The Golden Keel

by Desmond Bagley, Nigel Davenport

Mussolini's missing treasure - worth three million pounds - lies hidden in Italy.

Genres: Thriller, Adventure, Fiction, Crime, Action, Suspense, Mystery

Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Desmond Bagley was a British journalist and novelist principally known for a series of best-selling thrillers. Along with fellow British writers such as Hammond Innes and Alistair MacLean, Bagley established the basic conventions of the genre: a tough, resourceful, but essentially ordinary hero pitted against villains determined to sow destruction and chaos in order to advance their agenda.

Bagley was born at Kendal, Cumbria (then Westmorland), England, the son of John and Hannah Bagley. His family moved to the resort town of Blackpool in the summer of 1935, when Bagley was twelve. Leaving school not long after the relocation, Bagley worked as a printer's assistant and factory worker, and during World War II he worked in the aircraft industry. Bagley suffered from a speech impediment (stuttering) all of his life, which initially exempted him from military conscription.

He left England in 1947 for Africa and worked his way overland, crossing the Sahara Desert and briefly settling in Kampala, Uganda, where he contracted malaria. By 1951, he had settled in South Africa, working in the gold mining industry and asbestos industry in Durban, Natal, before becoming a freelance writer for local newspapers and magazines.

His first published short story appeared in the English magazine Argosy in 1957, and his first novel, The Golden Keel in 1962. In the interval, he was a film critic for Rand Daily Mail in Johannesburg from 1958–1962. Also during this period, he met local bookstore owner Joan Margaret Brown and they were married in 1960.

The success of The Golden Keel led Bagley to turn full time to novel writing by the mid-1960s. He published a total of sixteen thrillers, all craftsmanlike and nearly all best-sellers. Typical of British thriller writers of the era, he rarely used recurring characters whose adventures unfolded over multiple books. Max Stafford, the security consultant featured in Flyaway and Windfall, is a notable exception. Also typically, his work has received little attention from filmmakers, yielding only a few, unremarkable adaptations. Exceptions were The Freedom Trap (1971), released in 1973 as The Mackintosh Man by Warner Brothers, starring Paul Newman and Dominique Sanda; and Running Blind which was adapted for television by the BBC in 1979.

Bagley and his wife left South Africa for Italy in 1960, and then England in 1965. They settled in Totnes, Devon from 1965–1976, then lived in Guernsey in the Channel Islands from 1976-1983.

Bagley also published short stories. When not traveling to research the exotic backgrounds for his novels, Bagley spent his time sailing and motor-boating. He loved classical music and films, military history, and played war games.

Desmond Bagley died of complications resulting from a stroke at a hospital in Southampton. He was fifty-nine. His last two novels Night of Error and Juggernaut were published posthumously after completion by his wife. His works have been translated into over 20 languages.

Reviews

[Christopher Bunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desmond Bagley! I love this guy's writing! I've always been a fan of Alistair Maclean. He's basically the old master of adventure-spy stories: Guns of Navarone, Black Shrike, Fear is the Key. Amazing, fun stuff. Anyway, I discovered Bagley much later in life. He's never had the name power of Maclean, but I consider him a slightly better writer. His stories are squarely in the same genre, but they have a more character-driven, psychological component to them.

The Golden Keel was the first Bagley story I ever read. I suppose, coming from a family that mucks about on ocean boats (and having married a deep ocean sailer), the story resonated strongly with me. However, it's just a cracking good story. Romance, intrigue, harrowing get-aways, exotic locations. Bagley, like Maclean, is great with locations. Here, Italy and North Africa are used to wonderful effect.

If you enjoy good old straightforward adventure stories where you can empathize with the protagonist and not feel like you've been dragged through the gutter...then the Golden Keel's for you.

