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Johnny Fedora #12
Undertow
Undertow
- GenresMystery
Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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October 13, 2014This is my first introduction to Desmond Cory and his British Intelligence man Johnny Fedora. Cory is known for these spy novels among other written works. The first Fedora novel made its debut in 1951 and the character actually predates the first James Bond book by about three years I believe. I have never read a James Bond novel but have watched the movies and enjoy them. I can say the same for my first Johnny Fedora book. Half Spanish and half Irish Fedora is a professional who is both attractive to women but also attracted to beautiful and exotic women as well but he is also a hardened by his job and past experiences (even being captured and tortured) and he is a lethal weapon. He’s also an accomplished pianist.
He and foreign office sidekick Sebastian Trout cool their heels at Mediterranean villa just to relax . By coincidence it happens to be the exact location that Moreno a professional psychopathic KGB assassin is bound for in order to retrieve hidden “spyglass logbooks” which hold political secrets and lead to a sunken German U-boat. Fedora and Trout are drawn into the intrigue when they find a headless body in their pool. Fedora eventually ends up diving to get to the U-boat and of course Mareno is there ahead of him. The underwater scenes are very cool. I only wish that scene lasted a bit longer. Good story and writing. So glad I am now acquainted Cory and his man Fedora. If you are a fan of Ian Fleming, the author of the Bond novels, you are sure to enjoy Desmond’s Cory’s Johnny Fedora series as well. I give if five stars. The books are being re-released by Ostara Publishing.
He and foreign office sidekick Sebastian Trout cool their heels at Mediterranean villa just to relax . By coincidence it happens to be the exact location that Moreno a professional psychopathic KGB assassin is bound for in order to retrieve hidden “spyglass logbooks” which hold political secrets and lead to a sunken German U-boat. Fedora and Trout are drawn into the intrigue when they find a headless body in their pool. Fedora eventually ends up diving to get to the U-boat and of course Mareno is there ahead of him. The underwater scenes are very cool. I only wish that scene lasted a bit longer. Good story and writing. So glad I am now acquainted Cory and his man Fedora. If you are a fan of Ian Fleming, the author of the Bond novels, you are sure to enjoy Desmond’s Cory’s Johnny Fedora series as well. I give if five stars. The books are being re-released by Ostara Publishing.
September 26, 2022
Before James Bond, there was Johnny Fedora. This is a good old fashion, Cold War spy tale, complete with an alluring Russian Femme Fatale, and exotic locations.
Apparently author Desmond Cory was writing this style of novel 60 years ago, predating Ian Fleming. In “About the Author,” the style is called “Brit Grit.”
Cory has an elegant prose that ads to the appeal of the book. It seems he left several unpublished manuscripts that are being edited and published now. I’m not clear if this is one of those.
If you like James Bond, or cold war thrillers, you will certainly enjoy this book.
Apparently author Desmond Cory was writing this style of novel 60 years ago, predating Ian Fleming. In “About the Author,” the style is called “Brit Grit.”
Cory has an elegant prose that ads to the appeal of the book. It seems he left several unpublished manuscripts that are being edited and published now. I’m not clear if this is one of those.
If you like James Bond, or cold war thrillers, you will certainly enjoy this book.
May 29, 2015
My first Johnny Fedora spy thriller. A fast-paced, gripping narration with rich characters and complex plot, it was enjoyable enough to complete in two sittings with a Kindle. Undertow is a book I'll recommend without reservation to others who enjoy the genre...I'll look forward to reading more from Desmond Cory.
April 1, 2015
Moreno is a crazy killer who escapes from prison and takes refuge as part of the K.G.B. It is an excellent story full of first class action and adventure with a great finale. I can highly recommend this if you are looking for fast tough spy action.
September 21, 2022
Worldwide manhunt
A vicious killer is loose, leaving a trail or destruction and death behind him. His usual pattern was broken and now he is unpredictable. In order to catch him Johnny Fedora is brought in an expert code breaker and pattern solver. Working against the clock in order to prevent yet another death Johnny has to also continue to work against some governments who are determined and keeping the Killer out and on the loose for their own nefarious reasons. This was a fast and exciting book and I highly recommended for all those who love spy thrillers, as well as darker books more into the horror since the description of the violence and death is pretty graphic throughout.
A vicious killer is loose, leaving a trail or destruction and death behind him. His usual pattern was broken and now he is unpredictable. In order to catch him Johnny Fedora is brought in an expert code breaker and pattern solver. Working against the clock in order to prevent yet another death Johnny has to also continue to work against some governments who are determined and keeping the Killer out and on the loose for their own nefarious reasons. This was a fast and exciting book and I highly recommended for all those who love spy thrillers, as well as darker books more into the horror since the description of the violence and death is pretty graphic throughout.
December 5, 2025
Undertow introduces Johnny Fedora, a suave, globe-trotting hero who actually predates Fleming’s James Bond — and you can definitely see the lineage. Fans of Bond will likely find a lot to enjoy here: the style, the swagger, the cool-headed espionage beats. The writing itself is tight and confident, and Cory clearly knows how to build momentum.
For me, though, it didn’t fully land. Bond-style thrillers aren’t really my go-to, so Fedora didn’t grab me in the way he does for others, and the central murder scene felt grim in a way that tipped past my comfort. It’s a well-crafted book, no question, but ultimately one that I appreciated more than I loved.
For me, though, it didn’t fully land. Bond-style thrillers aren’t really my go-to, so Fedora didn’t grab me in the way he does for others, and the central murder scene felt grim in a way that tipped past my comfort. It’s a well-crafted book, no question, but ultimately one that I appreciated more than I loved.
June 15, 2015
By the time Ian Fleming's Casino Royale (the first James Bond novel was published, two of Desmond Cory's Johnny Fedora novels had been published. Johnny Fedora is a character who is similar to James Bond and that's why I read Undertow. It's not the first book in the series but it's the start of a narrative arc, which features the series main villain, that spans five books (so I'm guessing it's like Thunderball, which is the first book in what James Bond fans call "The Blofeld Trilogy".
Honestly, I found the James Bond books I've read so far (and I've read nine out of twelve of the Fleming's novel) a bit underwhelming. I love the movies. And the only blockbuster coming out this year that I'm really looking forward to is Spectre. I was hoping Undertow would be better than the James Bond novels I've read. I would say it is better than quite a few of them.
I don't think Ian Fleming was very good writer. None of the his books had any complex plots. Nothing unpredictable happens. And James Bond didn't really have much, well, agency. He's saved from death by extraordinary circumstances. Well, actually unpredictable things sometimes happen but when they do they're not exactly smart plotting. For example, why does Auric Goldfinger (Spoiler Alert for Goldfinger) ? And his prose style didn't flow well. But his strength was thinking of outlandish premises. In Goldfinger, the villain plans to rob Fort Knox. In Thunderball, a secret organization steals two nuclear missiles and takes the Western world hostage. Ian Fleming didn't quite execute those ideas well but they were great ideas (even if he had help from two other writers in the case of Thunderball.
In Undertow, Johnny Fedora has to stop a Russian secret agent from getting some important papers from a sunken Nazi submarine. I guess the stakes are high but the novel is not quite as dramatic as the aforementioned James Bond novels.
Still, I liked the book. It's fast-paced and the chapters are short, which made it seem even faster-paced. The protagonists were likable and the villains were menacing. The climax was written well. And Cory's writing flowed better than Fleming's.
I'm going to have to read more of the Johnny Fedora novels before I decide whether or not Desmond Cory is better than Ian Fleming, though. If I ever see the next book in the series, Hammerhead (also known as Shockwave, in a used bookstore or on eBay and it's priced low, I'd buy it.
