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Matt Helm #2
The Wrecking Crew
Matt Helm has been sent halfway around the world to find and destroy the mythically elusive agent they called Caselius. His only lead to him is a woman, who might or might not be a double agent. Before Helm finally faces Caselius up in the bleak north woods of the Swedish ore country, two women will die, two more will be charged up to Matt Helm's account, in heaven or in hell.
176 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1960
108 people are currently reading
321 people want to read
About the author
Donald Hamilton
102 books108 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 - 30 of 110 reviews
October 18, 2025
Although I was born in the 1960s, there are things I will never understand about the time period. The British spy craze began in the 1950s with that Fleming-Bond-martini-shaken-guy. It took the United States about ten years of searching to find their own spy guy in the person of Matt Helm (as played by Dean Martin.) (Our Man Flint with James Coburn came later and he didn't have the backup of a book series.)
The thing that confuses me is that although the book series was successful, today's audiences may find the antiquated, chauvinistic language. . . unsettling. Hamilton writes to the effect that: she's the type of woman I want to rape just to get a reaction out of her. Or: women who wear pants want to act like men. Or: women with short hair are just unattractive in comparison to women with long hair. I don't recall Fleming writing Bond to be anywhere near as obnoxious.
There were four successful Matt Helm movies, of which this was the last one. The discontinuation of the series had more to do with Sharon Tate's murder than with any sense of Matt Helm being a serial womanizer. After her death, Dean Martin lost the taste for playing this character.
The book is very similar to the plot revealed on screen, but the character has gone through a divorce where he has lost his home, wife, and children. He is, of course, a lot bitter about his situation. Although one might wish to be sympathetic of his pain, Helm is harsh, especially when dealing with female agents and contacts.
I liked the story. It was gritty, and noir in a way the movies never were. This portrayal of an American agent is dark, and more anti-hero than red-white-and-blue patriot warrior. Still, worthy of exploration.
The thing that confuses me is that although the book series was successful, today's audiences may find the antiquated, chauvinistic language. . . unsettling. Hamilton writes to the effect that: she's the type of woman I want to rape just to get a reaction out of her. Or: women who wear pants want to act like men. Or: women with short hair are just unattractive in comparison to women with long hair. I don't recall Fleming writing Bond to be anywhere near as obnoxious.
There were four successful Matt Helm movies, of which this was the last one. The discontinuation of the series had more to do with Sharon Tate's murder than with any sense of Matt Helm being a serial womanizer. After her death, Dean Martin lost the taste for playing this character.
The book is very similar to the plot revealed on screen, but the character has gone through a divorce where he has lost his home, wife, and children. He is, of course, a lot bitter about his situation. Although one might wish to be sympathetic of his pain, Helm is harsh, especially when dealing with female agents and contacts.
I liked the story. It was gritty, and noir in a way the movies never were. This portrayal of an American agent is dark, and more anti-hero than red-white-and-blue patriot warrior. Still, worthy of exploration.
October 22, 2014
In this, the second book of the series, Helm's character is firmly set. He's in Sweden, so we get a fair amount of comparison between the two countries, what he thinks makes sense & what doesn't. More, he is working with another agency who think his job - find & kill the bad guy - makes him a monster. Several darkly ironic situations arise proving the need for men like Helm & why his service exists. They might not like or respect him, but when the bad guys don't play by their rules, they need him - an overriding theme of the series.
Hamilton nails traveling across the Swedish landscape & wilderness. I'm currently reading On Guns and Hunting, a collection of his hunting stories. I've read two so far, "Arctic Hunt" & "Hunting the Great Alg" (or something like that). Both were published in magazines & bits of each appear in this book. In other words, he describes walking across the land so well because he actually did so. Of course, he was hunting birds & moose, but it still...
This book is not without it faults, but luckily the most glaring didn't arise until the end. A character has her hands tied behind her & yet stoops to pick a package up off the ground. There's a bit more going on, but I don't want to spoil it. I guess this goof in logic proves that this edition wasn't edited at all. I don't recall noticing this before which is rather strange, but I checked my original paperback, published in 1960, and it is identical in this respect. This is the new edition that just came this week (Feb2013).
Anyway, this is one of the few times Hamilton screws up with a logical detail of this sort. It's one of the reasons I like his books so much. He usually gets things like that just right which lends to the realism of the stories. Helm doesn't have a lot of gadgets, mostly makes do with a lot of common sense, logic, & ruthless determination. He's no superman - swears that hitting someone with his fist is pretty useless except for show. He does know some tricky moves, but since his opponent usually does as well, they tend to even out.
Overall, it was a great adventure for Helm & sets up the continuing character well. It is one of the few books where his age is specifically mentioned - he's 36 - considered a bit old by many for this game, especially since he hasn't been part of it in 15 years, since WWII.
Please help support this wonderful series by buying them. If they do well, we should get to read the final book in the series that Hamilton wrote shortly before he died. The next book is due in August, the fourth in October. Let's hope they stick to the schedule.
Hamilton nails traveling across the Swedish landscape & wilderness. I'm currently reading On Guns and Hunting, a collection of his hunting stories. I've read two so far, "Arctic Hunt" & "Hunting the Great Alg" (or something like that). Both were published in magazines & bits of each appear in this book. In other words, he describes walking across the land so well because he actually did so. Of course, he was hunting birds & moose, but it still...
