La red del cazador

by Helen MacInnes

Irina cruza la frontera a través de la alambrada que separa Checoslovaquia de Austria. Acaba de divorciarse, dejando a su ex marido que es oficial de la policía política checoslovaca y proyecta unirse a su padre, escritor mundialmente famoso, que ha encontrado su refugio secreto en algún lugar de Occidente. Pero mientras sus primeros amigos la ayudan a llegar a un destino desconocido, la muerte golpea, y la sospecha se convierte en su constante compañera: ¿Acaso ella misma es una carnada para encontrar el rastro de su padre, o es un simple peón en un juego de mayores intereses?
Empieza entonces una cacería en la pintoresca campiña austriaca, con sus castillos y sus posadas, sus pacíficas colinas y sus blancas torres de iglesias, los bulliciosos pueblos y los zigzagueantes senderos de montaña. Para sobrevivir y para escapar, Irina confía en un pequeño grupo de norteamericanos e ingleses, entre los cuales está David Mennery, a quien amó una vez, y que ahora está dispuesto a arriesgar su vida para salvarla.
Gradualmente, todos se dan cuenta de que, por lo menos, uno de ellos es un traidor.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Espionage, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Historical Fiction

318 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Helen MacInnes was a Scottish-American author of espionage novels. She graduated from the University of Glasgow in Scotland in 1928 with a degree in French and German. A librarian, she married Professor Gilbert Highet in 1932 and moved with her husband to New York in 1937 so he could teach classics at Columbia University. She wrote her first novel, Above Suspicion, in 1939. She wrote many bestselling suspense novels and became an American citizen in 1951.

Reviews

[Dorcas · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
I often find it difficult to rate mysteries because in my usual rating system, four stars means "I will reread it" whereas five stars means "I have to have it".

Well, this kept me engrossed which should mean more than three stars but I can't see myself rereading it and although I own it I probably won't keep it. So where does that leave me, 3.5 stars?

I won't pretend to have understood all the political intrigue here but that didn't stop me enjoying the chase. This is a well written, engaging espionage mystery. One I would recommend for lovers of authors like Mary Stewart, or if like me, you're just looking for a change of pace and don't know what you're in the mood for.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't believe I've ever read anything by Helen MacInnes before but after The Snare of the Hunter, I know I will search for more of her work. This was such a well-written, nail-biting thriller. Basically, the premise is that, set in the Cold War period, a Czech national is smuggled out of Communist Czechoslovakia with the help of a group of amateurs. Her father, a renowned writer, had left many years ago and she wanted to be with him. Starting in Vienna they must get her safely to Switzerland, all the while being hunted by Czech spies, who don't want to leave any witnesses behind. There plans seem to be known in advance so we must wonder if there is a traitor in their midst. I won't ruin this by telling you how it all turns out. The characters, from Irina to her rescuers, David, Jo and Krieger and to the shadowy people following them are all well-crafted. I liked all the team and Irina very much and wanted so much for them to be successful. There is so much tension created and I readily admit as the story draws to its conclusion, I was sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to see how it would end. Wonderful writing and excellent story-telling.

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cold war espionage tale was a big hit when released in 1974. For almost forty years MacInnes was a major novelist. She wrote very precisely and often pitted the untrained, intelligent amateur against the trained, not so bright professionals. She almost always included a love interest. I miss her. Recommended.

[Charles Broughton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Helen MacInnes book, but it won't be my last. MacInnes used to be known as the 'Queen of Spy Writers', but seems to be largely forgotten by current readers in this genre even though several of her contemporaries are still spoken of and regularly read.

The Snare of the Hunter was excellent: a well written, well-characterised and well-plotted Euro thriller. I found it engrossing and thoroughly enjoyable. The general atmosphere and scenes of border-crossings in a Cold War, pre-EU and pre-Schengen Europe reminded me of Eric Ambler, particularly Uncommon Danger; though The Snare of the Hunter is probably better. I thought the denoument was a little pat and the climax just before it not as exciting as what preceded it but still very good.