All of Bagley's books are on my list of books that I want to own in physical format.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Golden Keel Solid action packed story, easy to follow, with fleshed out characters Setting its about decade after the end of the second world war 3 ex soldiers come together to recover Nazi gold and jewels they buiried in the Italian mountains during the war. A raft of criminals and an arrogant smuggler are tracking these 3 men but with the help of a beautiful woman who has grit, is tough and has brains to spare gets them clear with the gold, her with the jewels. It all comes to a head facing the smuggler on the sea. Desmond Bagley debut story is just fantastic, definately clipped along at a frantic pace, well worth it totally an action packed boys own story next is his story Landslide.

[Peer · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always with Desmond Bagley, a nice thrilling adventure, where male are dominant and woman are strong and beautiful. A classic rough, though post war story complete with gems & guns.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a 3.5, it was a good adventure story set in Italy and the Mediterranean.

[Damana Madden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 10 of 2017 is The Golden Keel by Desmond Bagley.

People often ask me how I find books from vast arrays of genres. The answer is that I go off recommendations from my friends. That is why GoodReads my primary reading discovery source.

In the case of this book, I picked it up because Desmond Bagley was one of my Mum's favourite authors when I was a child. In fact, both my parents enjoyed The Golden Keel. That made this book extra meaningful to me.

Books that people recommend are a glimpse in to who they are. Once I witness someone share many similar book likes with me, I learn to trust them implicitly and vice versa with books some have like that I did not.

The Golden Keel is a great heist adventure on stormy seas with pirates and unusually for my normal set, characters from South Africa and Italy.

My tropical Mum told me today (when I was half way through this book) that the first time she read the word avalanche was in one of his books and he described it perfectly. That brought an awareness when I was finishing this. This book talks about sailing and a lot of books do but Bagley describes perfectly what a concept or actual thing is in a way that is easy to understand. That is a talent, especially with sailing terms. He also described being trapped under something heavy in a way I felt I'd experienced in ways although I never had.

If you pick this up, keep in mind that it was written in 1963 and reflects the post war boom times in many countries. That said, it could be set right now too.

5 heavy keels out of 5.

Should I read this? For sure. It is a funny and easy read.

What did I learn? I need to read more books about great adventures. Why did I ever stop?

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rip roaring adventure story. Still holds up very well. In fact, it's better than most thrillers getting cranked out today as if they were cloned.

[Neil Fulwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Catapults him straight into the Alistair MacLean bracket” trumpeted the Sunday Times of Bagley’s debut novel. And they weren’t kidding: ‘The Golden Keel’ is easily as good as MacLean at his absolute best. Bagley’s trademarks - economical storytelling, wry humour, tense action set-pieces - are right here at the outset, along with a hefty dollop of man vs the elements drama that wouldn’t be out of place in a Hammond Innes novel.

[Tim Pendry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1963, this was Bagley's first thriller. Apart from a slightly pedestrian style at the very beginning as the scene is set, it sets the reader on a roller coaster ride of 'thrills' as a successful small businessman pulls together a team to recover gold and other goodies hidden in the war.

They say you should write about what you know so Bagley gives us a partial alter ego who, like him, is an English emigre to South Africa who has made a success of himself in a minor way (in Bagley's case as journalist) and then adds some knowledge from working in the gold industry.

The novel is what you would want and without pretension. It is largely very well written, unliterary (which is a blessing) and with sufficient knowledgeable detail to create verisimilitude without boring or confusing the reader - though it might help to be a yachtsman in places.

The crew is interesting with a few plot twists and turns - a weak alcoholic and a troublesome and aggressive South African Boer who know where the gold is hidden, joined later by the 'love interest' (handled curtly and not interrupting the flow) in Francesca with her gang of former partisans.

Characterisation is excellent with many side characters of which the most interesting (enough to regret that Bagley was not to use him more than once) is the smuggler/gangster Metcalfe who is possibly the most intrinsically likeable sociopath ever to appear in fiction.