This book is not without it faults, but luckily the most glaring didn't arise until the end. A character has her hands tied behind her & yet stoops to pick a package up off the ground. There's a bit more going on, but I don't want to spoil it. I guess this goof in logic proves that this edition wasn't edited at all. I don't recall noticing this before which is rather strange, but I checked my original paperback, published in 1960, and it is identical in this respect. This is the new edition that just came this week (Feb2013).
Anyway, this is one of the few times Hamilton screws up with a logical detail of this sort. It's one of the reasons I like his books so much. He usually gets things like that just right which lends to the realism of the stories. Helm doesn't have a lot of gadgets, mostly makes do with a lot of common sense, logic, & ruthless determination. He's no superman - swears that hitting someone with his fist is pretty useless except for show. He does know some tricky moves, but since his opponent usually does as well, they tend to even out.
Overall, it was a great adventure for Helm & sets up the continuing character well. It is one of the few books where his age is specifically mentioned - he's 36 - considered a bit old by many for this game, especially since he hasn't been part of it in 15 years, since WWII.
Please help support this wonderful series by buying them. If they do well, we should get to read the final book in the series that Hamilton wrote shortly before he died. The next book is due in August, the fourth in October. Let's hope they stick to the schedule.
April 7, 2018
April 2018: This was an emergency read. I listened to the first one Death of a Citizen not long ago & loved it all over again even though I've read it a bunch of times & listened to it just a couple of years ago. I've got a bunch of audio books I'm not sure of, so I dumped all the Matt Helm books on my phone's SD card & plan to keep one ready in the 'started' library just in case I can't take the book I'm listening to while driving. That happened yesterday with a Librivox recording of Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat. The quality is awful, so I switched to this book at a stop light.
It was great again. Stephen Rudnicki does a great job narrating. Hamilton took the descriptions of Sweden from personal experience & several of the outdoor scenes are cribbed directly from his nonfiction articles hunting there. Well, Helm was hunting too, just different quarry. As usual, his pragmatic point of view was great.
July 2015: The first was so good as an audio book that I couldn't wait to start the second even though I have a couple of other books I want to listen to. This one was fantastic, too. They're even better as audio books, although that's hard to imagine.
I've reviewed this book in both its paperback editions & don't have anything to add, although in audio format, I missed his logic goof at the end which I mention in one of the reviews linked below.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
It was great again. Stephen Rudnicki does a great job narrating. Hamilton took the descriptions of Sweden from personal experience & several of the outdoor scenes are cribbed directly from his nonfiction articles hunting there. Well, Helm was hunting too, just different quarry. As usual, his pragmatic point of view was great.
July 2015: The first was so good as an audio book that I couldn't wait to start the second even though I have a couple of other books I want to listen to. This one was fantastic, too. They're even better as audio books, although that's hard to imagine.
I've reviewed this book in both its paperback editions & don't have anything to add, although in audio format, I missed his logic goof at the end which I mention in one of the reviews linked below.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
February 7, 2017
A while back, I discovered Kindle versions of the 1960s Matt Helm books (there are 27 in all) and decided to work my way through at least a few of them. As I learned from reading the first, Death of a Citizen, they're both well written and very dated - and therein lies the appeal for me, a survivor of teenage years in the 1950s. It's quite a hoot to get the author's take, through the eyes of his government operative Helm; put another way, we've come a long way, baby. Consider this, for instance:
Describing a female companion, Helm notes, "Well, at least she'd had the decency to wear nylons. If there's anything that turns my stomach, it's a grown woman in bobby sox."
Or this: "For kicks, you might as well pat Joan of Arc in full armor, as a modern woman in her best girdle."
Ah yes. As one who remembers trying to wriggle into one of those rubber Playtex girdles (and worse, trying to extricate myself after sweating in what quickly became an up-close-and-personal sauna), that's just plain funny.
The story lines are a little dated as well, but only when it comes to more insignificant things like weapons and modes of transportation of choice (Helm is a more-than-decent photographer who uses real film cartridges and typically develops his own pictures, for example). But the action works in any decade, and there's plenty of that to go around. For the record, the books also are on the short side, so a dedicated reader should be able to polish one off in a day.
This begins as Helm, whose code name is Eric, has been reactivated into the government organization in which he basically was an assassin after 15 years of living a comfortable life with a wife and family (his wife left him when she discovered what he really did for the government and decided she just couldn't live with a killer even if what he did was for a good cause). Here, Helm is sent to Sweden for the purpose of putting the "touch" on a man (or woman) named Caselius, an enemy agent. A man whose writing threatened to "out" the agent has been murdered, and his wife, who somehow survived the attack, is trying to carry on her late husband's work. As she collects information, Helm, under the guise of a professional photographer, tags along as she pursues her journalistic efforts.
As in most spy stories, though, no one can be trusted - including the widow, Swedish police officers and tough guys who supposedly represent other government agencies. No one knows that better than Helm, and he's keenly aware that he must remain alert to threats from any direction, especially as bodies pile up and he gets closer to his target.
Given that many books follow this one, it's no spoiler to say that Helm manages to come through the experience still breathing (something that can't be said about several other characters). All in all, it's another fun book in a series I highly recommend.
Describing a female companion, Helm notes, "Well, at least she'd had the decency to wear nylons. If there's anything that turns my stomach, it's a grown woman in bobby sox."
