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Matt Helm #16
Matt Helm - The Terminators
When the big man in Washington assigned Matt Helm to ride shotgun on an old buddy's top secret mission in Norway, Matt naturally wanted to know what was happening. "They need an agent with a lethal reputation," said Mac. "That's all you need to know." Matt hated these "Need-to-know" deals. But he went along with it until somebody murdered his partner--the girl who was supposed to be his "mistress." Now Matt was mad. Mad enough to blow operation "top secret" sky high. [jacket blurb]
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1975
31 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
About the author
Donald Hamilton
101 books107 followersDonald Hamilton was a U.S. writer of novels, short stories, and non-fiction about the outdoors. His novels consist mostly of paperback originals, principally spy fiction but also crime fiction and Westerns such as The Big Country. He is best known for his long-running Matt Helm series (1960-1993), which chronicles the adventures of an undercover counter-agent/assassin working for a secret American government agency.
Hamilton began his writing career in 1946, fiction magazines like Collier's Weekly and The Saturday Evening Post. His first novel Date With Darkness was published in 1947; over the next forty-six years he published a total of thirty-eight novels. Most of his early novels whether suspense, spy, and western published between 1954 and 1960, were typical paperback originals of the era: fast-moving tales in paperbacks with lurid covers. Several classic western movies, The Big Country and The Violent Men, were adapted from two of his western novels.
The Matt Helm series, published by Gold Medal Books, which began with Death of a Citizen in 1960 and ran for 27 books, ending in 1993 with The Damagers, was more substantial.
Helm, a wartime agent in a secret agency that specialized in the assassination of Nazis, is drawn back into a post-war world of espionage and assassination after fifteen years as a civilian. He narrates his adventures in a brisk, matter-of-fact tone with an occasional undertone of deadpan humor. He describes gunfights, knife fights, torture, and (off-stage) sexual conquests with a carefully maintained professional detachment, like a pathologist dictating an autopsy report or a police officer describing an investigation. Over the course of the series, this detachment comes to define Helm's character. He is a professional doing a job; the job is killing people.
Hamilton was a skilled outdoorsman and hunter who wrote non-fiction articles for outdoor magazines and published a book-length collection of them. For several years he lived on his own yacht, then relocated to Sweden where he resided until his death in 2006.
Hamilton began his writing career in 1946, fiction magazines like Collier's Weekly and The Saturday Evening Post. His first novel Date With Darkness was published in 1947; over the next forty-six years he published a total of thirty-eight novels. Most of his early novels whether suspense, spy, and western published between 1954 and 1960, were typical paperback originals of the era: fast-moving tales in paperbacks with lurid covers. Several classic western movies, The Big Country and The Violent Men, were adapted from two of his western novels.
The Matt Helm series, published by Gold Medal Books, which began with Death of a Citizen in 1960 and ran for 27 books, ending in 1993 with The Damagers, was more substantial.
Helm, a wartime agent in a secret agency that specialized in the assassination of Nazis, is drawn back into a post-war world of espionage and assassination after fifteen years as a civilian. He narrates his adventures in a brisk, matter-of-fact tone with an occasional undertone of deadpan humor. He describes gunfights, knife fights, torture, and (off-stage) sexual conquests with a carefully maintained professional detachment, like a pathologist dictating an autopsy report or a police officer describing an investigation. Over the course of the series, this detachment comes to define Helm's character. He is a professional doing a job; the job is killing people.
Hamilton was a skilled outdoorsman and hunter who wrote non-fiction articles for outdoor magazines and published a book-length collection of them. For several years he lived on his own yacht, then relocated to Sweden where he resided until his death in 2006.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 22, 2020
I've read this many times before in paperback. Finally this has come out in audio narrated flawlessly by Stefan Rudnicki along with next book. Even though I knew the story well, it was great fun. Helm is an opinionated guy who isn't very nice or politically correct, but he is effective.
I really liked the memories of the gas shortage. We're also treated to the beginning of the stifling 'safety first' campaign & the modern environmental movement. They were well shown through one of the characters when she gets to break free from her normal constraints.
I also reviewed the paperback edition here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I really liked the memories of the gas shortage. We're also treated to the beginning of the stifling 'safety first' campaign & the modern environmental movement. They were well shown through one of the characters when she gets to break free from her normal constraints.
I also reviewed the paperback edition here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
May 22, 2022
Awful, I really can't think of anything I can say that would encourage you t read this junk. Yet, the question remains, why do I continue to read these.
Matt Helm is just so, so, so very dated, if you know what i mean, if it matters, for that matter.
The cliches just keep coming, darling.
I almost wonder if these "tales" could use a re-write from a modern author. The plot ideas are good, what is terrible is the 1960's dating.
