The Thirty-One Kings: A Richard Hannay Thriller

Richard Hannay Returns #1

by Robert J. Harris

June, 1940. Richard Hannay has returned.


As German troops pour across France, the veteran soldier and adventurer Richard Hannay is called back into duty. In Paris, an individual code named “Roland” has disappeared and is assumed to be in the hands of Nazi agents. Only Roland knows the secret of The 31 Kings, a secret upon which the future of Europe depends. Hannay is dispatched to Paris to find Roland before the Germans overrun the city. 


On a hazardous journey across the battlefields of France, Hannay is joined by old friends and new allies as he confronts a ruthless foe who will stop at nothing to destroy him.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Thriller, Fiction, Adventure, Espionage, World War II

224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 5, 2017

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Robert J. Harris (Bob) is a Scottish academic and author of children's fantasies and historical novels, best known for his collaborations with Jane Yolen. He also designed the fantasy board game Talisman. Recently Bob released his sequel to Talisman, Mythgardia. He lives in Scotland and is married to American author Deborah Turner Harris.

Reviews

[Mark]

Richard Hannay returns and John Buchan would be well pleased. When we first meet Hannay and his wife Mary he is rather annoyed at the fact that on the dawn of WW2 nobody is calling for his services. This reprieve is only for a short time and Hannay is send to get an important person out of not yet occupied Paris.
The breakneck speed tale of a war about to consume Europe is a lot of fun and Hannay opposed the Germans once again and his opponent has its history with him and his pals.
A truly worthy continuation of John Buchan his hero in a book that this time takes place in the next big war onbeheerd eve of the German occupation of the city of Paris.

Well worth your time reading, can be read without reading the John Buchan books, but that would be robbing yourself of a good reading experience.

[Bill]

Richard Hannay, hero of The Thirty-Nine Steps, returns in a World War II adventure from author Robert J Harris.
The author's characters might not have much depth to them, but the novel is crammed full of action sequences from start to finish. Harris did a great job with his two World War II Sherlock Holmes novels A Study in Crimson & The Devil's Blaze, but unfortunatley he doesn't succeed as well resurrecting John Buchan's Richard Hannay. Howevever, it's still a fast paced old fashioned romp that passes the time pleasantly enough.

[Gram]

Robert J. Harris resurrects the dashing Richard Hannay - hero of John Buchan's "The 39 Steps" - and places him at the centre of a World War II thriller. Hannay is joined by 3 of The Gorbals Diehards (characters from Buchan's 1922 novel "Huntingtower") now all grown up and roped in by British Intelligence to rescue an agent, codenamed 'Roland', thought to be a prisoner of the Nazis in soon-to-be conquered Paris in June 1940.
Various other Buchan characters (including the wonderfully named John Scantlebury Blenkiron) make an appearance in this non-stop action tale, as Hannay and his allies do battle with the German army and a bunch of Nazi agents who will stop at nothing to prevent them from rescuing Roland and getting him and his secret information about "The 31 Kings" back to Britain.

Most of the action centres around Paris in the final days of the Battle for France, just after the British retreat from Dunkirk. Harris is clearly a huge fan of John Buchan and knows his books inside out. The end result is a pacy 'men-on-the-run' thriller, including a scene in which our hero is once again being pursued by an enemy aeroplane!

All in all this story can be described as a good old-fashioned ripping yarn.

[Gerry]

For fans of John Buchan's Richard Hannay this is a real treat as Richard J Harris continues with Hannay's career in the early part of World War II. Albeit somewhat ageing Hannay returns to his adventurous ways as he strives to find an agent, code named 'Roland' who has disappeared and is thought to be in the hands of the Nazis in German occupied France.

Meeting up with some old friends from former days, in particular Sandy Clanroyden, - and with assistance from a group known as the Glasgow Die-Hards - Hannay sets off for France with a brief to find the agent and bring him safely back to London. 'Roland' is the only man who knows the secret of the thirty-nine kings so it is imperative that he is found and returned safely before the Nazis get their hands on him.

The action is fast and furious, in typical John Buchan style, and when Hannay meets up with a determined former adversary, Beata van Dieman, in Paris things get decidedly deadly. The Nazis are on their way to occupying Paris and the descriptions of the war-torn city are realistic and extremely descriptive as Hannay searches the war torn city for his man.

Hannay eventually finds 'Roland', escapes with him and is then involved in a death-defying car chase and is helped by some loyal Frenchmen before a thrilling climax ensues in a remote farmhouse in the French countryside.

