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Matt Helm #27
Matt Helm - The Damagers
Assigned to accompany a gorgeous companion on a yacht trip, Matt Helm is soon tangling with a crew of dangerous women, a terrorist squad, and an elite organization led by a suave psychopath.
274 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1993
37 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
About the author
Donald Hamilton
103 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 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 5, 2025
The Damagers is an absolute masterpiece of an espionage thriller. Published thirty-three years after the first book in the series, this 1992 book continues the excellence of the Matt Helm series, without a doubt the best, most realistic, most hardboiled spy series ever. This is the last of the series published in Hamilton's lifetime, although there is apparently one more that he came close to finishing which may eventually be published - the Dominators.
Unlike other spy series, Hamilton never made the fate of all mankind at stake in his novels. Rather, each book portrays the grim, nasty work that must be done by those men and women out there on the edge. It's grim work and there's no room for softness or sentimentality. And there are many without the stomach for what has to be done.
In this seafaring adventure, Helm doesn't quite know what his real mission is. He just knows that he has orders and there are bad guys out there and eventually he'll find out what they are up to even if he has to be the bait. Almost everything in this novel (except for a few scenes outside a Restaurant) takes place on the water and involves navigating a small craft through the Long Island Sound and eventually through the Intercoastal Waterway. Not a word or a paragraph is out of place. It's that well written.
It involves a mysterious boat, one that is perhaps jinxed, secret bands of assassins and Middle Eastern terrorists, an enchanting femme Fatale who is like a black widow spider, and much much more. It all begins with: "My crew reported for duty early in October, a strapping Viking of a girl with long blond hair. Well, I’d figured they’d send me a girl when the time came, if it came. I was supposed to be doing my best to look harmless—a tempting target for sabotage and assassination—and a man and a girl cruising together on a boat look much more vulnerable than two men, even if the girl is a tanned Brunhilde almost six feet tall." What a great opening.
All in all, a fantastic novel that I literally couldn't put down. Wish there were a dozen more Matt Helm books.
Unlike other spy series, Hamilton never made the fate of all mankind at stake in his novels. Rather, each book portrays the grim, nasty work that must be done by those men and women out there on the edge. It's grim work and there's no room for softness or sentimentality. And there are many without the stomach for what has to be done.
In this seafaring adventure, Helm doesn't quite know what his real mission is. He just knows that he has orders and there are bad guys out there and eventually he'll find out what they are up to even if he has to be the bait. Almost everything in this novel (except for a few scenes outside a Restaurant) takes place on the water and involves navigating a small craft through the Long Island Sound and eventually through the Intercoastal Waterway. Not a word or a paragraph is out of place. It's that well written.
It involves a mysterious boat, one that is perhaps jinxed, secret bands of assassins and Middle Eastern terrorists, an enchanting femme Fatale who is like a black widow spider, and much much more. It all begins with: "My crew reported for duty early in October, a strapping Viking of a girl with long blond hair. Well, I’d figured they’d send me a girl when the time came, if it came. I was supposed to be doing my best to look harmless—a tempting target for sabotage and assassination—and a man and a girl cruising together on a boat look much more vulnerable than two men, even if the girl is a tanned Brunhilde almost six feet tall." What a great opening.
All in all, a fantastic novel that I literally couldn't put down. Wish there were a dozen more Matt Helm books.
October 23, 2014
Another good story by Hamilton. He has Helm doing what he does best, acting as a human lightening rod & Helm attracts plenty. Again Hamilton shows off his knowledge of boats & Helm does better with them, a very logical progression of skills.
This is the last published Matt Helm novel. Supposedly, Hamilton finished one more before he died, but it hasn't been published yet - if ever. There is some hope that a new Matt Helm movie will be made. If that happens, possibly the entire series will be republished along with the last one. It can't happen soon enough for me.
My latest read of the series found several books in bad shape. I believe the earlier paperbacks are originals from the 1960's, so they're almost 50 years old. Why the pages are still together is a mystery to me, but all have at least another read in them & I probably will...
This is the last published Matt Helm novel. Supposedly, Hamilton finished one more before he died, but it hasn't been published yet - if ever. There is some hope that a new Matt Helm movie will be made. If that happens, possibly the entire series will be republished along with the last one. It can't happen soon enough for me.
