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Matt Helm #13
The Poisoners
When Matt Helm is dispatched to Los Angeles to investigate the shooting of an agent, it wasn't just an assignment-it was personal. To get the answers he wants means run-ins with two-bit hoods, a trio of beautiful women, a bunch of drug traffickers, and his old friend Mr. Soo, whose government has ideas about polluting America to death.
1 pages, MP3 CD
First published January 1, 1971
26 people are currently reading
120 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 - 29 of 29 reviews
June 10, 2017
If you are looking for good, solid hardboiled espionage fiction without fancy gadgets and worldwide megalomaniacs, look no further than Hamilton's excellent Matt Helm series. In 27 volumes which do seem surprisingly to get better as the series goes on, Hamilton takes a reluctant G-man who thought after the war he could settle down with a family in Santa Fe and turns him into a cynical, professional soldier for a super secret spy agency/ hit squad.
This volume, which is about midway through the series, takes Helm from some well-earned R & R fishing in the Mountains of New Mexico and sends him to Los Angeles to find out who shot a fellow agent, the redheaded knockout with the code name Ruby, and to wreak vengeance if it could be done cleanly and quietly. On the way, Helm gets caught between two warring Mafia factions, enticed by one femme fatale after another, tricked, captured, and led on a chase through the bars and roads of Baja.
It's a fast moving, well-executed plot that feels more akin to a hardboiled detective novel than a James Bond espionage story. Indeed, his meetings with the various hoods are straight out of hardboiled pulp studio A.
Although this is a great series, this novel in particular seems to be particularly well written. It's as if Hamilton got comfortable with this character and finally knew exactly what to do with him.
This volume, which is about midway through the series, takes Helm from some well-earned R & R fishing in the Mountains of New Mexico and sends him to Los Angeles to find out who shot a fellow agent, the redheaded knockout with the code name Ruby, and to wreak vengeance if it could be done cleanly and quietly. On the way, Helm gets caught between two warring Mafia factions, enticed by one femme fatale after another, tricked, captured, and led on a chase through the bars and roads of Baja.
It's a fast moving, well-executed plot that feels more akin to a hardboiled detective novel than a James Bond espionage story. Indeed, his meetings with the various hoods are straight out of hardboiled pulp studio A.
Although this is a great series, this novel in particular seems to be particularly well written. It's as if Hamilton got comfortable with this character and finally knew exactly what to do with him.
June 25, 2020
"Επαγγελματίες δολοφόνοι", εκδόσεις ΒΙΠΕΡ.
Σχεδόν δυο χρόνια πέρασαν από την τελευταία φορά που διάβασα μια περιπέτεια του Ματ Χελμ, το μόνο σίγουρο είναι ότι μου έλειψε. Αλλά πλέον απομένουν μονάχα πέντε βιβλία στα ελληνικά (έχουν μεταφραστεί τα δεκαοχτώ από τα συνολικά είκοσι επτά βιβλία της σειράς), οπότε θα πρέπει να είμαι κάπως... φειδωλός από 'δω και πέρα. Δέκατο τρίτο βιβλίο της σειράς και σίγουρα είναι από τα πολύ καλά (βέβαια, πάνω-κάτω όλα είναι στο ίδιο καλό επίπεδο ποιότητας). Μια όμορφη πράκτορας δολοφονείται στο Λος Άντζελες και ο Ματ Χελμ που βρίσκεται κοντά στην περιοχή, καλείται να ανακαλύψει ποιος και γιατί την σκότωσε. Το περίεργο της υπόθεσης είναι ότι η συγκεκριμένη πράκτορας (όχι και τόσο... επαγγελματίας στη δουλειά) δεν ήταν σε κάποια αποστολή, αλλά φαίνεται ότι πέτυχε λαβράκι, μόνο που ήθελε να κάνει μόνη της τη δουλειά για να αποδείξει τις ικανότητές της. Ο Ματ Χελμ θα μπλεχτεί σε μια αρκετά περίπλοκη ιστορία -με ναρκωτικά αλλά και με τη μόλυνση της ατμόσφαιρας στη μέση-, και θα βρεθεί αντιμέτωπος με επικίνδυνους άντρες και ακόμα πιο επικίνδυνες γυναίκες. Κλασικά η πλοκή διαθέτει δράση, μυστήριο και εκπλήξεις σε λογικές ποσότητες, η γραφή είναι πάρα πολύ καλή και οξυδερκής, με ρεαλιστικές περιγραφές και φυσικούς διαλόγους, ενώ δεν λείπει και το κυνικό χιούμορ του πρωταγωνιστή (δηλαδή του συγγραφέα). Μια ωραία κατασκοπευτική περιπέτεια, από αυτές που απολαμβάνω.