Or this: "For kicks, you might as well pat Joan of Arc in full armor, as a modern woman in her best girdle."
Ah yes. As one who remembers trying to wriggle into one of those rubber Playtex girdles (and worse, trying to extricate myself after sweating in what quickly became an up-close-and-personal sauna), that's just plain funny.
The story lines are a little dated as well, but only when it comes to more insignificant things like weapons and modes of transportation of choice (Helm is a more-than-decent photographer who uses real film cartridges and typically develops his own pictures, for example). But the action works in any decade, and there's plenty of that to go around. For the record, the books also are on the short side, so a dedicated reader should be able to polish one off in a day.
This begins as Helm, whose code name is Eric, has been reactivated into the government organization in which he basically was an assassin after 15 years of living a comfortable life with a wife and family (his wife left him when she discovered what he really did for the government and decided she just couldn't live with a killer even if what he did was for a good cause). Here, Helm is sent to Sweden for the purpose of putting the "touch" on a man (or woman) named Caselius, an enemy agent. A man whose writing threatened to "out" the agent has been murdered, and his wife, who somehow survived the attack, is trying to carry on her late husband's work. As she collects information, Helm, under the guise of a professional photographer, tags along as she pursues her journalistic efforts.
As in most spy stories, though, no one can be trusted - including the widow, Swedish police officers and tough guys who supposedly represent other government agencies. No one knows that better than Helm, and he's keenly aware that he must remain alert to threats from any direction, especially as bodies pile up and he gets closer to his target.
Given that many books follow this one, it's no spoiler to say that Helm manages to come through the experience still breathing (something that can't be said about several other characters). All in all, it's another fun book in a series I highly recommend.
July 7, 2017
In the second Matt Helm novel, Helm is now separated from his wife, who could not handle the revelation that he was a trained killer. Helm is now back in the secret organization nicknamed the Wrecking Crew, but now instead of assassinating Nazis in the midst of the war, Helm is hunting Communist spies and trying to thwart the growing menace of the Soviet Union.
In many ways, these espionage novels are better reads than Fleming's more well known series. Helm is about more human than Bond, a bit more complex. He struggles with trying to figure out who to trust and who to get involved with. This one takes Helm through the Swedish countryside and forced him to adjust to the different culture. All in all, quite a worthwhile read.
In many ways, these espionage novels are better reads than Fleming's more well known series. Helm is about more human than Bond, a bit more complex. He struggles with trying to figure out who to trust and who to get involved with. This one takes Helm through the Swedish countryside and forced him to adjust to the different culture. All in all, quite a worthwhile read.
August 18, 2018
After reading this 2nd book in the series, I am completely hooked. These Matt Helm books remind me a lot of the Parker books by Richard Stark, being contemporaries with that series as well. What Parker is for noir crime novels, Matt Helm is for spy novels. If you understand what you're in for with these books -- that is, 1960s Cold War espionage, complete with all the dated tech and misogyny of that particular decade -- then they are a helluva read. I definitely plan to read the other 25 books in the Matt Helm series and would recommend them to anyone who enjoys action or spy novels.
July 21, 2022
4.5 stars. A cut above book 1. The audio book is well done.
April 26, 2018
Tough, cool and devoid of sentiment, this novel finds super-secret operative Helm on a mission on the heels of Death of a Citizen. He's off to Sweden, where Helm and creator Hamilton have roots. Replete with departmental rivalries, double-crosses and deadly dealings, this is a darker-than-Bond and meaner-than-Le Carre espionage tales that stands up well today.
October 23, 2014
Another cold war thriller set back in the early 60's in Sweden. Helm, the hero, is a government assassin sent to kill off a spy who has proven too deadly for the other spies - a typical job for him. He doesn't mow people down in rows like a movie James Bond, but carefully takes out just those he needs to. It's not easy. He's tough & well trained, but so are his opponents. He has to be careful not to offend the local sensibilities too much. It is peacetime & he's a foreign operative in a friendly country with limited latitude.
As usual, Matt Helm's tough logic carried him through a dangerous situation, made more so by soft-headed politics. There were several memorable scenes, but one epitomizes Helm's thinking & how at odds it is with the rest of the world. At one point, he must kill a man, a guard for the bad guy. His ally exclaims, "You shot him in the back!"
Helm agrees. "He was facing that way." No apologies or worries on his part. He needed the man dead & the direction the man was facing wasn't important to him at all. He's extremely pragmatic.
One of Hamilton's strengths is his ability to pick out pieces of another country & serve them up in choice bits with his hero in the midst. There wasn't any doubt that he'd visited the country & walked through the areas he described; both the towns & the countryside. (Actually, he was born there.) He gave me a feel for it with a few, well chosen words.
See these pages for more of Hamilton's work, about him, & the latest releases.
http://www.matthelmbooks.com/intro.html
http://www.benish-industries.com/hami...
http://goodreadergonebad.net/donaldha...
As usual, Matt Helm's tough logic carried him through a dangerous situation, made more so by soft-headed politics. There were several memorable scenes, but one epitomizes Helm's thinking & how at odds it is with the rest of the world. At one point, he must kill a man, a guard for the bad guy. His ally exclaims, "You shot him in the back!"
Helm agrees. "He was facing that way." No apologies or worries on his part. He needed the man dead & the direction the man was facing wasn't important to him at all. He's extremely pragmatic.