My latest read of the series found several books in bad shape. I believe the earlier paperbacks are originals from the 1960's, so they're almost 50 years old. Why the pages are still together is a mystery to me, but all have at least another read in them & I probably will...
June 8, 2017
The Damagers is an absolute masterpiece of an espionage thriller. Published thirty-three years after the first book in the series, this 1992 book continues the excellence of the Matt Helm series, without a doubt the best, most realistic, most hardboiled spy series ever. This is the last of the series published in Hamilton's lifetime, although there is apparently one more that he came close to finishing which may eventually be published - the Dominators.
Unlike other spy series, Hamilton never made the fate of all mankind at stake in his novels. Rather, each book portrays the grim, nasty work that must be done by those men and women out there on the edge. It's grim work and there's no room for softness or sentimentality. And there are many without the stomach for what has to be done.
In this seafaring adventure, Helm doesn't quite know what his real mission is. He just knows that he has orders and there are bad guys out there and eventually he'll find out what they are up to even if he has to be the bait. Almost everything in this novel (except for a few scenes outside a Restaurant) takes place on the water and involves navigating a small craft through the Long Island Sound and eventually through the Intercoastal Waterway. Not a word or a paragraph is out of place. It's that well written.
It involves a mysterious boat, one that is perhaps jinxed, secret bands of assassins and Middle Eastern terrorists, an enchanting femme Fatale who is like a black widow spider, and much much more. It all begins with: "My crew reported for duty early in October, a strapping Viking of a girl with long blond hair. Well, I’d figured they’d send me a girl when the time came, if it came. I was supposed to be doing my best to look harmless—a tempting target for sabotage and assassination—and a man and a girl cruising together on a boat look much more vulnerable than two men, even if the girl is a tanned Brunhilde almost six feet tall." What a great opening.
Unlike other spy series, Hamilton never made the fate of all mankind at stake in his novels. Rather, each book portrays the grim, nasty work that must be done by those men and women out there on the edge. It's grim work and there's no room for softness or sentimentality. And there are many without the stomach for what has to be done.
In this seafaring adventure, Helm doesn't quite know what his real mission is. He just knows that he has orders and there are bad guys out there and eventually he'll find out what they are up to even if he has to be the bait. Almost everything in this novel (except for a few scenes outside a Restaurant) takes place on the water and involves navigating a small craft through the Long Island Sound and eventually through the Intercoastal Waterway. Not a word or a paragraph is out of place. It's that well written.
It involves a mysterious boat, one that is perhaps jinxed, secret bands of assassins and Middle Eastern terrorists, an enchanting femme Fatale who is like a black widow spider, and much much more. It all begins with: "My crew reported for duty early in October, a strapping Viking of a girl with long blond hair. Well, I’d figured they’d send me a girl when the time came, if it came. I was supposed to be doing my best to look harmless—a tempting target for sabotage and assassination—and a man and a girl cruising together on a boat look much more vulnerable than two men, even if the girl is a tanned Brunhilde almost six feet tall." What a great opening.
September 22, 2025
What a pleasure to be able to say that this, the 27th and final Helm novel (a planned 28th appears to have been unfinished), is a good one -- unlike book 26, The Threateners, which is one of the weaker Helms. The Damagers is a nominal sequel to the second in the series, The Wrecking Crew, though it stands alone, and reading book 2 is not at all necessary in order to enjoy this one. What's kind of delightful here is that it is a return to the sea, an important element of Hamilton's life and a constant though often jokey presence in the Helm novels -- to helm is, after all, to steer a boat. The depiction of sailing and the ocean is authentically dealt with, and in real life, Hamilton not only learned to sail in his youth, but subsequently sailed a small yacht from Vancouver to the Caribbean. And in a real sense, this is a thriller about sailing and the sea, which occasionally put me in mind of Alistair Maclean, because the novel revolves around a single sea voyage. So here is Hamilton coming full circle in terms both of his hero's roots and his own passions. There is some swearing, which arrived relatively late in the series; there is some viciousness, because Helm is supposed to be a gritty character; but there is also the chivalry that Hamilton couldn't resist (Helm appears to resist married women, unlike James Bond, who found married women less complicated as romantic partners). There is even a winking reference to Ryder Haggard. All in all, a satisfying end to the Helm saga.