The book finishes with the Churchill speech that ends with 'This was their finest hour.' It makes the hairs stand up on the back of one's neck and it is a fitting ending to a book that brings Richard Hannay back to life in an adventure (almost) as exciting as the original 'Thirty-Nine Steps'.

[Mike]

Just as the original author of the Richard Hannay books, John Buchan, allowed himself considerable leeway when it came to convenient coincidences, so does Harris. In fact most of the second half of the book is one coincidence after another. However, that aside, this is a great yarn, and captures Buchan's original style perfectly without making the book seem in any way dated. Furthermore, Harris remains true to the Christian background of the original books, something which, due to Buchan's strong faith, seeped into everything he wrote.
Several characters from the various books manage to meet up again, and this allows for a rip-roaring boys' own type of story set during the unopposed takeover of Paris in 1940 by the German army. I'm not sure who the intended audience is - teenage boys, perhaps? - but being a few decades on from adolescence I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Re-read in 2021. I read the first half of this book again without realising I'd already read it only a year or so ago. It started to come back to mind by the time I got into the second half, which is certainly the more memorable section.

[John Momberg]

Frustrating. It might have been excellent if the author had slowed down long enough for us to become invested in the characters and situations. As it was, I felt as though I was reading a Cliff's Notes of a good book.

[Christine]

Robert Harris takes Richard Hannay(The Thirty-Nine Steps) out of retirement and sends him to France on the eve of Nazi Germany invading Paris. Harris adopts the writing style of the original author to produce a relatively fast action adventure book which felt very interesting war in its language and pace. It was interesting in terms of how you can push and pull literary characters forward and back through time and writing in a particular style made it feel quite authentic. Shortish book, quick to read and fast paced storyline.

[Ali Wilson]

It's one for fans of the genre, but if you've enjoyed Hannay stories before then you should have some time for this

[Susan]

First a brief plot synopsis: General Sir Richard Hannay is called back into service during the fall of France, tasked with bringing a secret informant out of soon-to-be-occupied Paris--if he can find him in time. He meets up with some friends, and also is helped by the Gorbals Die-Hards, grown up but still eager to fight the bad guys, and in no doubt as to who they are. (The Nazis, d'oh.)
If all you know of John Buchan's work is the movie made of his classic "The Thirty Nine Steps," this will be meaningless to you. But it does seem to me that Robert Harris exhibits great bravery reimagining this character, who practically defines "not politically correct." Don't get me wrong. I love Buchan's books. But I say that as an American woman, and also a member of several groups that Buchan tended to stereotype and disregard. He was a creature of his times, which I can accept. Still, I am susceptible to the thrill of some of his set pieces, just as one can watch a terrible western movie and still thrill to the bugle call that says the cavalry has arrived to save the day. There are references in this book to several of Buchan's other books, including "Greenmantle." Can one forget the moment when Sandy Arbuthnot, masquerading as an Arab mystic, turns to the beautiful German agent whom he loves, and rejects her offer of domination of the Middle East, saying "I am a British officer"? One quibble--Hannay mentions a poet, from context Yeats, and I don't believe for a minute that Hannay ever did or would have read an Irish semi-mystic. Maybe Browning or Shakespeare? But even that is a stretch; he really was a Kipling man.

[Phil]

This just about scrapes into the three star category, if only because Harris does a reasonable job of resurrecting Hannay and his friends and making them recognisably older, but still believably the same people. I also like the way in which he didn't attempt to modernise the characters too much, a failing in many additions to historic series. I appreciated that, while Mary was necessarily absent for much of the book, Harris didn't just turn her into a middle-aged housewife, because I could never imagine her losing her taste for adventure. Who knew a cup of tea could be such an effective weapon?!

There are the usual villains - and a villainess, car chases, close shaves and cryptic clues, but it felt a bit as if Harris were so focussed on cramming in all the characters and tropes that he forgot the actual plot. It's very poorly structured around an extremely flimsy idea, so that one is left wondering just why it was so important to the outcome of the war. Also, a couple of the main characters make some really dumb decisions, which seemed quite out of character.

I also felt the ending was unwise While it was obvious that Sandy was never going to die peacefully in bed, killing him off because 'the best of the Pilgrims has to die' before any pilgrimage is complete felt a bit lazy. It also limits the number of future instalments, if Harris is going to kill off one of the main characters, in order of importance, in each volume!

Final verdict? A lightweight, easy but forgettable read with a reasonable Buchan flavour. I'd probably read another if I came across it, but wouldn't go out of my way to find one.

[Miriam Kahn]

The first in a thrilling new series set during WWII and featuring Richard Hannay. Who's Richard Hannay? He's the spy/investigator/"star" of John Buchan's "Thirty-Nine Steps," https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... (first published in 1915) a spine-tingling adventure thriller set as WWII begins.

Harris picks up Hannay's adventures and runs with them, dropping our hero behind enemy lines on the eve of the Nazi invasion of France. His mission, identify the Thirty-One Kings for the British government.

Dodging Nazi soldiers and French police, Hannay must connect with his contact then uncover clues.

If you like slightly old fashioned mysteries/thriller, you'll find this one hard to put down. Hoping there's another book out soon in the series. Or I'll have to go back and read more of Hannay's pre-WWII adventures.

[John Walker]

Before there was James Bond there was Richard Hannay from the pen of John Buchan pre cursor of Ian Fleming. Written during and after World War One, Hannay, was a one man agent for the government, no double 0 number here. His most popular novel was The 39 Steps.
Robert J. Harris resurrected Hannay and his pals for return to yesterday, with Castle Macnab in which Hannay solves a real thorny problem deal with the former Kaiser Billy.

This time Hannay, with old and new partners are given a mission to rescue a British agent known only as 'Roland' who has secrets that could save Europe from Hitler. The problem is that France that Hitler is on march to capture Paris where 'Roland' is being held captive.

Lots dare-doing and plain old fashion luck will be needed to save 'Roland' and save Hannay and his band from the Nazi's.
Good fun. So we'll see what Hannay's up to in the next book: Redfalcon.

[Jean Kolinofsky]

With all of his former associates involved in the war effort, Richard Hannah wants nothing more than to do his part. However, the War Office has not replied to his requests for any position where he might serve. When he is finally contacted, he does not hesitate to take an assignment that will take him into German-occupied Paris.

An operative known as Roland is the only person who knows the significance of the phrase The Thirty-One Kings, information that is vital to the war effort. Assisted by the Die-Hards, a group of young men from the Highlander Regiment who grew up together and trained together, he arrives in Paris to find that Roland has been captured.

From dog-fights and a crash to the daring rescue and escape, this is a fitting tribute to John Buchan’s The Thirty-Nine Steps.

[Tracy Bock]

Richard Hannay the hero of John Buchan's classic 1915 thriller The 39 Steps (and the movies based on it - the 1935 version with Robert Donat being supreme) returns with Harris taking up the reins to continue the adventures of a classic character of the ripping yarns stories of the 1920s. Now General Sir Richard Hannay (retired) he is chafing at the bit to help as the Nazis roll across France. When an old spy master calls for his help Hannay is soon up to his neck in intrigue as he attempts the rescue of a Nazi captive who may hold the fate of the war in his hands. Written in the rollicking boys own adventure style of Buchan this is a satisfying yarn for anyone familiar with the books of the genre.

[Denise Mullins]

While this book beautifully captured the phrasing and style of a bygone era brilliantly, the plot itself was rather lackluster and predictable.
A retired military hero anxiously awaits his turn to help his country at the outbreak of WW II and seemingly finds his efforts rebuffed at every turn. Of course, this is just an excuse to set him up with a vital mission involving awfully eager and jolly good lads ready to risk their life for kin and country. And, yes, there's a "surprise" vampy villainess who seems to have more brains than the whole Weirmacht, but what can one expect in a sequel penned by a more contemporary author mimicing such an iconic style?
Not my cup o' tea, but for some readers, it may hit the spot.

[Rico]

Robert J Harris has written an exciting wartime story with some fine details and a loving tribute to Buchan's hero Sir Richard Hannay.

The story does feel a little rushed. Why just over 200 pages when the story and characters could have benefited from a bit more development. Chapters are very short which is a little disappointing. Setting a good part of the novel in Paris on the eve of the German arrival is a great idea, but a slightly longer novel would have given this book just a bit more clout.

The content is very good though and Harris has a well developed writing style that suits the action - so I would recommend for both fans of the original Hannay novels and WW2 enthusiasts.

*Good show*

[Lesley Tilling]

This kind of book isn't really my thing. It's an adventure story and reminded me of the ones I used to read (mainly by Enid Blyton). There's a quest and a mystery and the characters are busy encountering enemies and escaping from them: all that. If you have read the Richard Hannay stories by John Buchan you will find characters from those re=appearing. I liked the Christian element as it gave the characters background and depth, but sadly the characters are not very different from each other; they do seem to be cookie-cutter fine chaps from our imperial past. BUT having said all that, I read the whole book! I slightly resented the fact I was spending my time on it, but I wanted to find out who were the Thirty-one Kings.