The action moves from South Africa to Tangier (with a nice picture of an anarchic trading post in its last days of freedom, a Beirut before Beirut) and then to Rapallo and the Ligurian hills where the gold is buried, with some wild sea action inbetween.

There is nothing too deep to say about this book which is possibly why it is so enjoyable. The story is set in a marginal world where the events of the Second World War are in their final stages of resolution before the action is going to have to move to more exotic climes.

In 1963, the capture of Mussolini's gold and its recovery and the anti-communist partisans seem like a swansong for the dominant wartime thrillers of the 1950s but it is largely set in the 'present' and it is no accident that Metcalfe is inclined to give up on Tangier for the Congo.

The other thing to note is that these people are unsentimental (except when in love and then rather practical about the business) and only interested in profit. A huge cache of papers of huge historical interest is of no interest - only tradeable gold and jewels.

Money (capital) is there to meet personal dreams and freedom from subservience. This is not a bunch of people who trust each other very much. The stab in the back is assumed at all times. This is not a collective enterprise so much as a temporary merger of self-interested pirates.

In this, Bagley captures much of the post-war mentality of the last of the old imperial generation still under the delusion of an empire (the book was published only as Macmillan was unravelling that delusion) - individualist, exploitative, competitive, 'macho', entrepreneurial and tough.

It is also an essay in leadership. Halloran, our hero, is not only leader because he finances the expedition (the businesslike nature of petty organised crime is well explained here) but because he is the best psychologist and the most intelligent in what starts out as a company of equals.

If there is something to take out of this book other than enjoyment, it is Bagley's take on how alpha males become alpha males, what constitutes weakness and strength, what deserves respect or disdain and when to act and when not to act.

Although from an entirely different world to ours, young men and women today could learn things from old-fashioned thrillers like these without necessarily abandoning what we have learned since. Francesca, incidentally, is clearly as 'alpha' as Halloran and more so than most males in the tale.

The lightly-worn Halloran-Francesca relationship has its interest in this context, if only because Halloran is recovering from the death of a much-loved wife in an accident but this is a new Halloran and a committed 'alpha' adventuress is pretty close to most alpha male dreams.

The implication of the story is that, if his wife had lived, Halloran would have done the conventional thing and built his boat-building business to a prosperous retirement. Loss has turned him into an adventurer and his mate must now be an adventuress but a loyal one too.

Nothing better describes the two sides of the male psyche that thrillers are designed to tap. Most readers chose or are stuck in the former world but those readers are reading these thrillers because they crave the world created by loss where risks can be taken.

It is actually an attempt to revert to an early state of youthful adventure. After all, Halloran ended up in South Africa as the result of a risk-taking adventure and made something of himself. Once the structure of that achievement had been broken, he had to start again to 'find a mate'.

The implication is that he may not end up a career adventurer after all. The second start simply returns him to where he was - a more experienced boat builder with a new wife and a possible family. And that might in itself be psychologically reassuring to the reader.

After all, it is all very well vicariously experiencing such 'thrills' but the right sort of ending is still required - a reaffirmation of the conservative order of solid business achievement and household. And, by the way, that is not a spoiler, just an interpretation of something that surprises to the end.

The point is that post-war late-imperial Britain was simultaneously built on adventurism and reliant on conformity. Literature of this sort had an unconscious mission to square the implicit dialectic and its best works generally do.

Within a few years, the 1960s would have cast great doubt on conformity while the end of empire would wind down the opportunities for independent non-criminal adventure - or rather much adventure would be redefined as criminal where once it was just entrepreneurial risk-taking.

It is as if the two worlds of conformity and risk-taking swapped places to create an entirely different culture with the same basic dialectic - domestic life became a game of risk-taking and economic life a game of global corporate and managerial conformity.

This may be why there is no communication between the British past and the liberal present. Thrillers like Bagley's allow us to open the door on the past and take stock of what we have gained but also what we have lost.