Matt Helm is just so, so, so very dated, if you know what i mean, if it matters, for that matter.
The cliches just keep coming, darling.
I almost wonder if these "tales" could use a re-write from a modern author. The plot ideas are good, what is terrible is the 1960's dating.
October 23, 2014
Another very good, fairly complicated adventure by Hamilton in the mid-1970's. This time, Helm is in Norway during autumn, lent out for his lethal reputation. That causes some problems, of course. Not everyone is as impressed as they should be. Just who are the good guys & what is going on isn't really clear until the climactic ending.
As usual, the descriptions of the area are good, providing just enough detail without bogging down the story. Some history of WWII is brought in, but Hamilton leaves Helm's participation open. The current issues are the oil crisis with the long lines at the pumps or even the complete lack of fuel. It brought back a lot of memories of the time.
Hamilton also rants about safety devices, especially in cars, a subject near & dear to my own heart. The idea of 'safety first' was just rearing its ugly head as cars started getting all kinds of warning devices. His observations are spot on.
Of course, the trend grew & spread until some tools became practically useless, requiring the customer to modify them so they'll perform their original function, if it is even possible. For instance, Dewalt no longer even makes a 3/8" drill with a trigger lock due to OSHA regulations, but has one on their 1/2" drill. It took me hours to modify my 2008 John Deere riding mower before it would mow half my lawn. How ridiculous!!!
As usual, the descriptions of the area are good, providing just enough detail without bogging down the story. Some history of WWII is brought in, but Hamilton leaves Helm's participation open. The current issues are the oil crisis with the long lines at the pumps or even the complete lack of fuel. It brought back a lot of memories of the time.
Hamilton also rants about safety devices, especially in cars, a subject near & dear to my own heart. The idea of 'safety first' was just rearing its ugly head as cars started getting all kinds of warning devices. His observations are spot on.
Of course, the trend grew & spread until some tools became practically useless, requiring the customer to modify them so they'll perform their original function, if it is even possible. For instance, Dewalt no longer even makes a 3/8" drill with a trigger lock due to OSHA regulations, but has one on their 1/2" drill. It took me hours to modify my 2008 John Deere riding mower before it would mow half my lawn. How ridiculous!!!
April 11, 2017
Overly complicated, but I guess that is why I liked it a little better than most of these.
June 9, 2017
The Sixteenth book in the Matt Helm takes super-assassin spy Helm on a mission to Norway as part of an offer of one man’s assistance to the Chief’s old friend. There, Helm assists in making a series of secret rendezvouses without knowing all the details or all the players or all the rationales. Rather then engaging in a supersonic battle against an all-powerful, technologically advanced foe, Helm works quickly, dealing with minute details of an operation and how to carry it out and who to trust.
What makes this book and series fine reading is the hardboiled nature of the stories. As Helm explains, the spy business is no place for adventurous young kids, idealistic people, or naivete. He is a professional and has a job to do. And, he will not pause for further instructions. Rather, he simply does what the situation demands. If you are looking for constant gunfire and secret inventions and the like, look elsewhere. But, if you are looking for hard-edged, realistic espionage fiction, this is your ticket.
What makes this book and series fine reading is the hardboiled nature of the stories. As Helm explains, the spy business is no place for adventurous young kids, idealistic people, or naivete. He is a professional and has a job to do. And, he will not pause for further instructions. Rather, he simply does what the situation demands. If you are looking for constant gunfire and secret inventions and the like, look elsewhere. But, if you are looking for hard-edged, realistic espionage fiction, this is your ticket.
March 25, 2013
This is one of the best of the series, because of its layered and nuanced plot.
October 27, 2024
The energy crisis in the 1970s, strangely enough, impacted both James Bond and Matt Helm. In the film version of "The Man With the Golden Gun" (1974), Bond was attempting to recover the Solex Agitator, a solar energy device. In "The Terminators" (1975), Helm is obtaining plans for the Sigmund Siphon, a device that could be used to siphon off oil from the oil and gas fields in the North Sea.
Of course the similarity ends there. The Bond movie is more like one of the goofy Matt Helm movies Dean Martin made in the '60s. The Helm novel is the usual hardboiled spy story we would expect from Donald Hamilton.
Helm spends most of the book on a ship traveling along the Norwegian coast. He's essentially there as a bodyguard for a woman, code-named Madeleine, who will be meeting with contacts at various stops along the way to receive different pieces of the secret plans. If this sounds a lot like the plot for "The Interlopers," well it is. Donald Hamilton wasn't above re-using basic plots. This one--Helm on a journey picking up pieces of information at various stops along the way--was one of his favorites, going all the way back to "The Wrecking Crew."
