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Trelawney #1-3
The Complete Trelawney Spy Series Books 1-3
In this 3-volume set:
BOOK 1: BLINDFOLD
An aircraft is forced down on an RAF fighter station in Cyprus. Aboard is a dead dog. The pilot won’t let anyone near it. What makes it so valuable . . . or dangerous? New intelligence recruit, Trelawney, is about to find himself at the heart of a twilight undercover world where nothing is as it seems.
BOOK 2: TWO FACES OF NEMESIS
In Eastern Europe a fledgling British intelligence network is swiftly destroyed by the Polish security police. With a traitor in their ranks, the Department will stop at nothing to flush him out. Trelawney is tasked with hunting down the mole, but when he discovers their identity he’s in for a shock.
BOOK 3: TIGHTROPE
The Department Director is shot on a London street. The investigation uncovers a morass of lies and double-dealing. Trelawney is one of the only agents who can still be trusted. He must uncover the assassin within — but the trail of treachery leads to the very top.
BOOK 1: BLINDFOLD
An aircraft is forced down on an RAF fighter station in Cyprus. Aboard is a dead dog. The pilot won’t let anyone near it. What makes it so valuable . . . or dangerous? New intelligence recruit, Trelawney, is about to find himself at the heart of a twilight undercover world where nothing is as it seems.
BOOK 2: TWO FACES OF NEMESIS
In Eastern Europe a fledgling British intelligence network is swiftly destroyed by the Polish security police. With a traitor in their ranks, the Department will stop at nothing to flush him out. Trelawney is tasked with hunting down the mole, but when he discovers their identity he’s in for a shock.
BOOK 3: TIGHTROPE
The Department Director is shot on a London street. The investigation uncovers a morass of lies and double-dealing. Trelawney is one of the only agents who can still be trusted. He must uncover the assassin within — but the trail of treachery leads to the very top.
819 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 8, 2023
390 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Antony Melville-Ross
28 books14 followersANTONY MELVILLE ROSS was a thriller writer of unusual quality. He was an excellent craftsman who constructed his stories with skill and wrote clear uncluttered prose, and his work has a ring of authenticity which in fact owed as much to personal experience as to the liveliness of his imagination and to his gifts as a storyteller.
The six novels that he published between 1978 and 1985 arise equally from his service as a sub- mariner in the Second World War, in which he was awarded the DSC and rose to command his own boat, and the Cold War world of the Secret Service into which he transferred soon after the end of the war. He wrote them in inverse order, beginning with the spy novels and then going on to submarines. His first book, Blindfold (1978), was at once recognised by such discriminating critics as TJ Binyon and Sheridan Morley, who compared it to Ian Fleming's debut with Casino Royale. Like Fleming, Melville Ross made good use of exotic backgrounds - the Libyan desert, the Colombian jungle - as well as the familiar thriller territory of London and New York. But he made less use of, indeed was not so much at home in, the world of beautiful people, of the best clubs, the best restaurants. There is perhaps less glamour but there is no less excitement. Two Faces of Nemesis (1979) consolidated the reputation established by Blindfold but it is Tightrope (1981) that shows his complete mastery of complicated plotting and a compulsive narrative power.
Trigger (1982) was the first of the submarine stories. Set in the Mediterranean in 1943, it was at least partly based on his service under a legendary fire-eater decorated with the VC who was by no means the easiest of commanding officers. The book was as widely praised for its expertise, communicated to the reader without apparent effort, as for the suspense he knew so well how to achieve. 'He has that rare thriller writer's skill of making the reader know what to do in a crisis, as when enemy destroyers are sweeping overhead,' as one reviewer put it. The same qualities were evident in Talon (1983) and Shadow (1985). The tension and the trust between men living together in the closest of quarters and the greatest of danger pervades every line. So does the discipline and the professionalism that Melville Ross brought to his work as an author.
The six novels that he published between 1978 and 1985 arise equally from his service as a sub- mariner in the Second World War, in which he was awarded the DSC and rose to command his own boat, and the Cold War world of the Secret Service into which he transferred soon after the end of the war. He wrote them in inverse order, beginning with the spy novels and then going on to submarines. His first book, Blindfold (1978), was at once recognised by such discriminating critics as TJ Binyon and Sheridan Morley, who compared it to Ian Fleming's debut with Casino Royale. Like Fleming, Melville Ross made good use of exotic backgrounds - the Libyan desert, the Colombian jungle - as well as the familiar thriller territory of London and New York. But he made less use of, indeed was not so much at home in, the world of beautiful people, of the best clubs, the best restaurants. There is perhaps less glamour but there is no less excitement. Two Faces of Nemesis (1979) consolidated the reputation established by Blindfold but it is Tightrope (1981) that shows his complete mastery of complicated plotting and a compulsive narrative power.