One of Hamilton's strengths is his ability to pick out pieces of another country & serve them up in choice bits with his hero in the midst. There wasn't any doubt that he'd visited the country & walked through the areas he described; both the towns & the countryside. (Actually, he was born there.) He gave me a feel for it with a few, well chosen words.
See these pages for more of Hamilton's work, about him, & the latest releases.
http://www.matthelmbooks.com/intro.html
http://www.benish-industries.com/hami...
http://goodreadergonebad.net/donaldha...
March 17, 2022
Another terrific outing, light years better than the movies. If only these movies would be made true to the books.
This time Matt is in Sweden, trying to find a deadly and effective spy leader, becoming tangled up with multiple women, dangerous plots, double crossings and lies while playing the role of the basically dumb and incompetent American.
The book has some hilarious personal preferences of Helm (he can't stand women in pants, for example) which make him quirky and interesting as a character to me. His constant analysis of his own actions and the world around him are bright and interesting as well.
This time Matt is in Sweden, trying to find a deadly and effective spy leader, becoming tangled up with multiple women, dangerous plots, double crossings and lies while playing the role of the basically dumb and incompetent American.
The book has some hilarious personal preferences of Helm (he can't stand women in pants, for example) which make him quirky and interesting as a character to me. His constant analysis of his own actions and the world around him are bright and interesting as well.
December 20, 2021
Ugh. I just can't anymore...
December 28, 2018
Gotta love a spy thriller from the early '60's. Good stuff.
March 12, 2020
Fun second book. If you have expectations set from listening to/reading the first book in the series, this meets those expectations. Action involving the other side’s spies, women and men to distrust, politics, the cowboy mentality, shadowy characters from Helm’s past life, and plentiful ruminations by our lead character on topics ranging from girdles to film photography. Helm is a Western American everyman, who is smart, skilled, occasionally aroused, and ready for action. And, as you'd expect, he's a bit dated. The audio version I listened to was narrated by Stefan Rudnicki, who sounds correct as an action-hero spy. I will listen to more.
May 13, 2019
This is the second book in Donald Hamilton's Matt Helm series, about an assassin for a secret government agency which is probably some department of the CIA. I thought the first one was pretty good, wasn't sure if I would go on. But I am having a bout of obsession with the CIA. Perhaps because I am currently reading Robert Caro's The Passage of Power, #4 in his biography of Lyndon B Johnson. In the section I read last week, LBJ is Vice President to John F Kennedy and the whole Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis has been going on. The CIA was deeply involved with attempts to assassinate Castro.
In The Wrecking Crew, Matt Helm has been sent to find and destroy a Russian agent. The locating of and chase after this mythically elusive agent takes place in Sweden. It is winter and it is cold. He finally faces Caselius in the north woods of the country's ore region.
As in the first book, Death of a Citizen, the women are sexy and dangerous. Helm has to deal with annoying agents on his own side, never sure who he can trust. The story put me in mind of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series due to the location, though Hamilton indulges in some typical 1960s cringe-worthy descriptions of his female characters. Two of them die during the caper. It's all in a days work in these early secret service novels.
Still, it was a quick and entertaining read. I decided I would continue with the series.
September 3, 2015
Have you ever heard of Matt Helm? If so, was it from the old movies? the old TV series? (Frankly I'd forgotten there even was a TV series). Hf you know Helm from there, well you still don't know Matt Helm.
I started with a few strikes against me as well. I was a fan of what is generally called "spy-fi" back in the '60s. Most are familiar with James Bond (007) written by Ian Fleming. There were also other books and movies that leaned heavily on action and sometimes on "gadgets". I liked The Man From U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, Secret Agent (called Danger Man in the UK). I had my walls lined with shelves of paperback books.
But after seeing the movies (at the drive-in with my girl [so I can't guarantee I actually caught the movies every time) I decided that I wasn't interested in Helm.
See in the late '60s and '70s along with a rampant swing left movies and TV series also began to parody anything that might picture the US or Western intelligence community in a positive light. We got Our man Flint and The President's Annalist. Along with these Dean Martin played a campy Matt Helm surrounded by skimpily clad "girls".
Okay so what is Matt Helm (the original or "real" Helm in the books) like. Well many have described him as a more realistic James Bond. Far from being "campy" and humorous Helm is a deadly serious agent. While you have to do a little suspension of disbelief on the time line (he would get a bit too old to perform if he stayed in action as long as the books actually go) the man is a good character. Coming out of WWII he is called back at "times of need" because he's good at what he does.
The Matt Helms books are a bit darker, grittier and in some ways more violent. Helm gets dirty and does his job, even when it's unpleasant.
In the movie Wrecking Crew it's a group of "girls" who are the "Wrecking Crew". Again, forget that. We get some insight into "who" the "Wrecking Crew" are here and where the term comes from. We get to see how people can be manipulated by those who are willing to use them. Personally I think we get a chance to look at our own attitudes.
Up front, Helm is an assassin at least at times. He asks a question in the book that I think needs to be asked. When a woman tells him she "just can't get past what he does" he questions. The pilot who dropped the atomic bomb is a hero but because he directs a single bullet to a single chosen target he's condemned and looked down on.
How's that work?
