The Hollow Crown Affair

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. #17

by David McDaniel

"Deceased - line of Duty", U.N.C.L.E.'s dossier on Joseph King said their former Lab Chief had been killed during a field test of his Particle Accelerator Rifle, a very deadly new weapon that backfired on him. There was no doubt about his death of its circumstances.

But could he somehow have escaped from the explosion and defected THRUSH, taking the secrets of that weapon with him? Could he now be fighting treacherously for a position of power in THRUSH, using the P.A.R. against his rivals?

The head of THRUSH's San Francisco satrap claimed that was true, and he had voluntarily walked into U.N.C.L.E. Headquarters to ask for help against King. Obviously U.N.C.L.E. had to act - but Napoleon and Illya knew they would be facing sudden death from all sides.

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

156 pages, mass market paperback

First published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could say that David McDaniel went out with a bang in his final published U.N.C.L.E. novel, but sadly, that is not the case, and indeed, "The Hollow Crown Affair" might just be the least impressive of the author’s six contributions to the series. In this one, the head of Thrush's San Francisco satrap, Ward Baldwin (whom we hadn't seen since Book #4, "The Dagger Affair"), enters Mr. Waverly's NYC HQ to report that one Joseph King, U.N.C.L.E.'s former Lab Chief who had died while conducting tests on his Particle Accelerator Rifle three years before, had actually survived, gone over to Thrush, and is now in the middle of a power play to raise himself to the Thrush Central Council. As part of his campaign, King has spread lies about Baldwin, even going so far as to call him an U.N.C.L.E. collaborator, which lies bring the evil organization into full-on conflict with both Baldwin and U.N.C.L.E., resulting in another temporary alliance between Waverly, Napoleon Solo, Illya Kuryakin and the Baldwins, Ward and Irene.

Much of the book transpires at the University of Vermont in Burlington, at which Baldwin doubles as a lecturer in chemistry, and in the wilds of Maine, to which the Baldwins, Solo and Illya are forced to flee when the forces of Thrush catch up with them. Action sequences in the book are sporadic and somehow not always terribly exciting: Napoleon and Illya employing an antitank gun on a truckload of Thrushes on the streets of Manhattan; Solo battling a lance-wielding horseman in the woods of northern Vermont; an enormous brawl on the UVM campus, with dozens of college kids on one side and 15 Thrush toughs on the other; the escape that Solo, Illya and the Baldwins engage in from that same campus, with Irene behind the wheel of a seemingly bulletproof Mercedes 580-K; King using his PAR gun on the Maine hotel where our heroes are staying; and Solo and Kuryakin doing battle with King and his weapon at the book's conclusion.

McDaniel, as usual, has done his homework here, down to the inclusion of the (real-life) Bove's Italian restaurant in Burlington, the Youth Triumphant statue in Barre, and the secondary roads in Maine (some good maps of both Vermont and Maine will prove useful here, by the way). His descriptions of Burlington, on Lake Champlain, will surely make you want to visit, and his capsule bios of Ward Baldwin and Joseph King are both convincing and fascinating. And pleasingly, he makes references not only to his Book #4, but also to Solo's researches into Baldwin in Book #13 ("The Rainbow Affair"), Waverly's compulsory "vacation" in Book #15 ("The Utopia Affair"), and even the vampiric doings of Book #6 ("The Vampire Affair"). And speaking of vampires, how amusing is it that the town in Maine where they stay at that motel is Collinsport, the locale in the then-popular daytime soap "Dark Shadows"...and that engraved on a tree, they see the words "Barnabas loves Josette"? I also enjoyed the offhand reference that is made to Fritz Leiber's "Conjure Wife," one of this reader's favorite horror novels.