Trigger (1982) was the first of the submarine stories. Set in the Mediterranean in 1943, it was at least partly based on his service under a legendary fire-eater decorated with the VC who was by no means the easiest of commanding officers. The book was as widely praised for its expertise, communicated to the reader without apparent effort, as for the suspense he knew so well how to achieve. 'He has that rare thriller writer's skill of making the reader know what to do in a crisis, as when enemy destroyers are sweeping overhead,' as one reviewer put it. The same qualities were evident in Talon (1983) and Shadow (1985). The tension and the trust between men living together in the closest of quarters and the greatest of danger pervades every line. So does the discipline and the professionalism that Melville Ross brought to his work as an author.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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September 27, 2024Well - I've mixed feelings at the end of book 1, 'Blindfold'. I wish I had known about this author when the books were first published because they stand up well alongside authors such as John le Carré. A nicely complex plot, superhuman lead character, hints and clues to help the reader cope with the story. And set so long ago that computers don't get a mention, never mind hand-held electronic devices. At that time I was reading Ian Fleming and the other similar authors and would have enjoyed these stories.
But the publisher Lume Books has done the author a massive disservice in the quality of editing for Kindle. The paragraphs just flow from one to another with no clue that the action and people have changed from the previous location to a new one, sometimes in a different country. The printed original must have had something - paragraph formatting, graphic separators? Even worse, many long and complex sentences have no punctuation to separate their phrases. I must have read the book one-and-a-quarter times with all the going back to re-read what was unclear.
Although I enjoyed the first book, I can't face the annoyance of re-reading the other two books so that is the end of my journey with Trelawney and the rest of the characters.
But the publisher Lume Books has done the author a massive disservice in the quality of editing for Kindle. The paragraphs just flow from one to another with no clue that the action and people have changed from the previous location to a new one, sometimes in a different country. The printed original must have had something - paragraph formatting, graphic separators? Even worse, many long and complex sentences have no punctuation to separate their phrases. I must have read the book one-and-a-quarter times with all the going back to re-read what was unclear.
Although I enjoyed the first book, I can't face the annoyance of re-reading the other two books so that is the end of my journey with Trelawney and the rest of the characters.
September 22, 2024
Action-packed and full of twists
Trelawney fills out as a character throughout the trilogy. Unusually, our heroes show vulnerability even as they play their espionage games.
Stories move quickly and you have to get used to the unmarked swaps between characters/settings/times within the chapters that disorients.
It did help to read the three books consecutively.
Trelawney fills out as a character throughout the trilogy. Unusually, our heroes show vulnerability even as they play their espionage games.
Stories move quickly and you have to get used to the unmarked swaps between characters/settings/times within the chapters that disorients.
It did help to read the three books consecutively.
December 21, 2023
Very well constructed
These books were very well written with plot lines gripping and believable. All three kept me gripped. It doesn't get give stars because I never give five. That's perfection which doesn't exist.
These books were very well written with plot lines gripping and believable. All three kept me gripped. It doesn't get give stars because I never give five. That's perfection which doesn't exist.
August 26, 2024
Great read
Really enjoyable! Authentic with great characters. I read the complete trilogy in two days. I didn't want
to put the book down. I look forward to reading more of his book s.
Really enjoyable! Authentic with great characters. I read the complete trilogy in two days. I didn't want
to put the book down. I look forward to reading more of his book s.
September 1, 2024
A great series
Quite fast paced and a great page turner. The days without mobile communication, how did we survive? Now looking for the next instalment.
Quite fast paced and a great page turner. The days without mobile communication, how did we survive? Now looking for the next instalment.
October 23, 2024
Lots of twists and turns. Sometimes lost the flow with so many new characters introduced. In the 2nd book, Trelawney sort of anti-hero had a minimum role
November 21, 2024
......a kind of darker, more convoluted James Bond/Ian Fleming knockoff.
December 22, 2024
Enjoyable Series
I enjoyed the evolution of the characters and story lines over the years. The series was hard to put down.
I enjoyed the evolution of the characters and story lines over the years. The series was hard to put down.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews