Assignment Treason

Sam Durell #2

by Edward S. Aarons

Against minutes and panic - and war - Sam Durell raced the man who sold out.

Genres: Espionage, Fiction, Mystery

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published January 1, 1956

About the author

AKA Paul Ayres, Edward Ronns.

Edward Sidney Aarons (September 11, 1916 - June 16, 1975) was an American writer, author of more than 80 novels from 1936 until 1962. One of these was under the pseudonym "Paul Ayres" (Dead Heat), and 30 were written using the name "Edward Ronns". He also wrote numerous articles for detective magazines such as Detective Story Magazine and Scarab.

Aarons was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and earned a degree in Literature and History from Columbia University. He worked at various jobs to put himself through college, including jobs as a newspaper reporter and fisherman. In 1933, he won a short story contest as a student. In World War II he was in the United States Coast Guard, joining after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. He finished his duty in 1945, having obtained the rank of Chief Petty Officer.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eventually there would be 48 novels in Edward Aarons' Sam Durell espionage series, the last six published under the byline of Will Aarons, but ghostwritten. Assignment Treason was only the second book in the series, published in 1956. In it, Aarons doesn't take his lead character across the sea to an exotic locale, but rather keeps the entire storyline close to Washington, D.C.

When someone has been stealing documents from the secret floor above, you know there's a spy in the agency. Of course, no one is just going to come forward and confess, so you have to set a clever trap by setting up a trustworthy agent as a traitor and seeing if the spies will believe he's one of them. You have to make the story believable and foolproof. Not even his fiancé can know the truth.

But what happens when the plan goes awry and even the man who set it in motion can no longer trust his agent? What happens when the whole country is clamoring for his execution and there's no one left to turn to?

Instead of the usual spy versus spy routine, you end up with a more complex tale about who can really trust whom and how far. Throw in a McCarthy-type witch hunt and you've really got trouble brewing.

[Dipanjan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Assignment To Disaster is the first in the vintage series written by Edward Sidney Aarons featuring Sam Durrell. Mr. Aarons was an American writer who authored more than 80 novels from 1936 until 1975. Mr. Aarons is known for his spy thrillers, particularly his "Assignment" series, which are set all over the world and have been translated into 17 languages. The 42 novels in this series starred CIA agent Sam Durell. The first "Assignment" novel was written in 1955, and Aarons continued writing the series until up to his death. Fictional CIA agent Sam Durell is the protagonist for all of the stories in this series. The stories were written over a span of 28 years, from 1955 to 1983. Each book set, more or less, in the time it was written.

This book was published a couple years after Ian Fleming's Casino Royale. With a 'cold war' background and the ICBM missle race, hard hitting, realistic spy fiction was selling well.

Sam Durell, works for K-Section, CIA, at 20 Annapolis Street, Washington, D.C. He has previously worked with G2 intelligence, and the OSS during WWII. He is one of our first cold war soldiers and tough customer in and of himself. Hailing from Louisiana's Peche Bayou off a gambler grandfather's river boat, he is a person with few illusions but much tenacity of spirit.

This novel has an assassination of a high official. Out of the ensuing charges would evolve an equation that spelled atomic war. Sam Durell kicks into action to uncover the identity of the man who had ordered that shot to be fired. What ensues is a personal manhunt in true hard boiled, cocky and a bit misogynistic style that was prevalent in the society during those times. The plot is also a mystery as Durell would ultimately uncover the traitor wearing a known and trusted face.

As usual, Sam is totally committed to this mission, while all people around him turn completely against him. He ends up becoming a man alone in this mission, "in a deadly race against time". The writing is very clean with excellent plotting.

If you enjoy espionage, you will find Sam Durell series worth your reading time. However, if you are a hard core loyalist of the genre, there is no way you can miss this series as it sets the tone for the genre as whole for years to come. This series is a pure vintage collection that you must have in your library.

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second Sam Durrell novel, published in 1956, is short in length but surprisingly deep in terms of character. Aarons puts Durrell under pressure and on the couch, so to speak. When the plan to expose a traitor inside the CIA goes awry, suddenly Durrell is made out to be the one guilty of treason. And it looks like nobody believes him or is on his side. For a mid 1950s Cold War spy thriller, this is pretty frothy stuff. One of America's premiere government agencies compromised and willing to let its best people be gobbled up in a sea of uncertainty. Meanwhile, a government wide conspiracy operates in the background. But this one isn't a communist conspiracy, it's plot by paranoids who fear peace talks (the Geneva Accords) and want to create the conditions for a third and nuclear war. Along the way, Durrell's feelings of abandonment, betrayal, and doubts permeate the story. His is a tale of psychological torture and mistreatment. Almost enough to make him question what he is doing and has done. But that can't be right! After all, this is just Sam Durrell #2, and Aaron's would go on to write forty more in the series.

[Carlos Goodman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never had heard of this series, but found a bunch of the titles in an old bookstore and bought several. I started with this one, Treason, and have to say that I found the writing to fall very short of the quality of writers such as John D. MacDonald or Charles Williams. The plotting felt haphazard, the characters were not flushed out and lacked depth. The writing was somewhat wooden. I may try another, to see if the writing improved in later books, but was really disappointed.

[John Peel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam Durell books are always fast-paced adventures, with twists and turns to keep you guessing, and this is no exception. Durell is marked down as a traitor and abandoned by almost everyone as he strives to discover the real villain. Along the way, he falls in with a beautiful girl who claims to have fallen for him - but which side is she actually working for? And who has the file that everyone is after?

Great fun, as always.

[Lew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read a couple of Sam Durell books and I liked this one the best. It isn't bad for a spy novel published in 1956. A lot has changed since the Fifties but some of the bad guys seem very similar to real people today.

[Charles Adkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even smaller in scope than the first Durell. Based on the covers of the latter books I know Aarons eventually gets him out of the US, but this one was almost a direct sequel in many ways rather than book #2 of a series, and it stayed basically in one small geographic region. Still really looking forward to the rest of these, but the first two have been curiously constrained.

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam Durell, the man who was James Bond before James Bond was James Bond. Durell is the top agent for the CIA and in this story he goes rogue to capture a traitor who is attempting to involve the world in a nucleur war. Recommended only to spy fans.