I've thought of that for years. War can be necessary and I respect our fighting people. That said sometimes you need a scalpel not a sledge hammer. Why do people feel okay about being judgmental toward people who fight one on one on the shadows?
Oh well. Good books, recommended. Enjoy.
I started with a few strikes against me as well. I was a fan of what is generally called "spy-fi" back in the '60s. Most are familiar with James Bond (007) written by Ian Fleming. There were also other books and movies that leaned heavily on action and sometimes on "gadgets". I liked The Man From U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, Secret Agent (called Danger Man in the UK). I had my walls lined with shelves of paperback books.
But after seeing the movies (at the drive-in with my girl [so I can't guarantee I actually caught the movies every time) I decided that I wasn't interested in Helm.
See in the late '60s and '70s along with a rampant swing left movies and TV series also began to parody anything that might picture the US or Western intelligence community in a positive light. We got Our man Flint and The President's Annalist. Along with these Dean Martin played a campy Matt Helm surrounded by skimpily clad "girls".
Okay so what is Matt Helm (the original or "real" Helm in the books) like. Well many have described him as a more realistic James Bond. Far from being "campy" and humorous Helm is a deadly serious agent. While you have to do a little suspension of disbelief on the time line (he would get a bit too old to perform if he stayed in action as long as the books actually go) the man is a good character. Coming out of WWII he is called back at "times of need" because he's good at what he does.
The Matt Helms books are a bit darker, grittier and in some ways more violent. Helm gets dirty and does his job, even when it's unpleasant.
In the movie Wrecking Crew it's a group of "girls" who are the "Wrecking Crew". Again, forget that. We get some insight into "who" the "Wrecking Crew" are here and where the term comes from. We get to see how people can be manipulated by those who are willing to use them. Personally I think we get a chance to look at our own attitudes.
Up front, Helm is an assassin at least at times. He asks a question in the book that I think needs to be asked. When a woman tells him she "just can't get past what he does" he questions. The pilot who dropped the atomic bomb is a hero but because he directs a single bullet to a single chosen target he's condemned and looked down on.
How's that work?
I've thought of that for years. War can be necessary and I respect our fighting people. That said sometimes you need a scalpel not a sledge hammer. Why do people feel okay about being judgmental toward people who fight one on one on the shadows?
Oh well. Good books, recommended. Enjoy.
September 3, 2021
Awe, just pure genius espionage. If you like espionage and spy novels I highly recommend Donald Hamilton’s Matt Helm. Read them in order. When I first came across these novels some 50 or so years ago I didn’t have the chance to read them all, especially in order so Im revisiting them and loving them. On to #3 when I can find it. 👏
January 14, 2020
Hamilton’s first two books in the Matt Helm series are dark and hard boiled. Really dark and hard boiled. Matt Helm has almost no redeeming characteristics - he kills who he’s supposed to and anyone who gets in the way, well, that’s too bad for them.
What I find interesting is that Hamilton recognizes the essential amorality of his character and reflects it back to Helm through the reactions of others, and sometimes in “I’m bad but I don’t care” realizations from Helm.
I’ll likely read more from this series to see how Helm evolves over time, if he does, and for the nostalgia value. I certainly wouldn’t recommend the books to anyone who might be offended by wanton misogyny, amoral killing and blatant jingoism.
What I find interesting is that Hamilton recognizes the essential amorality of his character and reflects it back to Helm through the reactions of others, and sometimes in “I’m bad but I don’t care” realizations from Helm.
I’ll likely read more from this series to see how Helm evolves over time, if he does, and for the nostalgia value. I certainly wouldn’t recommend the books to anyone who might be offended by wanton misogyny, amoral killing and blatant jingoism.
May 26, 2023
This was better than the first because it was actually a spy novel, whereas the first book in the series felt more like crime fiction. I enjoyed the low stakes nature of the plot as well as the use of Sweden as the locale.
My one critique is that it seems like Donald Hamilton's knowledge of firearms and how they work was limited and incomplete. On the other hand, at least he wasn't like these modern action thriller writers who are overly detailed about guns.
I swear the guy narrating these things sounds exactly like James Coburn, lol.
My one critique is that it seems like Donald Hamilton's knowledge of firearms and how they work was limited and incomplete. On the other hand, at least he wasn't like these modern action thriller writers who are overly detailed about guns.
I swear the guy narrating these things sounds exactly like James Coburn, lol.
November 30, 2013
On a whim, I opted to record a TCM showing of the 1968 film, "The Wrecking Crew," starring Dean Martin as secret agent Matt Helm. I knew from experience that this wasn't likely to be a story-telling gem of any kind, having seen the other three that had been made. But not remembering "The Wrecking Crew" specifically, I half-wondered whether as the last one made, it might have been akin to some sort of crowning achievement.
Fat chance.
Same un-talented actor, mugging for the cameras, pretending to be irresistible to women, all in service to a terrible script that bore no resemblance to Donald Hamilton's 1960 novel of the same name. I assumed the 'no comparison' thing at first, because it had actually been a long time since I'd read it. I shut the movie off, less than half way through it, went to my bookshelf and took down my copy of "The Wrecking Crew."
"I awoke early, shaved, dressed, draped myself with cameras and equipment, and went on deck to record our entry into the port of Gothenburg. I couldn't think of a likely market for the shots, but I was supposed to be an eager and ambitious free-lance photographer, and I'd be expected to be alert to the chance that somebody would fall overboard or the ship would hit something."