[Hilda Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My reading project this year is to re-read all of Helen MacInnes's books. Or perhaps it will become a two-year project, because I also want to read other books. Ms. MacInnes is a master of the WWII era and cold-war era suspense genre. Even though I have read her books before, they send me to the atlas, to history websites, and to the dictionary many times as I make my way through each one. The Snare of the Hunter was written in the mid-1970s, and is set in the world of Czechoslovakia as it was then. Or rather, an escape from Czechoslovakia. It brings together characters who knew one another prior to the Communist takeover of the country and begins with a seemingly easy escape from the country but as is typical of MacInnes's books, things get complicated.

If you like suspense, and enjoy books that make you think and learn about the region of their setting, give Helen MacInnes a try.

[Judith Teggelaar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helen MacInnes was called the "Queen of the Spy Writers". I enjoyed everyone of her books in the 60's and 70's and now have again relished this golden oldie. You will like the main character, David, as he is recruited to help a citizen escape from Czechoslovakia --one who he knew and loved years ago.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want a good spy story, Helen MacInnes is great. This one about a girl trying to escape Czechoslovakia in the seventies.

[Ron Wroblewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of the books by Helen MacInnes, I have read this is the best one. Irina Kusak escapes from Czechoslovakia to find her father. She carries with her notebooks that her Father had written and hidden away that would destroy many in the high ranks of Czechoslovakia's government. She is aided in her escape by a group sympathetic to her but is also being chased by Czeck officials. A lot of good action as she flees.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good to the last drop

Even half a century later, McInnes holds her readers to each page, nay each sentence with consummate writing. Hurrah and hurrah!

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog here in October 2000.

The Snare of the Hunter is a competent Cold War thriller with minor literary aspirations (one of the characters, at the centre of the plot even if he never appears on stage, is an amalgamation of Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Václav Havel). Successful American music critic David Mennery is on the point of packing to travel to the Salzburg festival when an acquaintance turns up whom he hasn't seen for a few years, with a strange request. As a student, David had travelled to Prage, where he had got to know Irina, daughter of dissident novelist Jaromir Kusak. In the intervening years, she has married a senior secret policeman, but now she has fled from Czechoslovakia, wanting to see her father again. (He is living in hiding somewhere in Western Europe.)

Because of her connection with the Czech secret police, she is considered too dangerous for any of the Western secret agencies to aid her, and so it has fallen to a group of amateurs to try to get her out of the flat in Vienna where she is hiding. This leads to a chase across Austria, Czech agents only just behind David and Irina, and it soon becomes clear that one of those supposedly trying to help her is in fact betraying their movements to her husband.

It's quite a complicated plot, but the main interest is the chase, and that is straightforward. More could have been made of character - resuming a relationship that had been abruptly terminated by the Russian invasion of 1968 could be far more interesting than it is here - but The Snare of the Hunter achieves suspense and excitement, precisely what a thriller is meant to do.

[Rebecca Lewitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not MacInnes' most thrilling work, but suspnseful enough to keep me interested. I enjoyed her delve into the amateur/low-tech "spy" work. I always love a story where common sense wins out over technology and proffessionals. The romance left much to be desired for me. I liked the characters but I would have prefered a different romantic couple than she chose. Irina is nice and all, but I liked Jo. All in all, I'm glad I read it--it was a nice way to pass the time--but "neither five nor three" and others of MacInnes' works are more my favs.

[Liz V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend's impending trip to Prague reminded me of two MacInnes books revolving around Communist enslaved Czechoslovakia: The Snare of The Hunter and Ride A Pale Horse.

In The Snare of The Hunter, the action focuses on the crushing of the Prague Spring and the price that can be demanded of those willing to fight Communists.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy Helen McInnes' work, but the extramarital affair left me cold. It was made understandable, but during the whole rest of the book, it left a slightly sour taste of justification. The characters were believable (the plot was a little turgid with names that swept in and out), the tension was high....but she's too good of a writer to have to indulge in this plot gimmick.

[Teresa Hintze · Rating 4 out of 5]

An oldie but goodie. I'm a little nervous to read Helen MacInnes sometimes because she has a tendency to kill off main characters that you love, but this was a suspenseful spy novel and all the people I loved survived. Big sigh of relief...

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a long road trip through lovely European locations; so little time to sight-see. Sad.

[ChrisGA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over 40 years old but still good suspense

[Allen Batchelar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A retro spy novel which is genre I seem to be into right now. A glass of scotch and a Helen McInnis novel is a relaxing experience.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm nearing the end of my quest to read all of Helen MacInnes's books in order. I didn't quite make it in one year.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in the 80s

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was left breathless by this vintage cold war thriller.
When the name Helen MacInnes appears on the cover of a book, I'm reading it.

[Gerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Irina Kusak is the daughter of a Czech Nobel-laureate father and Communist mother. She is recently divorced from the ruthless and ambitious head of the Czech secret police Jiri Hrádek. After her mother's death in the 1970's, she makes it known to appropriate contacts that she wants to escape from repressive Czechoslovakia and join her father Jaromir Kusak in the West. A group of individuals dedicated to providing such assistance is assembled and starts Irina on a harrowing journey across the Czech border into Austria, then onward to where her father awaits her. A key member of this team is David Mennery, who had been her lover in Prague 16 years prior.

Hrádek has "allowed" her escape in order to have her lead him to her father’s hiding place, so Hrádek can return Jaromir Kusak to Czechoslovakia. There is much switching of cars, modes of transportation, and intermediate destinations as Irina and her team try to avoid discovery by Hrádek 's ruthless men chasing them.

This is a very exciting tale, which I enjoyed quite a lot. I do recommend it.

[Book 40 of revised 2012 target 70 (Jan-10; Feb-11; Mar-9; Apr-8; May-2)]

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Cold War era story of defection, featuring some intelligent, capable, brave women as lead characters. What's more, this is a thriller written by a woman writer! Seriously, what's not to like?

It's a Cold War game of cat-and-mouse, and our protagonists receive very little respite from their apparatchik pursuers. No one knows who to trust and who to suspect, but they do know that there is a cat among the pigeons.

The story never rests too long in any one place--the reader and Irina (our defector) moves from Czechoslovakia to Switzerland very quickly. This is not James Bond, however. There is nothing glamorous about Irina's flight from behind the Iron Curtain. There are no big explosions, not even a whole lot of violence. Everything is done with a neat, quiet urgency, and there are lots of close calls.

A quiet, well written thriller. Your knuckles will never be white from gripping the armrest too tightly, but you will feel the urgency driving the characters in this story.

[Jeff Crosby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in 1975. It was my first Helen MacInness novel. MacInness novels have several general characteristics. First, there is one or more innocents imperiled. Second, there is a cat-and-mouse game, often involving a pursuit. Third, the violence is a threat but subdued. Fourth, there is usually an element of romance.

Snare of the Hunter has all of these elements. The two central characters are well developed. The remainder of the cast are used to propel the plot. As a Cold War thriller it works very believably.

[Brooksie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally thrillers aren't my thing. I bought this book at a second-hand book sale because I couldn't resist the red faux-leather binding (my copy is part of The Companion Book Club and published in 1975).

It's slow to start, picks up the chase in the second act, but then fizzles in the third. Another one of those books where there's so much buildup to nothing. It also would have helped to include a map of the region as I'm not familiar enough with former Czechoslovakia, Austria and Switzerland to follow along in my head.

It wasn't badly written overall, just not my genre.

[Amy Dance · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, when I found a stack of books by MacInnes @ the library sale, I should have bought all of them instead of just one to try- I had never heard of this author, but the books sounded exciting.

Written in the 70's, this suspenseful novel is set in Iron Curtain Era Europe. a fun read, & I will definitely have my eye out for more books by this author- sadly, there are none in my home library.

[Veeral · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't remember much of this book but I vaguely recall that I liked it very much at the time.

This is one of the books I plan to re-read in future (I still have a copy, though it is a bit worn out due to the passage of time).

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical MacInnes, set in Cold War Europe. The hero is a sexist, but the spy craft is good. I really like these 20th century spy stories where no one has a cell phone and they have to make things up as they go along!

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I listened again I might rate it 3 stars. I wasn't paying enough attention to figure out good guys versus bad guys.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written but could have been edited better. Nice to read a Cold War story again. It was simpler to know who your enemies were.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5