[Henry McLaughlin]

4.5 stars.
Excellent WWII spy novel. Robert J. Harris brings back Richard Hannay (The 39 Steps) from retirement into a new adventure to rescue an agent from occupied France. Hannay works with old friends and new allies to enter Paris just as the German troops arrive. His past comes back to haunt him in the daughter of a German spy Hannay fought against in the first world war.
Harris fills the story with intriguing characters and surprising yet satisfying plot twists as Hannay seeks to complete his mission in the face of certain death.
Well worth the read.
I had not read Harris before this book. I will be looking for more of his stories.

[Chris]

I had a tough time with this book. Overall, I thought it was an interesting story line and it had enough action to keep me interested.

But I’m order to use characters from another, established, book series, there was far too much “remember when Jack did that thing to the guy back in 1918?” dialog and description.

I have read other books by this same author that had well-known characters from other series (e.g. Sherlock Holmes) and it was handled far more smoothly. Maybe the sheer number of “familiar” characters was the issue, and feeling the need to have to use them all.

It wasn’t a terrible book, by any means. It just wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be.

[Nate Hendrix]

I found this book by accident. My intent is to read all of Robert Harris's books novels and I didn't notice that this was written by Robert J. Harris. Oops. I didn't discover until I actually got the book from the library that it is a sequel to a series that was published in the early 20th century. The first book in the series, The 39 Steps, was made into a movie, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. I've seen and enjoyed that movie. Book nerd coincidence. It was good enough that I finished it, it's not very long, but I was not inspired to put the original series on my reading list or read anything else by Robert J. Harris.

[Al]

Robert Harris writes an homage to John Buchan. As such, it's good work, which you would expect from Harris no matter what the genre or subject. I guess the problem is that Buchan's novels and style, while great in their time and still interesting if only as museum pieces of early espionage/action novels, have been eclipsed by the masters of the craft writing today. This tribute is light as a soufflé, moves quickly, and leaves no aftertaste. It's unobjectionable, but also unnecessary.

[Sarah Hearn]

I read all the Richard Hannay novels 40+ years ago when I was in grad school at the University of St Andrews (like the author) so I only had the most vague memories of the plots and characters. I did remember, however, the exciting cross-country chases, the last-minute escapes from the enemy, and the overall good-chappery of Hannay and his colleagues. This book is an excellent continuation of that whole genre, with all the requisite thriller components. I congratulate the author of capturing the tenor and ethos of the original John Buchanan novels.

[Christine Sampson]

Robert Harris takes Richard Hannay(The Thirty-Nine Steps) out of retirement and sends him to France on the eve of Nazi Germany invading Paris. Harris adopts the writing style of the original author to produce a relatively fast action adventure book which felt very interesting war in its language and pace. It was interesting in terms of how you can push and pull literary characters forward and back through time and writing in a particular style made it feel quite authentic. Shortish book, quick to read and fast paced storyline.

[Patrick SG]

Fun revisit to a classic thriller

The author returns us to the thrilling days of yesteryear with this novel featuring Richard Hannay, protagonist of Scottish author John Buchan’s “The Thirty-nine Steps”. Updated to the beginning of WW II, the book features characters from previous Hannay adventures but will be equally entertaining to those who are unfamiliar with them.

The author captures well the language and sensibility of the era when good and evil were clear.

[Edmund Chattoe-Brown]

I think writing in the style of is much harder than authors and publishers seem to think. This isn't much like John Buchan and not very exciting in its own right (which is pretty bad news for a thriller). Fans who want anything set in the Buchan world will put up with it but everyone else might be better off (re)reading some real Buchan.

[Liz]

Good pastiche of John Buchan's Richard Hannay novels. It has plenty of derring-do without any of the racialism of the originals. The story is set in 1940 and captures that era without being obviously researched.

[Judith G-D]

It was a fun book, but in his determination to use ideas from the original books, the author failed to come up with a really good plot. It made Hannay just TOO useless and clueless, in a way which was mostly avoided by Buchan originally.

[Marsha Valance]

Robert J. Harris is not John Buchan. The concept, and the integration of various Buchan characters, is creative, but the tone, and the writing itself, are pedestrian. I started it hoping for Buchan's voice; I didn't find it.

[Eric Bruce]

As a reminder of the days when I used to read John Buchan , Edgar Wallace , Capt. W E Johns et al , the book served its purpose. Unfortunately as a entertaining read , it fell well short . The story was contrived , the rescue was absurd and the escape ridiculous. Since when were the Germans so gullible and inefficient. If I decide to read another Richard Hannay , I'll revert to the originals.

[Michael Hillman]

John Buchan wrote the original Richard Hannay novels (everyone knows of the "Thirty Nine Steps"). Robert J Harris stakes over the pen and moves forward in time to the start of World War 2. Short, simple thriller.