I didn't analyze this when I read it. All I did was keep reading. And reading, and reading, and before I knew it, I had finished this second installment of this 27-chapter series of novels by Donald Hamilton, about and narrated by the protagonist, Matt Helm. Only after the fact, did my curiosity take me back to the opening paragraph, where I discovered some essential story-telling concepts. Although personally, I go out of my way to avoid a first-person narration tale that begins with the "I" pronoun, Hamilton does this blatantly, and then constructs a terrific sentence that identifies the location of our hero, Matt Helm, and tells us what he's carrying. Then he rather slyly lets us know that he's only "supposed to be" a photographer, and that his trip to the ship's deck to take photos is phony. Ending with a joke about somebody falling overboard or the ship hitting something.
It's not so much that it's brilliant writing (although I think it is), it's just that, for me, as breezy as it sounds, that opening paragraph, from its five-activity opening sentence, to the joke that completes it, shows signs of being crafted. Maybe it came out of Hamilton effortlessly, in which case, hats off, or maybe he worked at it for a little while, deciding that instead of four activities in that opening sentence, he'd go for five. There are alternatives to delivering the information in this opening. He chose the ones he did, wisely, because sure enough, I moved on to paragraph two and beyond.
A little late, here, but don't get me started on this whole series. I have read them all, and now that I just finished #2 again, I might well go on to #3 and beyond. I will also, for sure, track down #28, a novel called "The War Years," written by Keith Wease, which offers a prequel (WWII) back story to the whole Matt Helm tale, which I have only just become aware of.
It's a terrific series (and you really should start with "Death of A Citizen" - #1), and as a spy, Helm is the best. Better than Bond, better than Bourne (even in the Ludlum, pre-movie days) better than any number of espionage heroes that have come down to us through the ages. He's just a good guy to spend some time with, and you'll learn as much, if not all you need to know, about the nature of spying, and the nature of humans. . .
Fat chance.
Same un-talented actor, mugging for the cameras, pretending to be irresistible to women, all in service to a terrible script that bore no resemblance to Donald Hamilton's 1960 novel of the same name. I assumed the 'no comparison' thing at first, because it had actually been a long time since I'd read it. I shut the movie off, less than half way through it, went to my bookshelf and took down my copy of "The Wrecking Crew."
"I awoke early, shaved, dressed, draped myself with cameras and equipment, and went on deck to record our entry into the port of Gothenburg. I couldn't think of a likely market for the shots, but I was supposed to be an eager and ambitious free-lance photographer, and I'd be expected to be alert to the chance that somebody would fall overboard or the ship would hit something."
I didn't analyze this when I read it. All I did was keep reading. And reading, and reading, and before I knew it, I had finished this second installment of this 27-chapter series of novels by Donald Hamilton, about and narrated by the protagonist, Matt Helm. Only after the fact, did my curiosity take me back to the opening paragraph, where I discovered some essential story-telling concepts. Although personally, I go out of my way to avoid a first-person narration tale that begins with the "I" pronoun, Hamilton does this blatantly, and then constructs a terrific sentence that identifies the location of our hero, Matt Helm, and tells us what he's carrying. Then he rather slyly lets us know that he's only "supposed to be" a photographer, and that his trip to the ship's deck to take photos is phony. Ending with a joke about somebody falling overboard or the ship hitting something.
It's not so much that it's brilliant writing (although I think it is), it's just that, for me, as breezy as it sounds, that opening paragraph, from its five-activity opening sentence, to the joke that completes it, shows signs of being crafted. Maybe it came out of Hamilton effortlessly, in which case, hats off, or maybe he worked at it for a little while, deciding that instead of four activities in that opening sentence, he'd go for five. There are alternatives to delivering the information in this opening. He chose the ones he did, wisely, because sure enough, I moved on to paragraph two and beyond.
A little late, here, but don't get me started on this whole series. I have read them all, and now that I just finished #2 again, I might well go on to #3 and beyond. I will also, for sure, track down #28, a novel called "The War Years," written by Keith Wease, which offers a prequel (WWII) back story to the whole Matt Helm tale, which I have only just become aware of.
It's a terrific series (and you really should start with "Death of A Citizen" - #1), and as a spy, Helm is the best. Better than Bond, better than Bourne (even in the Ludlum, pre-movie days) better than any number of espionage heroes that have come down to us through the ages. He's just a good guy to spend some time with, and you'll learn as much, if not all you need to know, about the nature of spying, and the nature of humans. . .
August 7, 2018
Matt Helm is back in the world of spies and saboteurs where love doesn't conquer all.
The continued appeal of these books, for me, is that they are about a man in his mid 30s who is at odds with modern times and crusty about it (like me). A lot of what 36 year old Matt Helm is crusty about is stuff that I don't relate with, like women wearing pants, cameras, automatic transmissions, live-and-let-live types, etc. The subjects of his grumbles are unique to being that age in 1960, but the grumbling itself resonates.
Here in the second book, we get Helm in his first official mission since WW2 and he's instructed to appear as anything from soft to incompetent so as not to arouse the suspensions of enemy agents. He's in Sweden looking for a man called Caselias and tagging along with the window of a journalist Caselias had killed behind the Iron Curtain.
This is solidly Cold War stuff, with talk about enemy nations stooping to each others' level and the Soviets playing dirty in neutral countries. For me, that was the boring part. What we're really here for is Helm's personality, some light travelogue (although he's in a hotel for much of this), and of course to see how he manages to squirm through another disagreeable situation.
“The Wrecking Crew” is not long on action, it's not “Dr. No.” The quotes on the cover make the inevitable comparison with Fleming, although Hamilton actually seems closer to Mickey Spillane at times. There are healthy doses of hetero sex and misogyny, in between tough bits.
Helm is a killer, a straight up assassin really, so here he is confronted by people who believe this is an unacceptable solution to international problems. It drifts into politics here, and it's actually sort of a black spot on the book. I'd rather have got through the reading without feeling like I'd entered my grandfather's head.
This is a very direct sequel to “Death of a Citizen”, so I realize I'll actually have to read these in order.
I'm a fan of the Dean Martin film series from later in the 60s, despite the fact that those are camped up and Martin is about 10 years too old for the part. The title “The Wrecking Crew” was used from the 4th film in 1968 and that one was so bad it's no wonder why it was the last. The plot of that film is completely different and Denmark is used instead of Sweden. The only thing really in common is people being covered in mud at one point and the name of Sharon Tate's character being Carlson. The name “Caselias” was used in the 3rd film “The Ambushers” in 1967, which is sheer b-movie heaven.
The next book is “The Removers” which I will be reading, despite its never having being adapted to film.
The continued appeal of these books, for me, is that they are about a man in his mid 30s who is at odds with modern times and crusty about it (like me). A lot of what 36 year old Matt Helm is crusty about is stuff that I don't relate with, like women wearing pants, cameras, automatic transmissions, live-and-let-live types, etc. The subjects of his grumbles are unique to being that age in 1960, but the grumbling itself resonates.
Here in the second book, we get Helm in his first official mission since WW2 and he's instructed to appear as anything from soft to incompetent so as not to arouse the suspensions of enemy agents. He's in Sweden looking for a man called Caselias and tagging along with the window of a journalist Caselias had killed behind the Iron Curtain.
This is solidly Cold War stuff, with talk about enemy nations stooping to each others' level and the Soviets playing dirty in neutral countries. For me, that was the boring part. What we're really here for is Helm's personality, some light travelogue (although he's in a hotel for much of this), and of course to see how he manages to squirm through another disagreeable situation.
“The Wrecking Crew” is not long on action, it's not “Dr. No.” The quotes on the cover make the inevitable comparison with Fleming, although Hamilton actually seems closer to Mickey Spillane at times. There are healthy doses of hetero sex and misogyny, in between tough bits.
Helm is a killer, a straight up assassin really, so here he is confronted by people who believe this is an unacceptable solution to international problems. It drifts into politics here, and it's actually sort of a black spot on the book. I'd rather have got through the reading without feeling like I'd entered my grandfather's head.
This is a very direct sequel to “Death of a Citizen”, so I realize I'll actually have to read these in order.
I'm a fan of the Dean Martin film series from later in the 60s, despite the fact that those are camped up and Martin is about 10 years too old for the part. The title “The Wrecking Crew” was used from the 4th film in 1968 and that one was so bad it's no wonder why it was the last. The plot of that film is completely different and Denmark is used instead of Sweden. The only thing really in common is people being covered in mud at one point and the name of Sharon Tate's character being Carlson. The name “Caselias” was used in the 3rd film “The Ambushers” in 1967, which is sheer b-movie heaven.
The next book is “The Removers” which I will be reading, despite its never having being adapted to film.
March 22, 2019
More along the lines of a standard hairy chested men's adventure. Lots of weapons, dewy eyed females, complaints about slacks on women, plenty of action in a foreign country, convolutef plans, and a high body count. It does, happily, lack the traditional element of the villain laying out his entire plan to out hero. Also thankfully free of 1960s high tech gadgetry.
January 28, 2025
Despite what you might remember from the Dean Martin films. Matt Helm stories seem more hard-boiled than the James Bond books. Helm is more a killer than a spy and he's American not British. In this book he had a cold war-related mission. Helms thinks more like Travis McGee but he's more cynical and less sentimental. Some of his thoughts are inappropriate and misogynistic.
May 10, 2014
About 4 years before John D. MacDonald started his Travis McGee series, Donald Hamilton started his Matt Helm series. THE WRECKING CREW is really the first proper Matt Helm book. The earlier one, DEATH OF A CITIZEN, isn't worth bothering with, IMHO. [John D.'s McGee novels are notable for tangents where McGee will make acidic observations on society--a good argument can be made that John D. stole this riff from Hamilton's earlier Matt Helm novels and expanded on it.]
Matt Helm novels require a bit more suspension of disbelief than the average pulp novel, but they are a superior ride. The Matt Helm Signature Move, throughout the series, is allowing himself to be captured and/or tied up by the Bad Guys in order to somehow advance the objectives of his mission. This Signature Move is first introduced (sort of) in THE WRECKING CREW for a legitimate plot reason: Matt has to remain true to his "cover" by demonstrating how incompetent and harmless he is.
I remember one time my Dad gave me a new Matt Helm that he had read, but I hadn't. I said something like, "Don't tell me. Matt gets tied up before page fifty." I don't remember what he said back to me, but his answer could have in no way been a "spoiler" because we both knew that it wouldn't really be a Matt Helm novel unless he got tied up at some point or other.