Still, as I inferred up top, the book has problems...lots of them. It is occasionally dry, with many slow patches, and with numerous instances of fuzzy writing. The raid on Thrush's HQ in Philly is very poorly described, as is that final battle. The PAR gun comes off seeming more like a bazooka than anything else, and Baldwin's right-hand gal Chandra Reynolds (not a member of Thrush but still wholly dedicated to Ward and Irene) fails to convince. The Baldwins' escape from that motel attack, and their sudden appearance in Millinocket, over 100 miles away, is never explained. And the book's title and section headings, all nods to Shakespeare's "Richard II," come off as forced and borderline pretentious. But perhaps worst of all are the inconsistencies that McDaniel is guilty of here. On the book's first page, we're told that there are four steps leading from the sidewalk down to Del Floria's; a little later, we're told that that number is six. Early on, we're told that King had supposedly perished three years earlier; at the book's conclusion, we're told it was four years. We're even told that U.N.C.L.E.'s NYC HQ is on 54th St., whereas in previous books, Waverly had been able to look out of his office window directly at the U.N., placing the HQ from 42nd St. to 48th St., tops. I realize that this U.N.C.L.E. novel is highly regarded by many fans, and although I did enjoy it, must report that it was a bit of a slog at times, and something of a disappointment for me. The novel's single best feature, though, far and away, is the return of Ward and Irene Baldwin, two wonderful and ever-resourceful characters. Incidentally, I see that David McDaniel actually wrote a seventh U.N.C.L.E. novel, the regrettably unpublished affair called "The Final Affair," which is supposedly available for perusal online. Despite my disappointment with his last-published U.N.C.L.E. book, I would still agree that he was indeed the finest of the 10 contributors to this series, and would love to check out that final affair one day....

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

[Jiří Pavlovský · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poslední z objevených antikvariátních knih inspirovaných televizními seriály. A zatímco Avengers mě z větší části nadchli, Get Smart bych klidně i zkusil další knihu, I Spy bavilo - tak příběhu ze světa seriálu The Man From UNCLE jsem nějak nepřišel na chuť. Prostě jsem se do toho nedokázal začíst a spíš to dorazil z pocitu povinnosti. Taky je to už sedmnáctá kniha a upřímně jsem ani moc nepochopil, jak moc vážně ji mám brát. Americko-ruský tým agentů stojí tentokrát před problémem spočívajícím ve vynoření zdánlivě mrtvého geniálního vědce a válce o moc v konkurenční organizaci THRUSH, která zavede hrdiny až do tak cizokrajných lokací jako je vysokoškolská kolej a zapojí je do nelítostných soubojů pomocí balónů naplněných barvou a přestřelek s holicí pěnou. Jako jo, má to svůj šarm a možná, kdybych ty postavy víc znal, tak by mě tenhle (asi) úhyb stranou bavil, takhle to šlo mimo.

[Bill Donhiser · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. a little more than many of the others. It is a fun action adventure and follow the plots in the series well

[Kent Archie · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty interesting story but a couple times I lost track of the plot.
And it was weird that the two main Thrush people were more interesting than Napolean and Illya.

[Philip · Rating 1 out of 5]

Having recently found and read the first Man from U.N.C.L.E. TV tie-in novel (which I also gave one star), I thought I'd try one of the later stories to see if they improved over time, "just for fun." But turned out to be a really bad idea -- now I just feel dirty.

This book is so bad, to actually give this one star I should really upgrade my review of the first book to 3 stars, just so you could tell how much worse this one is. It reads like current fan fiction written by a junior high student. The action (and I use that word with heavy sarcasm) takes place in such "exotic" locales as Philadelphia and a Vermont college town, and at one point devolves into a frat-style water balloon/shaving cream fight...

I have never quit such a slim book in the middle before, but life is just WAY too short. So I guess my little experiment with that box of old TV show books has come to a sad end...although I still have some I Spy and Avengers in there...

[A.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another absolutely corking Uncle novel by David McDaniel, with the return of the wonderful Thrush arch villain Ward Baldwin and his equally wonderful, refined, deviously intelligent and capable wife Irene. Napoleon and Illya are perfectly drawn, and Mr Waverly has his perfect counterpart in Baldwin. At times I wasn't sure why Uncle were so assiduously protecting a Thrush man, but really it didn't matter. The whole adventure was marvellous.

[Macjest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another visit with Ward Baldwin and his wife Irene. Even though they are key members of THRUSH, they are most enjoyable. They certainly have a very dry sense of humor that adds a subtle kick to the story. Baldwin and Alexander Waverly know each other from way back and get along with other despite the fact they are on opposite sides of the fence.

[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