[Ben Boulden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bagley's fist novel and it is a terrific lean adventure thriller. The sailing scenes are particularly good and the plot is clever.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another DB comfort read hits the spot.

[Andy McGowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great novel by one if the greatest writers in the genre.

[Nicola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not his best, and some of the characters weren’t quite so sketched out as in previous novels of his that I’ve read. Still, an entertaining misadventure.

[Srinivas Addanki · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a thriller !! I remember reading this book in one go. I started this book around late morning and completed it by the evening, in one sitting. I didn't even realize that I had skipped lunch and by the time I finished this book, I was ravenous! Hungry like a caveman! :) I just didn't notice the time pass by.

The plot and the language used in this book are simple, clear and succinct. Right from the first page itself you're sucked into the story and before you know it, you'll be eagerly turning the pages to know what happened next.

The story starts on an ordinary note, with the protagonist describing himself, his lonely life and how he yearns for adventure since a personal tragedy. A chance encounter with an old friend in a bar reveals the location of a treasure hidden during the second world war, a treasure which will make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. And from there the fun starts.

Where there is treasure, there is also adventure, action, thieves and tons of twists and turns. The plot is riveting and the pace Super-fast as each page brings in unexpected encounters accompanied by deception, danger and betrayal, with a love story thrown in between all leading to an unexpected and surprising climax.

Sometime back, I chanced to come upon this book under my friend's possession and borrowed it to read it again. And even now, I received the same amount of pleasure reading this book as I did back then.

I would definitely rank this book as one of the best books I have read ever.

[The Pirate Ghost (Formerly known as the Curmudgeon) · Rating 4 out of 5]

When critiquing a read from an earlier era, it helps me to remember that there are differences in style. Books some books are written with a more current style and flow scene to scene with filler in between. Some are written in a more traditional "storyteller style." The best example of this that I can think of is Ian Fleming's Goldfinger. Modern readers might expect it to read more like the movie, while, it is really more of a storyteller style. I have that switch that enables me to appreciate both styles.

This is an enjoyable story, worth reading or listening too. It is slow with developing secondary characters and a bit long winded in developing the main character. Other than that, it would make a wonderful movie in the tradition of Indiana Jones. It could be a precursor to the early works of Robert Ludlum and a contemporary of Alistair MacLean. I pulled a varying sample of books by Bagley that cover several decades of writing. I am curious to see how the later works compare to this, his first book. The book synopsis will tell you what it is about. So far, fun read.

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I recall, The Golden Keel was a best seller when it was first published in the 1960s. It is not hard to see why. The various elements which are used to build up tension and lead to the climax are all carefully prepared and introduced so nothing feels like an afterthought. Walker's loose tongue and indiscreet conduct when drunk - which creates several complications, is well prepared for right from the beginning, as are the other complications of the plot.
The critics of the time saw the twists in the plot as similar to Alistair MacLean's style but Bagley saw himself as writing in the tradition of a much more well known writer, Hammond Innes. In Part 1, Jean says"It's like something from the Spanish Main ..Or a Hammond Innes thriller." Peter Halloran, however, is not quite an Innes hero, while a skillful sailor and resourceful he never presents as a lone figure holding on by his fingernails. The chief villain never has the sense of madness and drive of Innes' villains and there is no figure like Peter Strode driving the story forward. Bagley, however, never needed to be seen as writing in the shadows of either writer, his work has proven to be just as skilful.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in just a couple of days at the end of a great week walking in the Lake District. This is quite a good thriller, told in a fairly terse, factual way very much in the style of Frederick Forsyth (although the cover cites Alistair MacLean). A fairly typical example of the genre, with somewhat two-dimensional characters and a rather predictable plot development about two-thirds of the way through. I liked the setup, but found the story becomes increasingly far-fetched, especially when two armies (merceneries and gangsters) start slugging it out without resorting to guns (so as not to alert the Police). There's also a flaw in the plot that is so gaping it could really sink the whole enterprise, bearing in mind that the gang includes a boat-builder and a gold-miner, but I won't be more specific or I'll spoil it for you. Written about the time Lee Harvey Oswald was counting down the days, it could probably be forgiven for being formulaic, especially as it may well be one of those books that defined the formula in the first place.