Σχεδόν δυο χρόνια πέρασαν από την τελευταία φορά που διάβασα μια περιπέτεια του Ματ Χελμ, το μόνο σίγουρο είναι ότι μου έλειψε. Αλλά πλέον απομένουν μονάχα πέντε βιβλία στα ελληνικά (έχουν μεταφραστεί τα δεκαοχτώ από τα συνολικά είκοσι επτά βιβλία της σειράς), οπότε θα πρέπει να είμαι κάπως... φειδωλός από 'δω και πέρα. Δέκατο τρίτο βιβλίο της σειράς και σίγουρα είναι από τα πολύ καλά (βέβαια, πάνω-κάτω όλα είναι στο ίδιο καλό επίπεδο ποιότητας). Μια όμορφη πράκτορας δολοφονείται στο Λος Άντζελες και ο Ματ Χελμ που βρίσκεται κοντά στην περιοχή, καλείται να ανακαλύψει ποιος και γιατί την σκότωσε. Το περίεργο της υπόθεσης είναι ότι η συγκεκριμένη πράκτορας (όχι και τόσο... επαγγελματίας στη δουλειά) δεν ήταν σε κάποια αποστολή, αλλά φαίνεται ότι πέτυχε λαβράκι, μόνο που ήθελε να κάνει μόνη της τη δουλειά για να αποδείξει τις ικανότητές της. Ο Ματ Χελμ θα μπλεχτεί σε μια αρκετά περίπλοκη ιστορία -με ναρκωτικά αλλά και με τη μόλυνση της ατμόσφαιρας στη μέση-, και θα βρεθεί αντιμέτωπος με επικίνδυνους άντρες και ακόμα πιο επικίνδυνες γυναίκες. Κλασικά η πλοκή διαθέτει δράση, μυστήριο και εκπλήξεις σε λογικές ποσότητες, η γραφή είναι πάρα πολύ καλή και οξυδερκής, με ρεαλιστικές περιγραφές και φυσικούς διαλόγους, ενώ δεν λείπει και το κυνικό χιούμορ του πρωταγωνιστή (δηλαδή του συγγραφέα). Μια ωραία κατασκοπευτική περιπέτεια, από αυτές που απολαμβάνω.
December 31, 2018
This was a twisty mission for Helm. An agent he recruited in an earlier book is killed, a bad idea, but as Helm hunts the murderer, he winds up in the middle of a couple of other operations. It makes for a great adventure. I love the older references such as the terrible smog problems, muscle cars, & the guns. Well, only two guns really tickle me in this tale. Still, it's nice that they were so expertly used.
This is the first time I've listened to this book in audio. I was going through my reviews this year & realized the Stefan Rudnicki had told me they were publishing 3 more Helm novels & I hadn't remembered, so I immediately went to Downpour.com & found them at the discount price of only $6 each!!! Fantastic. Sold! I even downloaded them here at home, although that's an iffy proposition requiring an hour with no other Internet activity. As usual, Rudnicki was a great narrator. He makes Helm come alive.
If you're new to the series, I highly recommend reading these in order, but read them! Fantastic series. It's told in the first person by a guy who is almost as cold & logical as he thinks he is.