Honestly, I found the James Bond books I've read so far (and I've read nine out of twelve of the Fleming's novel) a bit underwhelming. I love the movies. And the only blockbuster coming out this year that I'm really looking forward to is Spectre. I was hoping Undertow would be better than the James Bond novels I've read. I would say it is better than quite a few of them.
I don't think Ian Fleming was very good writer. None of the his books had any complex plots. Nothing unpredictable happens. And James Bond didn't really have much, well, agency. He's saved from death by extraordinary circumstances. Well, actually unpredictable things sometimes happen but when they do they're not exactly smart plotting. For example, why does Auric Goldfinger (Spoiler Alert for Goldfinger) ? And his prose style didn't flow well. But his strength was thinking of outlandish premises. In Goldfinger, the villain plans to rob Fort Knox. In Thunderball, a secret organization steals two nuclear missiles and takes the Western world hostage. Ian Fleming didn't quite execute those ideas well but they were great ideas (even if he had help from two other writers in the case of Thunderball.
In Undertow, Johnny Fedora has to stop a Russian secret agent from getting some important papers from a sunken Nazi submarine. I guess the stakes are high but the novel is not quite as dramatic as the aforementioned James Bond novels.
Still, I liked the book. It's fast-paced and the chapters are short, which made it seem even faster-paced. The protagonists were likable and the villains were menacing. The climax was written well. And Cory's writing flowed better than Fleming's.
I'm going to have to read more of the Johnny Fedora novels before I decide whether or not Desmond Cory is better than Ian Fleming, though. If I ever see the next book in the series, Hammerhead (also known as Shockwave, in a used bookstore or on eBay and it's priced low, I'd buy it.
January 16, 2015
Johnny Fedora is a semi-retired British Intelligence spy living in Spain off the dime of a rich woman who isn’t around much. His best friend and cohort Trout has taken up permanent residence with him. When the infamous Russian spy Moreno breaks out of a Spanish prison leaving a wake of dead bodies, Fedora can’t help but wonder what’s going on – a mad man like that doesn’t just escape by chance. And when one of Moreno’s dead bodies shows up in Fedora’s swimming pool, he takes it personally.
Undertow is a re-release from 1962 when the spy game was hot and human-relics of the cold war became newly occupied by various growing intelligence agencies. The book follows a traditional plot that touches upon the interrelations between agencies competing for lost information. The characters echo what we’ve come to know as strong types in the classic James Bond styling – although Cory wrote Undertow two years before the first Bond book was published.
Undertow is a fast read, written in a style appropriate for the mid 20th Century with readily identifiable characters a classic spy fan would love. The men are strong with shady pasts and uncertain futures while the women are both innocent and deadly. My only concerns with resurrecting Cory’s book is that the passive writing and recognizable characters take us down roads we’ve read before. The surprise ending was anti-climactic; even with my limited knowledge of submarines, I was able to determine where Cory was taking his story.
Overall, Undertow is a solid story of intelligence and espionage diehard fans of classic spy fiction will gobble up with gusto.
Undertow is a re-release from 1962 when the spy game was hot and human-relics of the cold war became newly occupied by various growing intelligence agencies. The book follows a traditional plot that touches upon the interrelations between agencies competing for lost information. The characters echo what we’ve come to know as strong types in the classic James Bond styling – although Cory wrote Undertow two years before the first Bond book was published.
Undertow is a fast read, written in a style appropriate for the mid 20th Century with readily identifiable characters a classic spy fan would love. The men are strong with shady pasts and uncertain futures while the women are both innocent and deadly. My only concerns with resurrecting Cory’s book is that the passive writing and recognizable characters take us down roads we’ve read before. The surprise ending was anti-climactic; even with my limited knowledge of submarines, I was able to determine where Cory was taking his story.
Overall, Undertow is a solid story of intelligence and espionage diehard fans of classic spy fiction will gobble up with gusto.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews