German officer who had been given a routine but potentially lucrative mission towards the end of the war.
We learn a lot about slittovias and rifugios as well as some excellent skiing action as it becomes clear that the ski lodge holds a secret for which people are prepared to kill.
December 14, 2025
The strength of this book is in its atmosphere - the characters, the setting, the dialogue and their intentions capture a post-war world.
Perhaps the literary equivalent of a Bergfilm, despite the author's diminishing view on his female character, the skiing scenes and general description of the slopes of the Monte Cristallo are engaging and more importantly, relevant to the story.
A thriller with no resolve, not particularly suspenseful, Innes defies the confines of the genre and truly makes it his own. The dynamics between characters, supported by news cuttings and military reports, are genuinely interesting and he does not attempt to guide you to any conclusions on the character of his creations; you are granted space to make your own judgements.
Search for your own meaning within his words, yet they would derive from its historical context as opposed to the plot of his story.
The story is well paced, scenes not overcrowded, and as a result you remain involved in the events that occurred atop the Col de Varda.
Perhaps the literary equivalent of a Bergfilm, despite the author's diminishing view on his female character, the skiing scenes and general description of the slopes of the Monte Cristallo are engaging and more importantly, relevant to the story.
A thriller with no resolve, not particularly suspenseful, Innes defies the confines of the genre and truly makes it his own. The dynamics between characters, supported by news cuttings and military reports, are genuinely interesting and he does not attempt to guide you to any conclusions on the character of his creations; you are granted space to make your own judgements.
Search for your own meaning within his words, yet they would derive from its historical context as opposed to the plot of his story.
The story is well paced, scenes not overcrowded, and as a result you remain involved in the events that occurred atop the Col de Varda.
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