;)
This is the first time I've listened to this book in audio. I was going through my reviews this year & realized the Stefan Rudnicki had told me they were publishing 3 more Helm novels & I hadn't remembered, so I immediately went to Downpour.com & found them at the discount price of only $6 each!!! Fantastic. Sold! I even downloaded them here at home, although that's an iffy proposition requiring an hour with no other Internet activity. As usual, Rudnicki was a great narrator. He makes Helm come alive.
If you're new to the series, I highly recommend reading these in order, but read them! Fantastic series. It's told in the first person by a guy who is almost as cold & logical as he thinks he is.
;)
October 23, 2014
A very strange trip this time. Helm is called in because he's close & an agent he recruited has been shot. He mixes it up with the Mafia a bit & more. Hamilton usually has something to say about a current event. This time it is air pollution in the early 1970's when the smog in some major cities had become extremely bad.
Again, Helm acts in his cold, logical fashion & you almost pity some of the bad guys. Careful reading allows the reader to pick out some of the story before hand, but it is very well done & adds to the thrill of the book. An old enemy is brought back & a new character is introduced to the series. Helm is even more timeless in this book with no references to his age that I recall.
On to The Intimidators!
Again, Helm acts in his cold, logical fashion & you almost pity some of the bad guys. Careful reading allows the reader to pick out some of the story before hand, but it is very well done & adds to the thrill of the book. An old enemy is brought back & a new character is introduced to the series. Helm is even more timeless in this book with no references to his age that I recall.
On to The Intimidators!
April 25, 2023
Really enjoyed this one, no surprise since I've enjoyed all of them so far. This time Helm is sent by Mac to see who had shot one of their agents and to see to it that that person doesn't do that again. However its never that simple and he gets involved with a major drug case, a former high level Soviet spy (who is on the kill list), a Chinese agent who he has ran into before, and a so-called smog machine of all things.
Highly recommended, even when you think Hamilton has written himself into a corner, he somehow makes it seem plausible. At least as plausible as what you read in most current thrillers anyway. On top of that his are more fun and without the 200 plus extra pages that are just not needed.
Highly recommended, even when you think Hamilton has written himself into a corner, he somehow makes it seem plausible. At least as plausible as what you read in most current thrillers anyway. On top of that his are more fun and without the 200 plus extra pages that are just not needed.
April 4, 2022
Terrible, as usual, this series is just so dated, darling. If you know what I mean.
It is interesting though that Donald Hamilton was so before his time in predicting certain problems.
In the poisoners the bad guys were, at least interested in, the destruction and elimination of the internal combustion engine, this was 1971. Pretty good soothsayer I'd say.
Anyway, this marks the half way mark in the original canon I believe, I shall plod on, plod on.
It is interesting though that Donald Hamilton was so before his time in predicting certain problems.
In the poisoners the bad guys were, at least interested in, the destruction and elimination of the internal combustion engine, this was 1971. Pretty good soothsayer I'd say.
Anyway, this marks the half way mark in the original canon I believe, I shall plod on, plod on.
March 23, 2016
As full of devious twists and turns as the others but hugely enjoyable
August 16, 2021
Helm is sent to Los Angeles to question a female agent Annette O’Leary code name Ruby, who was beaten, interrogated, and shot twice left for dead in a parking lot. Helm got to the hospital but there was nothing to be done for the poor woman and several hours later she was pronounced dead. On his way back to the hotel, Helm was picked up and taken to a man named Frank Warful. Another man named Arthur Brown “the Basher” aka Lionel McConnell was there, hands tied, said to be the man who killed Ruby. Warful turned this man over to Helm, saying a mistake had been made, and Helm should consider the matter closed. Helm turned Arthur over to another agency, Charlott Devlin code name Charlie, for safekeeping and heads back to his hotel. He rescues a red-headed woman named Beverly Blaine aka Mary Zacolichek from two thugs. Beverly was running from Warful, who wanted her dead, admitting she had run into Ruby earlier. Two red-headed women, one killed by mistake. Beverly the real target, Ruby the mistake. All too convenient thought Helm. So much for the long setup of the story. Helm was sure Arthur had not pulled the trigger. Who had killed Ruby, and why? During the investigation of Ruby’s killer, Helm gets wind of a drug trafficking operation. Charlie was hot on this trail with the Mexican police. Helm was more interested in a syndicate trio and who else they may lead him to. Helm’s curiosity led him to yet another enemy plan in the works, totally outside of his mission but Helm can’t seem to resist things like this. He does fulfill his main mission but receives the stink-eye from Mac for involvement in the other incidents. This story was a little tame for a Matt Helm thriller, not so much violence, rather more detective work on Helm’s part. It was still an interesting tale all-in-all.
August 19, 2022
Donald Hamilton probably was not trying to predict a future, but he was, however accidentally, very prescient in "The Poisoners": a "woke" -- although the term was not yet in vogue -- scientist is so obsessive on the subject of pollution, he is trying to get automobiles, and internal combustion engines generally, outlawed.
To bring lesser mortals to their senses -- that is, to get them to agree with him -- he anticipated Joe Biden, who helped make gasoline so expensive that people cut down or even gave up driving. (At this writing, August of 2022, Biden is still trying).
The scientist in "The Poisoners" invents a contraption that would add a catalyst to the smog of an area, such as Los Angeles, to worsen the impact of the smog, to the extent that people, especially those with respiratory problems, would be made ill, and then lobby their politicians to outlaw them nefarious automobiles.
Secret agent Matt Helm, a counter-espionage specialist, accidentally comes across the effort, spearheaded by a Red Chinese agent -- again, prescience by author Hamilton.
Hamilton's Matt Helm series is so popular, even after decades, it's almost a cult. I am in the midst of reading or re-reading -- or re-re-re-reading -- the entire series, which now number at least two dozen. And they are all surprisingly good.
I recommend a reader try to start with Number One, "Death of a Citizen," and read them in order. It makes keeping up with all the characters much easier.
To bring lesser mortals to their senses -- that is, to get them to agree with him -- he anticipated Joe Biden, who helped make gasoline so expensive that people cut down or even gave up driving. (At this writing, August of 2022, Biden is still trying).
The scientist in "The Poisoners" invents a contraption that would add a catalyst to the smog of an area, such as Los Angeles, to worsen the impact of the smog, to the extent that people, especially those with respiratory problems, would be made ill, and then lobby their politicians to outlaw them nefarious automobiles.
Secret agent Matt Helm, a counter-espionage specialist, accidentally comes across the effort, spearheaded by a Red Chinese agent -- again, prescience by author Hamilton.
Hamilton's Matt Helm series is so popular, even after decades, it's almost a cult. I am in the midst of reading or re-reading -- or re-re-re-reading -- the entire series, which now number at least two dozen. And they are all surprisingly good.
I recommend a reader try to start with Number One, "Death of a Citizen," and read them in order. It makes keeping up with all the characters much easier.
July 3, 2024
Helm is sent to LA to investigate the shooting of one of their junior agents, a redhead named Ruby, who had assisted Helm in an assignment in Mexico. She dies shortly after he arrives. Helm’s assignment is to kill Nicolas, a Russian agent who is believed o be responsible.
He is then picked up by some mob goons and taken to see local mob boss, Frank Werfel. Werfel offers up a black man, Arthur Brown, as the killer, declaring his desire to avoid bad will with the Feds. Helm has Arthur Brown fire the .44 Special. It almost breaks his wrist. He is innocent.
He finds the real killer who takes a cyanide pill before Helm can stop them. But he has not yet found Nicholas.
He then becomes involved in agent Charlie Devlin’s attempt to arrest Werfel when he attempts to smuggle heroin into the country. He learns that there is another plot piggybacked on the smuggling operation. Mr. Soo is back, with a plan to make pollution in the US much worse. The Cold War is no longer the focus.
Werfel’s boss does not want the mob involved in heroin and has his own plans for Werfel. Helm does finally have a run-in with Nicholas. Mac is satisfied with Matt’s actions.
This is a bit longer than earlier outings.
He is then picked up by some mob goons and taken to see local mob boss, Frank Werfel. Werfel offers up a black man, Arthur Brown, as the killer, declaring his desire to avoid bad will with the Feds. Helm has Arthur Brown fire the .44 Special. It almost breaks his wrist. He is innocent.