And it wouldn't be a Matt Helm adventure if he weren't accompanied by a young woman on his journey. In this case the young woman is Diana Lawrence, a last minute replacement for the original Madeleine. She's not an experienced agent, but she's eager and quite excited to take an active part in a real-life secret agent adventure.
The action sequences in "The Terminators" are tense and exciting. The byplay between Matt and Diana is entertaining. The Norwegian setting makes a nice contrast to Helm's usual adventures in warmer climes--and allows for some interesting historical content regarding Norway in World War II.
We also get Helm's customary women's fashion critique. He doesn't like the halters and low-riding designer jeans that were ubiquitous at the time. Somehow, I'm not surprised that Helm would hate women's fashions of the '70s even more than he hated women's fashions of the '60s.
Of course the similarity ends there. The Bond movie is more like one of the goofy Matt Helm movies Dean Martin made in the '60s. The Helm novel is the usual hardboiled spy story we would expect from Donald Hamilton.
Helm spends most of the book on a ship traveling along the Norwegian coast. He's essentially there as a bodyguard for a woman, code-named Madeleine, who will be meeting with contacts at various stops along the way to receive different pieces of the secret plans. If this sounds a lot like the plot for "The Interlopers," well it is. Donald Hamilton wasn't above re-using basic plots. This one--Helm on a journey picking up pieces of information at various stops along the way--was one of his favorites, going all the way back to "The Wrecking Crew."
And it wouldn't be a Matt Helm adventure if he weren't accompanied by a young woman on his journey. In this case the young woman is Diana Lawrence, a last minute replacement for the original Madeleine. She's not an experienced agent, but she's eager and quite excited to take an active part in a real-life secret agent adventure.
The action sequences in "The Terminators" are tense and exciting. The byplay between Matt and Diana is entertaining. The Norwegian setting makes a nice contrast to Helm's usual adventures in warmer climes--and allows for some interesting historical content regarding Norway in World War II.
We also get Helm's customary women's fashion critique. He doesn't like the halters and low-riding designer jeans that were ubiquitous at the time. Somehow, I'm not surprised that Helm would hate women's fashions of the '70s even more than he hated women's fashions of the '60s.
September 27, 2021
No fishing trip this time. Helm is headed to Bergen, Norway. He was to help out another organization that needed an agent capable of violence and cunning. No sooner had he boarded a boat to continue the mission than his contact Evelyn was clobbered and thrown overboard. Helm managed to get information from her after fishing her out of the cold harbor. Following up on her information, Helm found the next contact, proceeding to arrange a substitute for the now-dead Evelyn. Diana Lawrence accepted the job. A newly discovered oil deposit in the North Sea is the impetus for the mission, the division of said oil the crux. So much for the setup of the story. For a bit of Helm trivia; Mac’s real name was revealed if you didn’t know it already; Arthur Borden. Two or three oil companies, a couple of countries, and a past enemy agent are all vying for a larger piece of several oil deposits. A bit of industrial espionage, not to mention a cold body or two, nothing would stand in their way. Helm’s mission was to prove them wrong. There’s an interesting twist towards the end that brings everything and all the players together. I’m not sure how Helm figured this one out, all of a sudden there it was. Well, it is a pretty good story, decent characters, and ultimately, justice was served.
August 16, 2021
I've been reading a bunch of these Matt Helm books and so I've been kinda worn down. I can't tell if this one sucks or if it's me being tired of Donald's mouse trap firing off one again. By "mouse trap" I mean that's what some of these authors seem to rely on after a while. They're great writers but after a while the spark of inspiration gives way to just going back to the blue print of structures and styles they did before. The spring goes here, latch it here - now where's the cheese?
I just got done with this one and I have no idea what I just read. I like how brutal Helm is willing to be, but I'm tired of the explanation/apology along with some kind of aw, shucks brand of intellectualization. Enough! Haha. And Helm gets laid way too much. The more disgusted the women are initially the harder they fall for each other. Then she is f/o'd by the end.
Maybe I'll try this review again later when I'm feeling less annoyed.
I just got done with this one and I have no idea what I just read. I like how brutal Helm is willing to be, but I'm tired of the explanation/apology along with some kind of aw, shucks brand of intellectualization. Enough! Haha. And Helm gets laid way too much. The more disgusted the women are initially the harder they fall for each other. Then she is f/o'd by the end.
Maybe I'll try this review again later when I'm feeling less annoyed.
September 11, 2024
Helm is loaned out to another agency as muscle. This is a case of industrial espionage, or is it? Several groups are after the oil fields in the North Sea. Helm is in Norway to protect one particular group. but fails just ten minutes after making contact. A young woman is thrown off the ferry into the North Sea. She dies in his arms. He kills the man responsible in quick order.
There are several conversations about oil shortages, environmentalism and gas lines. Oh, this is so 1973.
He runs into a former agent he trained, Paul Dennison, who is working for one of the other parties.
Another party is Hank Priest, an oilman friend of his boss Mac, who tells a story of his wife’s death all for the gas shortage. Hank becomes suspicious.
After collecting all of the stolen blueprints and maps, Helm realizes that this is not about the oil fields, but personal revenge.
Only one woman buys it in this one.
Long and sometimes confusing.
There are several conversations about oil shortages, environmentalism and gas lines. Oh, this is so 1973.
He runs into a former agent he trained, Paul Dennison, who is working for one of the other parties.
Another party is Hank Priest, an oilman friend of his boss Mac, who tells a story of his wife’s death all for the gas shortage. Hank becomes suspicious.
After collecting all of the stolen blueprints and maps, Helm realizes that this is not about the oil fields, but personal revenge.
Only one woman buys it in this one.
Long and sometimes confusing.
March 22, 2021
Agent Matt Helm is asked to act as an aide to an ex-American naval officer who is making a deal to acquire some kind of machinery in order to enhance American oil assets off the shores of Norway. There are others who are interested, too, including a billionaire businessman and his henchman. Lots of double crossing and treachery, as usual, and that satisfying sense of Life's futility and tenuous friendships in the world of shadowy government espionage. Of course, there is he usual sexism and machismo, but it adds to the outlandish fun.
July 2, 2021
Well, I really enjoy the Matt Helm series, and this was no exception. Helm is on an assignment without knowing what it is (his boss is exceptionally vague), but he's in Norway in the Fall - cold, wet and literally at sea. His contact is murdered before he gets any instructions, and an old enemy shows up. But it's when his allies show up that things get really bad.
Huge fun, of course, and a plot that's suitably convoluted and filled with betrayals of one sort or another. Not to be missed.
Huge fun, of course, and a plot that's suitably convoluted and filled with betrayals of one sort or another. Not to be missed.
June 9, 2020
A lot more complicated for a short story than I expected. Still not sure I even followed all the details and plot twists. But I think I did. I don't think I would read anything else by this author. But I can see the appeal.
February 14, 2022
I just love Matthew Helm. This was one that was really hard to put a handle on to the really bad guys. You will just have to read it to find out for your selves. Lot’s of Love on this day before St. Valentines.
October 10, 2023
There is a murder at the beginning, and others to come. The story is fairly interesting, but there is a lot of dialogue that does not seem clear to me as I read it. In the end, there seems to be no particular Meaning to what has happened.
February 6, 2019
Convoluted
Lots of twists and turns in this one, even without any cold war trappings. Boating around Nordic fjords provides the scenery.
Lots of twists and turns in this one, even without any cold war trappings. Boating around Nordic fjords provides the scenery.
April 28, 2021
An old friend of Mac's using the US government for personal revenge. Helm was sent to investigate.
August 6, 2021
The Terminators
As always the Matt Helm books are a joy to read. I read my first book back in the early 80s.
As always the Matt Helm books are a joy to read. I read my first book back in the early 80s.
September 30, 2021
A good tale with lots of opinions on Norway and as usual, women. Elevated with lots of action.
January 4, 2025
2.6
Corny as heck
Not engaging at all, at least for me
Hollow characters except for possibly the title dude
Blah
Corny as heck
Not engaging at all, at least for me
Hollow characters except for possibly the title dude
Blah
July 15, 2014
I miss the tight writing of the early Matt Helm novels in the Sixties. This puppy, copyright 1975, is officially in the Bloated Period of Matt Helm novels; nevertheless, this is a good story.
A great surprise for me was that Matt Helm did not offer himself up as bait and turn himself over to his enemies in this novel. Not once!
Number of times Matt Helm uses himself as bait in the Matt Helm series, and allows himself to be captured by the opposition (or presents himself directly to the opposition allowing the opposition to do whatever they please with him):
0 = DEATH OF A CITIZEN
1 = THE WRECKING CREW
2 = THE REMOVERS
1 = THE SILENCERS
1 = MURDERERS' ROW
3 = THE AMBUSHERS
2 = THE SHADOWERS
2 = THE RAVAGERS
1 = THE DEVASTATORS
1 = THE BETRAYERS
1 = THE MENACERS
3 = THE INTERLOPERS
1 = THE POISONERS
3 = THE INTRIGUERS
0 = THE INTIMIDATORS
0 = THE TERMINATORS
16 novels in the Matt Helm series so far; 22 times in these novels Matt has used himself as bait.
@hg47
Note: my paperback copy of this book is less a "book" than a collection of pages that have largely come separated from the spine. But I still have all the pages!
March 23, 2016
Again a terrific and exciting read with the multiple layers of betrayal built in...
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews