THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. # 9 The Driving Dames Affair

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. #9

by Peter Leslie

The trail began in Rio de Janeiro...
Two beautiful girls had been killed in a mysterious car wreck near Rio, and a large number of people seemed determined to discourage any investigation of the accident. Since the girls were U.S. citizens, the FBI became interested...and they quickly alerted U.N.C.L.E.

When Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin finally uncovered the secret hidden in the wilds of Brazil, it was only the beginning of their mission. For now they faced a fantastic plot that could destroy the world...and the countdown to disaster had already started!

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Tv, Action, Espionage, Thriller, Media Tie In

Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

aka Ed Mazzaro

Reviews

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter Leslie returns to pen another U.N.C.L.E. after the #7 book in the series, The Radioactive Camel Affair. This is another enjoyable adventure and does make several references to earlier books although it is certainly not necessary to have read them first. This one is interesting in that Solo and Kurayakin each act independently all the way through and don't meet up until the very end. I would also be interested to read any stories featuring the D.A.M.E.S. organization. If there aren't any out there, maybe somebody could write them...

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Those readers who are especial fans of Illya Kuryakin will be happy to hear that the Russian agent plays the prominent role in Peter Leslie's second contribution to the U.N.C.L.E. series. Here, two representatives from the American charitable organization known as DAMES (Daughters of America Missionary Emergency Service) are gravely wounded during a car crash in Rio. When they are discovered to be in fact merely female ex-cons posing as DAMES representatives, and are later killed in their hospital beds, Waverly sends Napoleon Solo to investigate. Unfortunately, Napoleon does not get too far in his quest. After following a trail that leads to the borderland of the Matto Grosso district, he is summarily drugged and captured by Thrush nasties, and brought to their underwater base in an artificial lake that has been created following the construction of a dam and ersatz power station. Thus, Kuryakin is sent in to discover what has transpired; yes, for the second book in a row in this (American) series, Illya finds himself in Rio again. Fortunately, he is abetted by two unlikely allies (very slight spoilers here): Coralie Simone, a special investigator for DAMES, and, surprisingly, Habib Tufik, the enormously fat, wheelchair-bound, Irish/North African information dealer who had supposedly been killed in Book #7, "The Radioactive Camel Affair." With Tufik's resources and Coralie's remarkable skills, Illya is ultimately able to infiltrate that underwater lair, where Thrush is...well, since their diabolical plot comes as something of a surprise here, perhaps I shouldn't say.

Highlights of this U.N.C.L.E. entry include Illya's first meeting with Habib in Rio; the Carnaval sequence in which Kuryakin tries to escape from a female pursuer; the sight of Napoleon drugged and imprisoned in that underwater lair, and his subsequent escape and dukeout with a burly radio operator; Illya and Coralie's failed attempt to penetrate a tunnel leading to that lair, and their nighttime flight through a forest from Thrush gunmen; their successful infiltration of the lair via minisub; the gun battle the two have in the lair's circular corridors; and the brutal fight that Illya has with a husky Thrush in the lair's control room. Leslie adds winning touches of color to his South American story, and his references to the feijoa meal that Solo enjoys, the pinga liqueur, the sercial wine, the Karaja Indians, the Carnaval, the Candomble and Umbanda religions, all help to add a touch of authenticity to the proceedings. Interestingly, Solo and Kuryakin share absolutely no time together in this novel, up until the final four pages, so those readers who savor the team's bantering relationship will be missing out here. Solo, as I inferred up top, is largely absent in this book, disappearing completely from pages 40 – 92 and 111 – 155. This is pretty much Illya's hour, and his many fans will find much to enjoy here. The book is otherwise fairly realistic and colorful, and makes pleasing references to not only Book #7, but also David McDaniel's previous book, "The Monster Wheel Affair."

Still, this entry comes with its share of problems, the biggest of which is Leslie's difficulty with forcefully describing many of his settings. This reader had the hardest time envisioning the countryside around the Thrush dam project, the geography of the compound surrounding the tunnel entrance, and especially that multilevel control room in the underwater lair. Your imagination may be required to work overtime in spots here and there. Another problem for me was Solo sending a message about a character named Hernando seemingly before he had ever encountered the character or had any knowledge about him; I couldn't quite figure that out. And the silliness of the book's final page did not exactly endear itself to me. Still, for what it is, this entry makes for some solid-enough entertainment, and is indeed thrilling in spots. It's also far less objectionable than some other U.N.C.L.E. readers would have you believe....

(By the way, this review originally appeared on the FanLit website at https://fantasyliterature.com/ ....)

[Bill Donhiser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun novel in my nostalgic journey to complete this series

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was very over the top which I was expecting since the novel is based on the TV show but I found that it dragged. There were also a number of typos.

[Kent Archie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good UNCLE book. I thing I missed the explanation of why the dam was built. It made references to other UNCLE books, including citations.

[Kevin Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like I was reading a TV show. I enjoyed the story.

[A.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonably good book, although of course fraught with the problems of the era in its disparaging descriptions of 'negroes' and native South American 'Indians.' The story is reasonably well paced, reasonably exciting, although nothing very original. Illya and Napoleon are nicely drawn though, and there's a reasonable amount of comedy in there.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent book adaptation of the TV series. Great spy adventure book. This is how the CIA and FBI should operate. Recommended

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just good clean fun!!!