He finds the real killer who takes a cyanide pill before Helm can stop them. But he has not yet found Nicholas.
He then becomes involved in agent Charlie Devlin’s attempt to arrest Werfel when he attempts to smuggle heroin into the country. He learns that there is another plot piggybacked on the smuggling operation. Mr. Soo is back, with a plan to make pollution in the US much worse. The Cold War is no longer the focus.
Werfel’s boss does not want the mob involved in heroin and has his own plans for Werfel. Helm does finally have a run-in with Nicholas. Mac is satisfied with Matt’s actions.
This is a bit longer than earlier outings.
March 9, 2024
I forgot to include this one with the other couple of cheap paperbacks I took with me on an unexpected trip to Wisconsin in February. I've never been disappointed in a Matt Helm novel yet. These later ones tend to run longer in word count than the earlier ones but I don't mind. In this one Helm is sent to L.A. to investigate another agent's death. Well, to clarify, she wasn't dead yet, but wasn't expected to live. In this case, the agent had been recruited by Helm personally into the game and he's taken a personal interest in finding out who would shoot her and leave her to die. As typical with these later Helm novels, things unravel and double crosses ensue. Helm is as brutal and hardboiled as ever. His voice is what makes these old novels tick. I've read all of the novels in the series up to this one, without reviewing many of them on Goodreads. At one point I intended to read them all in order and discuss them on a blog I used to maintain, but I pulled the plug on the blog after getting tired of spam and the usual social media b/s, if it matters. That said, if you like vintage (1960s to 1970s) spy fiction, you will like this series.
March 21, 2018
Better than I expected, honestly. The lead character is less obnoxious that a lot of tough-guy novels from that era (Mike Hammer, for example). I still don't like the tone he's written in: sarcastic without being clever and he's borderline omniscient, which makes him a little dull.
There's a wider range of female characters and at least two of them have brains and are capable of independent action / thought.
I understand I'm damning with faint praise. This isn't great literature and it's not even a great suspense novel. But if you're unexpectedly laid up sick and it's the only thing you haven't read on the bedside table, it's quite acceptable.
There's a wider range of female characters and at least two of them have brains and are capable of independent action / thought.
I understand I'm damning with faint praise. This isn't great literature and it's not even a great suspense novel. But if you're unexpectedly laid up sick and it's the only thing you haven't read on the bedside table, it's quite acceptable.
September 5, 2021
Though I still enjoyed this entry in the series, I felt it was a little too slowly paced, as if Hamilton needed to shave off 20 or 30 pages. Or perhaps that the disparate elements of the plot (combining Mafia drug-smuggling shenanigans with a Chinese Communist plot that is only tenuously connected with the Mafia stuff) actually should have been the plots of two different, shorter novels.
That being said, Hamilton shows his usual talent of throwing in unexpected plot twists and Matt Helm remains a strong protagonists. The final few chapters were typically tense and exciting.
That being said, Hamilton shows his usual talent of throwing in unexpected plot twists and Matt Helm remains a strong protagonists. The final few chapters were typically tense and exciting.
March 31, 2023
Thirteen books in and this could have used some tightening up – at one point Helm goes on and on about why he isn't going to kill a guy, and these books never felt padded before. Not quite as racist as I feared, given that an early suspect is black, but Helm does take time during that character's death scene to make fun of his afro, which is both stunningly offensive and perfectly in character. There are some interesting villains, but like The Sheep Look Up a year later, the big threat here is pollution.
December 2, 2017
More a film noir detective plot then the usual spy stuff and it is the most suffocatingly misogynistic of the series so far ... in these times it's hard to stomach it, but it WAS those TIMES back then. Anyway, a fast well-written read. Mr. Soo (villain) is back and he may be back again. Admittingly, won't stop reading this series.
February 1, 2019
The Mob
... gets into the act this time, but in the employ of a Chinese agent that Matt has encountered twice before. More commie mayhem, just not the Russians this time. Enjoyable, tho Hamilton does rely on twisted female help an awful lot to get Helm out trouble.