March 2, 2019
All good things must come to an end
The last of the Helm books. It's been quite an enjoyable 27 book ride.
Having read of the Helm character being called "the American James Bond", I couldn't help but grin at the shared love of martinis and prowess with the opposite sex (tho Matt never cared how the martini ingredients were mixed). But they shared more - a ruthless profession in a realistic, gritty environment (obviously I'm referring to the Ian Fleming books, not the Bond movies).
While Hamilton did use some scenarios and injuries often, he did change the opposition as the series progressed over the years. And like one of my literary heroes John D. MacDonald, he wasn't afraid to work his environmental and political views into the stories.
And I'm not afraid to admit to agreeing with him. In these absurd overly-PC and easily offended times, it's refreshing to read something that I'm sure would upset those types. Of course, I would imagine that the odds of those folk reading books like these are probably very low.
The last of the Helm books. It's been quite an enjoyable 27 book ride.
Having read of the Helm character being called "the American James Bond", I couldn't help but grin at the shared love of martinis and prowess with the opposite sex (tho Matt never cared how the martini ingredients were mixed). But they shared more - a ruthless profession in a realistic, gritty environment (obviously I'm referring to the Ian Fleming books, not the Bond movies).
While Hamilton did use some scenarios and injuries often, he did change the opposition as the series progressed over the years. And like one of my literary heroes John D. MacDonald, he wasn't afraid to work his environmental and political views into the stories.
And I'm not afraid to admit to agreeing with him. In these absurd overly-PC and easily offended times, it's refreshing to read something that I'm sure would upset those types. Of course, I would imagine that the odds of those folk reading books like these are probably very low.
February 26, 2021
A good final novel in the Matt Helm series. After 27 books the character still remained fresh and evolved well through the different eras. Mr Hamilton has done a very good job of keeping the character fairly ageless by avoiding any reference to his time period of origin. ( the character first appeared in 1960 with as a retired agent with a family). Outside of the technology, the books only date themselves by the villain being from the country of origin that had been causing world unrest during the time the book was written. This last one being published in '93 referencing the Gulf War and consequently, villains of middle eastern origins. A solid novel with a simple setting and plot made for enjoyable and quick reading.
July 2, 2017
Consistently fantastic series
I love these books. Been buying them as rereleased on Kindle for 5 years. Just love Hamilton's cleasr characterization of Helm. Wish the TV/Movies were truer to the book and not so silly. Almost didnt start reading because of that. Dont make that mistake.
I love these books. Been buying them as rereleased on Kindle for 5 years. Just love Hamilton's cleasr characterization of Helm. Wish the TV/Movies were truer to the book and not so silly. Almost didnt start reading because of that. Dont make that mistake.
May 18, 2023
I started reading Matt Helm books as an early teenager during height of spy pop culture of the late '60s and continued to read them in the '70s. It was about 6 years ago that I discovered that Donald Hamilton continued writing Matt Helm books after Book 16. It has been a pleasure to rediscover the series and my favorite Spy Character in books.
April 7, 2025
I've Read Them All Now.
I have not found a bad book in the whole series. I know this is not highbrow literature (if that's what you're looking for), but it has certainly been entertaining. I'm going to miss this series. Perhaps I can find something as long running, entertaining, and to the point, to take it's place.
I have not found a bad book in the whole series. I know this is not highbrow literature (if that's what you're looking for), but it has certainly been entertaining. I'm going to miss this series. Perhaps I can find something as long running, entertaining, and to the point, to take it's place.
May 27, 2022
Same formula but somewhat enjoyable
August 11, 2025
Not for those easily offended by non PC books. A good quick summer read.
October 17, 2025
Helmclever as ever
Long descriptions that will bore landlubbers but keep on keeping on and you will be glad you did. Helm is good as ever
Long descriptions that will bore landlubbers but keep on keeping on and you will be glad you did. Helm is good as ever
Read
March 4, 2014book is very good
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews