The Radioactive Camel Affair

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. #7

by Peter Leslie

A cache of stolen Uranium leads Napoleon and Illya on a safari into danger, in this fast-paced suspense thriller.

The figure hidden in the folds of an Arab burnoose crouched in darkness, holding a miniaturized transceiver close to his face. When he heard three faint pips, he continued his "Attention Waverly. Have located THRUSH post office. Hope to identify package tomorrow before distribution of mail. Advise Kuryakin - repeat, Kuryakin. Message ends." Quickly he hid the tiny instrument in his bedding, and lay back as though asleep.

And in a tent nearby in the encampment, another man stood up from a suitcase full of electronic equipment and said softly, "somebody in this caravan is using a radio transmitter..."

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

159 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1966

About the author

aka Ed Mazzaro

Reviews

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The seventh book in the Man From U.N.C.L.E. series finds Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin chasing after a cargo of stolen Uranium 235 as it travels by camel caravan across northern Africa. At the time period in which this was written, there were only five countries that had the capability to produce a nuclear weapon of any kind, and U.N.C.L.E. must see to it that THRUSH doesn’t get it too.

This is the first of five U.N.C.L.E. novels written by Peter Leslie. Unfortunately, I found this one to be a little sub-par based on the previous six books I’ve read. Most of the plot is pretty stretched out with the only real exciting scene being saved until near the end. Moreover, both Solo and Illya are outplayed during the entire novel by THRUSH and need to be saved by a deus-ex-machina ending in the form of a previously unidentified German agent. I hope his other series entries are better than this one.

But still, it is always a delight to revisit these characters. The entire series are original stories rather than novelizations of the television episodes.

[Alaina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely going out of order for this series because I really needed to dive into this for a certain challenge. That being said, The Radioactive Camel Affair was an okay book. Just like the previous books, nothing really wowed or shocked me. Maybe it's because of when it was written or where the setting is but eh, it was okay. It's not like the Super Bowl game was any more exciting than this book though.

Then there's Solo and Illya, who were okay but nothing really exciting happened until towards the end of the book. By then, I just didn't care about what was happening and if the day ended up being saved or not.

In the end, I guess I will dive into the rest of the series just so that I'm all caught up to where I am now.

[Irredeemable Shag · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up this 1966 THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. book on a whim while on vacation in Boston. Fast read and a fun espionage romp from a long-lost era!

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A goofy title camouflages what is in actuality a serious and tough entry. In his first of five offerings in the American paperback series (his second in the British, which apparently has a different chronological order), Peter Leslie demonstrates what an effective talent he could be. In this one, unknown personnel have been making off with quantities of uranium-235 from nuclear installations all over the world, for reasons unknown, although it is thought that there could be only one valid reason for doing so: the building of a hydrogen bomb! Clues from a deceased U.N.C.L.E. agent lead Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin to Africa, where they first interview an information dealer named Habib Tufik in Casablanca, and a Mr. Mahmoud in Alexandria...both informants being brutally killed shortly after their interviews. This reader has long been a fan of the parallel-plot device in novels, and this book gives us a doozy. Thus, in the first, a disguised Solo joins a caravan headed into the southern Sudan, in which one of the camels is thought to be carrying the radioactive shipment to an unknown destination. In the other, Kuryakin travels by Landrover from Stanleyville into the war-torn Sudan; encounters a mysterious woman named Rosa Harsch who is leading a surveying team; finds a power station hidden behind a waterfall; stumbles upon a landing field in the jungle, close to some intermediate-range missile silos; and discovers an underground nuclear facility being used by Thrush.

Highlights of this suspenseful outing include the street fight that Illya and Napoleon engage in in Casablanca; Napoleon fleeing for his life through the streets of Wadi Elmira; Solo escaping from the caravan on horseback; Illya's encounter with a guard by that waterfall; Illya's infiltration of that underground lair; the waterboarding that Solo is subjected to; and the final battle in the underground lair. Leslie writes very well, adds nice bits of local color (the Izarra liqueur that Habib is seen drinking; the descriptions of Alexandria's Stanley Bay), and seems to have done his homework as to armaments and tech (the Mannlicher rifle that is used to kill Mahmoud; the Belgian FN rifles that the African soldiers are shown using). He also throws in a credible subplot, with the Arabs of northern Sudan being at war with the black Africans in the south; an actual state of affairs at the time. Interestingly, many of the characters on display here are not what they initially seem, although the identity of the Thrush council member in charge will come as a surprise to only the slowest of readers. The book also has a fairly high body count, with many "sacrificial lambs," henchmen and Thrushies gone by book's end. My only real beef: Shouldn't Illya have known that the burning of Moscow took place in 1812, not 1813, as he tells an Arab official? But, oh…extra points for the incorporation of the word "gamboge"; that was a new one on me! On a personal note, I might add that I coincidentally finished reading "The Radioactive Camel Affair" on the same day that David McCallum passed away. So, RIP, and all that, to a terrific and legendary performer....

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

[Tim Deforest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solo and Illya are assigned to find some stolen Uranium-235. The trail takes them to Sudan, where they discover that THRUSH is using a faction of rebels in southern Sudan to build a secret missile base.

This is actually a pretty good spy novel and has a great climactic action scene, but it doesn't really feel like a Man from U.N.C.L.E. story. It delves too much into real-life politics and lacks the tongue-in-cheek elements that even more serious U.N.C.L.E. episodes always contained.

I think its possible that the author was hired to write an U.N.C.L.E. novel and took an unpublished spy story he'd written, changed the name, inserted THRUSH as the main villain and called it a day. Once again, it's not badly written, but it just doesn't quite feel like it belongs in the U.N.C.L.E. universe. If you dive into it while expected a more generic spy story, though, it can be enjoyed.

Personal Note: I've been to South Sudan a half-dozen times on short-term mission trips. Reading something written in 1966 that describes the Muslim north trying to wipe out the Christian/pagan South and other examples of violence in the country--well, all I could think was "Not much as changed in six decades, has it?"

[James Conder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite having the goofiest name, this actually on of the more grounded of the series, and surprisingly good. Solo and Kuraykin actually seem like top agents of a spy agency, as opposed to the Doomsday Affair where they both constantly bubbled into obvious traps.

[Kent Archie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good entry in the series. The author put a lot of work into Central Africa geography and politics (at least the mid 1960's politics. If you liked the show , you'll probably like this book.
If you only know the movie, you won't recognize these characters.

[Bert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of the television series this book was based off before finding this and another from the series in my local thrift shop. Fantastic spy-thriller genre book that's a fast read with a snappy pace.

[Abril · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far, the worst book in the series. Too boring, too repetitive, there is barely any action going on until the penultimate chapter, and the identity of one of the bad guys was dead obvious right from the moment he first appeared on scene.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorites books as a young man. I was extremely disappointed years later when reading a Mack Bolan novel, Anvil of Hell, written by the same author and realized it was a rewritten Man From U.N.C.L.E.

[Rhinoland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like this book, however I always prefer it when Illya and Napoleon spend more time working as a team. The good thing about these novels is that fight scenes and injuries are more realistic than what they could produce on the show.

[Read1000books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never mind the sappy title; this was a really good U.N.C.L.E. story. A little bit of missing Uranium 235 might not be a big deal but a lot of little missing bits sure can be, especially in the hands of Thrush! While some might prefer an action hero like Han Solo, give me Napoleon Solo!

[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

[A.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readable, kept me entertained, although I was bored in the last quarter. I fear this book wouldn't stand up to modern attitudes to either Muslims or black Africans.

[Bill Donhiser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun nostalgic novel in this series. Well written, Napoleon and Illya take on missing nuclear material and once again foil THRUSH