... gets into the act this time, but in the employ of a Chinese agent that Matt has encountered twice before. More commie mayhem, just not the Russians this time. Enjoyable, tho Hamilton does rely on twisted female help an awful lot to get Helm out trouble.
January 13, 2021
Like all the series: good plot, interesting characters and lots of twists and info. Some intimate scenes are (too) well described but profanity is usually limited. Performed by his usual handsome male voice and in character—kudos, Stefan Rudniki.
January 21, 2021
The Poisoners
I've read every Matt Helm novel years ago. It was a real treat to find them again. The books are written in the first person. It take skittle getting used to. The stories are good an d Matt Helm is a screw up secret agent.
I've read every Matt Helm novel years ago. It was a real treat to find them again. The books are written in the first person. It take skittle getting used to. The stories are good an d Matt Helm is a screw up secret agent.
February 11, 2021
...it seemed like an interesting coincidence: a scientist missing in L.A. at roughly the same time an agent turned up dead. It would be a very long shot, I reflected, but if all other leads to Annette's murderer failed me. I might flip it and take a closer look at the Sorenson case, if only because I was intrigued by the notion of anybody having the nerve to try to abolish the conventional, petrol-powered automobile, particularly here in California where they practically take their beloved cars to bed with them.
August 9, 2021
The Poisoners is a tight little novel with the operative known as Matt Helm searching for another operative's killer. He tangles with ex-boxers, femme fatales and mobsters before confronting the real villains.
It's a delightfully grim little piece of work.
It's a delightfully grim little piece of work.
January 31, 2022
As Matt's career moves on he meets such interesting people... Both "sides" seem to be mad at him at times.
I like these books and can recommend them for action, intrigue and also a bit of nostalgia to those of us who recall the spy/fi era.
I like these books and can recommend them for action, intrigue and also a bit of nostalgia to those of us who recall the spy/fi era.
March 31, 2022
#13 in the Matt Helm series. This 1971 entry by author Donald Hamilton is above average. Follow Matt as he encounters women and must divine which side they are on and how much of their stories is truthful.
January 13, 2020
Light reading,but highly enjoyable. Helm nothing like the Hollywood portrayal.
February 8, 2021
Another entertaining Matt Helm thriller.
March 19, 2021
Tellement patriarcal que s'en est devenu comique.
July 31, 2025
Keeping this short but I really enjoy the Matt Helm novels. They are of their time but they are every bit as good as Fleming's Bond books.
September 21, 2025
Just bad - really not worth one star.
June 24, 2014
When I was young, I thought this was an average Matt Helm novel, not great, but pretty good. In re-reading it, most of the scenes I liked before, I couldn't tolerate now and had to skip over.
It might be a "mood" thing. Maybe I was in a bad mood when I read it this time around.
Matt Helm allows himself to be captured by adversaries twice in this novel, but once it is intentional; the second time, the opposition gets the drop on him, but Donald Hamilton's prose leaves open the possibility that Matt might have extricated himself immediately had he wished to do so. It's not clear. I'm going to count ONE instance of the Matt Helm Smooth Move for this novel.
Number of times Matt Helm uses himself as bait in the Matt Helm series, and allows himself to be captured by the opposition (or presents himself directly to the opposition allowing the opposition to do whatever they please with him):
0 = DEATH OF A CITIZEN
1 = THE WRECKING CREW
2 = THE REMOVERS
1 = THE SILENCERS
1 = MURDERERS' ROW
3 = THE AMBUSHERS
2 = THE SHADOWERS
2 = THE RAVAGERS
1 = THE DEVASTATORS
1 = THE BETRAYERS
1 = THE MENACERS
3 = THE INTERLOPERS
1 = THE POISONERS
Total for the Matt Helm series, so far = 19
Total novels in the series so far = 13
@hg47
July 19, 2024
2 1/2 stars. An nostalgic read of some of the once popular series of spies or mercenaries. It wasn't bad.
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