@hg47
Matt Helm novels require a bit more suspension of disbelief than the average pulp novel, but they are a superior ride. The Matt Helm Signature Move, throughout the series, is allowing himself to be captured and/or tied up by the Bad Guys in order to somehow advance the objectives of his mission. This Signature Move is first introduced (sort of) in THE WRECKING CREW for a legitimate plot reason: Matt has to remain true to his "cover" by demonstrating how incompetent and harmless he is.
I remember one time my Dad gave me a new Matt Helm that he had read, but I hadn't. I said something like, "Don't tell me. Matt gets tied up before page fifty." I don't remember what he said back to me, but his answer could have in no way been a "spoiler" because we both knew that it wouldn't really be a Matt Helm novel unless he got tied up at some point or other.
@hg47
October 11, 2015
A book from 1960, but it still feels quite fresh.
Matt Helm, our killer/spy hero, is a sexist bastard, who dismisses women after a glance if they for example wear pants, since that "does nothing" for him. But that feels OK, the era these books were written in was nothing like my life in Scandinavia today, and of course there are huge differences.
Helm is a James Bond kind of guy, just bloodier and less "fun". In this book he travels to my part of the world, and it is interesting how he points out prejudice from both Scandinavians and Americans - like that Americans believe Scandinavians are more primitive and runs in the mountains all the time, and that Scandianavians believe Americans to be soft and even unable to drive without automatic gears.
Anyway - a fast and entertaining book, and I really liked it.
Matt Helm, our killer/spy hero, is a sexist bastard, who dismisses women after a glance if they for example wear pants, since that "does nothing" for him. But that feels OK, the era these books were written in was nothing like my life in Scandinavia today, and of course there are huge differences.
Helm is a James Bond kind of guy, just bloodier and less "fun". In this book he travels to my part of the world, and it is interesting how he points out prejudice from both Scandinavians and Americans - like that Americans believe Scandinavians are more primitive and runs in the mountains all the time, and that Scandianavians believe Americans to be soft and even unable to drive without automatic gears.
Anyway - a fast and entertaining book, and I really liked it.
April 12, 2020
Matt Helm is assigned to work undercover as a photographer with an attractive journalist in Sweden in order to locate and assassinate a man called Caselius. The first two thirds of the book mostly sets the stage for the final third, which really kicks into high gear with plenty of action, clever twists, and double crosses. Hamilton’s writing is superb, chock full of clever observations and a dazzlingly intricate plot. I would have liked a little less of Helm and the journalist endlessly taking photos and trading barbs in the middle third, which I found only mildly amusing, but not enough to detract from the terrific novel as a whole.
August 3, 2020
A fun quick read, but more interesting for the explicit sexism that almost overwhelms the threadbare plot. Author Hamilton, through his character Helm, spends more time commenting on women, how they look, how they dress, how they ... how he judges that they should look and dress and act... this book feels more like the bitter rant by an angry man, fixated on how the world doesn't work the way he thinks it should.
It is too bad, because again, Hamilton's sparse prose and knife-edge minimalism are a joy to read. I enjoy language that feels like a blade against the ribs. It is unfortunate that the plot and story don't add up to much.
It is too bad, because again, Hamilton's sparse prose and knife-edge minimalism are a joy to read. I enjoy language that feels like a blade against the ribs. It is unfortunate that the plot and story don't add up to much.
January 25, 2023
The book that dares to ask the question: what if Alan Partridge was a killer and a rapist? It's not even a debatable thing – he tells us outright. He meets a woman and then goes into a Partridge-esque monologue about what he likes doing to women, to get to know what they are really like behind the composed exterior. I probably shouldn't listen to any more, but there are lots of them, they are all free for Audible members, the narrator is excellent, the action is decent, and they are undemanding enough to have on while working. The less offensive Partridgeisms sometimes make me laugh. And I really liked how he called out tv and film cliches that are still everywhere today..
June 6, 2014
I just finished reading The Wrecking Crew and enjoyed it. After a refresher course, Matt Helm is sent to Sweden to kill another agent.
What's fun about this novel is Helm's professional and detached attitude towards both his work and his enemy who he views as just another professional, fighting for his country.
His cool dispatching of his enemies towards the end is another example of both his detachment and pragmatism.
Terror on the high seas
What's fun about this novel is Helm's professional and detached attitude towards both his work and his enemy who he views as just another professional, fighting for his country.
His cool dispatching of his enemies towards the end is another example of both his detachment and pragmatism.
Terror on the high seas
February 22, 2015
"The Wrecking Crew" is a great follow up to the first novel in the Matt Helm series, "The Death of a Citizen". If you like fast paced and well plotted action, this series is for you. Readers must remember that the time setting is is late 50's early 60's cold war so some may think the story is dated but I didn't. Don't confuse this novel with the bad Dean Martin movie of the same name which was very,very,very thinly based on the novel. A more realistic James Bond type character.
February 6, 2016
I read many of the Matt Helm books in high school and loved them (though I hated the dreadful movies), so I was happy to see that most of them are now available on Kindle. If anything I enjoyed this even more now than I did back in my high school days. The prose is tough and lean and just right, and the plot moves quickly with plenty of twists and turns. I much prefer the Helm novels to Fleming's James Bond novels.
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