The Man Who Sold Death

John Craig #1

by James Munro

A 1960's mystery.

Genres: Espionage, Thriller

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

James Munro was the pseudonym of a British writer named James William Mitchell (born 1926) who, in the late 1960s, wrote four spy thrillers under this byline.

The hero is a British agent named John Craig, who works, mostly reluctantly, for Department K. The books, The Man Who Sold Death; Die Rich, Die Happy; The Money That Money Can't Buy; and The Innocent Bystanders were tough-minded, well-written, and well-plotted. They had a genuinely heroic (and intelligent) protagonist, an eccentric M-type boss, and menacing villains.

Mitchell also wrote under the pseudonym Patrick O. McGuire.

Series:
* John Craig

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 1964 thriller is exactly the kind of thing my grandfather would have grabbed in an airport en route to or from one of his far-flung overseas postings. He had a soft spot for stories about capable Englishman running around the Mediterranean, sorting out nasty foreigners, and had full sets of Eric Ambler, Ian Fleming, etc..  Written under a pen name by the very prolific novelist and television writer James Mitchell, this is the first in a four book series featuring ex-Special Boat Service officer John Craig, This initial adventure is a fine enough introduction, but suffers from the very clear and direct influence of the 007 series. Like Bond, Craig is orphaned, does dirty deeds in WWII, is a crack shot and black belt in the then-secret martial art of judo, and is magnetically attractive to gorgeous young women, who seek to bed him at the earliest possible moment. 

The story opens in Newcastle (Mitchell was from there), where Craig is the wealthy managing director of a small shipping firm. He's been smuggling weapons to the Algerian FLN forces and now a quasi-fascist OAS-stand-in called the "Committee for the Solution to the Algerian Problem" is trying to kill him. What follows is a pretty run-of-the-mill thriller, as Craig is on the run from French-Corsican killers in London, is recruited by a mysterious British intelligence office, and is sent down to Nice to kill the head of the Committee before he can stir up trouble in Aden. 

Various fast cars are described and driven, various nubile women are described and bedded, various luxurious landscapes in the South of France form the background, and a jolly, bulbous American millionaire is introduced for an element of comic relief. Other than the usual problems with material this dated, my one major quibble is that there are several times where Craig could have saved himself future problems by killing thugs instead of leaving them alive. But all in all, it's more or less what you'd expect from that kind of book from the 1960s.

[Alger Smythe-Hopkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pure pulpy spy adventure chasing the popularity of Ian Fleming's Bond series, and a little 1960s reframing to update the series. Like most genre novels of the age, the sexual politics are just atrocious since the readers were picking up these books explicitly for the titillation and action. There is a measure of effort made by Munro to make Craig something other than a superior cocksman, and boinking isn't what defines him, but we do arrive at a point in the novel where Craig has a wife in a coma, a true love back in London, and is rationalizing climbing into a sleeping bag with a naked hippie chick hotsie half his age. Meanwhile, the 'hands of death' thing is very overplayed by the marketers, who clearly wanted to make Craig stand out somehow from the competition, and karate was still something exotic enough to do the trick. Mostly Craig is just another marksman with an unerring eye.
The plot is rather placid, the set up for the series is straightforward, and Munro easily sidesteps the obvious silliness of the conventions through above average writing. On the whole this is a casual book that chooses to just state things as facts rather than develop them, but is still a punchy read.

[David Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surviving an attempted assassination, John Craig, gun runner to the Algerian separatists, is targeted by upset renegade French soldiers who bump off his former colleagues.
Rescued by British dirty tricks agents, Craig, a one man killing machine, is pointed at those who would do him harm and he sets about retribution with extreme prejudice. Though how he could operate after all that booze and sex is beyond me.
A rollicking read.

[Sophie Dahia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and cheeky little James Bond rip that I found in a stack of books my dad bought from a second hand bookstore in the 70s. It was a good read, still the necessary amount of sleaze for a piece of British spy fiction, but honestly I can see there’s been an attempt to make it more woke than I remember the traditional James Bond books being, although don’t quote me on that because I haven’t read them in a long time. Craig is community dick with a penchant for killing but he’s not homophobic and not racist (what was seen as not racist during that time period, so.. set your expectations low).

Wonderfully anti-French. Some good giggles in there too. I died laughing when Sophie his third love interest self described herself as heavy at 50kg, when St. Briac did all of that in both protecting his life and then trying to escape just to fry himself to death via his own electric fence, and the introduction of the bumbling American billionaire was some great comedy. Full of action, easy to enjoy, you can see the book playing out in your head like a spy film.

Great read & I would happily read the sequel.

[Eugene · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was looking to read some classic thrillers, and this book was recommended by some website I visited. Well, sad to say, I was very underwhelmed and struggled to finish it. I found the protagonist, Craig, completely unbelievable. He's like a pastiche James Bond. Any women he meets wants to sleep with him immediately, even when he poses as a bowler-hat-wearing accountant. The author wants you to understand his motivations, so conveniently has a psychiatrist interview him on behalf of the UK secret services so that he can explain the to the reader. On the run after a failed assassination attempt, what's the first thing he does? Goes to a mate to polish his karate skills, and looks up an old mate from his past to see if the latter has kept his word.

I could go on, and on, and on, but I won't. Of it's time, I suppose, but still ...

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Munro is an author I'll read because of his connection to the spy series, Callan. This thriller from 1964 sees a hero reminiscent of Callan but Craig is more middle-class and successful with women. This sees Craig mixed up in smuggling arms to Algerian freedom-fighters and targeted by a deadly French settler organisation. Recruited by an arm of MI6 after going underground, action moves to the south of France to take out the settler leader. Some interesting characters make this more than the usual mid-60s spy read and it’s gritty even though occasionally clichéd with excess martial arts and alcohol consumption

[John Peel · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Craig - a supposedly respectable businessman - is targeted for death. The first attempt kills his brother-in-law and Craig goes on the run. He finds he is being hunted also by a very secret department in MI6... which wants to recruit him. They both have the same aim - kill the man behind the plot to kill Craig.

A fast-paced, exciting thriller with some memorable characters. Definitely worth reading. "James Munro" is really James Mitchell, creator of "Callan".

[Tim Trewartha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite a promising start, this book was, for me, a disappointment. The potential is there for this to have been a top class thriller. Dull.

[ShanDizzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great vintage spy thriller with a flawed but likeable main character.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: he's a gun runner for Algerian separatists. The French want to kill him and the British want to rescue him. Craig doesn't hold back.