[Sreedhar Pothukuchi · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the most random books written by Bagley.
A British commoner tries to find his fortune in South Africa. Ends up being a ship builder and after a good run of a few decades, becomes a widower.
Flabbergastingly, he comes across someone who escaped from Mussolini's Italian troops during the war and is wasting himself in South Africa.
Equally unbelievably, the ex Italian and a long last crony of his from the Italian partisans also is in South Africa and both of them have witnessed huge riches being stashed away in abandoned lead mines, by Mussolini's troops.
And the three of them set off in a sail-boat, from South Africa to Morocco to Spain and then on to Italy to fetch the gold.
Can't comment on the specifics of how rotten the story gets thereafter, without giving spoilers.
Needless to say, it is a complete waste of the readers' time, but of course far less than the time, effort and money spent by those idiots sailing to Italy from South Africa.
Why did he even write the book?

[Libbeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

REVIEW FROM AMAZON:
Review
A chest containing Mussolini's gold and jewels almost becomes a coffin for those engaged in retrieving it from the mine shaft where some Foreign Legion members buried it at the end of the war. It's a reckless attempt that sets out to retrieve the loot - suspected by everyone, they also suspect each other. When they finally recover the ingots, their problem is how to smuggle the wealth away by boat. This story of fool's gold provides some 14 carat excitements. (Kirkus Reviews)

Book Description
Mussolini's missing treasure - worth three million pounds - lies hidden in Italy. A group of adventurers set sail to track down the treasure and smuggle it out, encountering many enemies along the route, including murderous ex-partisans, ruthless beauties and menacing smugglers, all of whom will stop at nothing for a chance to hijack the fortune.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the Allies invaded southern Italy in 1943, Mussolini's personal treasure was moved north to safety under heavily armed guard. It was never seen again, but the secret of its whereabouts did not die with its escort. Years later, boatbuilder Peter Halloran's expertise is needed on an expedition which plans to unearth the treasure and smuggle it out of Italy. However one of their group has a loose tongue while drinking and others get to know of it's existence and want to claim the treasure for themselves. This is a fast paced exciting novel that I enjoyed beginning to end. I wasn't overly surprised at the ending. Good entertainment.

[V H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I din't think I would like this book, I only picked it up because it was one of the few books in English in the hostel book bin, but it was actually really good and I read the whole thing in one day. Partly because I didn't have anything else to do, but also because it was so exciting I had trouble putting it down.

The group of adventurers that first set out to get the treasure are all very different and it's interesting to see how they get along. My favourite character was probably Coertze, just trying to figure him out was hard, there seemed to be so many layers to him.

[Ronald Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book I ever read by this author and I am surely impressed. Bagley tells a very absorbing story of a man (Halloran) who learns of 4 tons of gold stolen by Germany hidden in Italy with a lot of money and gems. He collaborates with two of the original group of people who hid the treasure and devises a way to get it out of Italy by making a keel for his ship out of the gold. Needless to say there are other parties also interested in obtaining the cache and the suspense builds. Similar to a book I read recently by Stuart Woods, Run Before The Wind, but at a more suspenseful level.

[Rik · Rating 3 out of 5]

About halfway through I began to think 'I've read this before', however this may be because it just feels like a Bagley, of which I have now read quite a few! Like most of his books it concentrates on the story, with little character development, and standard ex military types. It was a good read, with enough action and mystery to make it worth picking up.

[Veeral · Rating 3 out of 5]

You have found a treasure containing 3 million pounds of gold. The problem is how to take it across the ocean without somebody noticing?

You make the keel of your boat with that gold, of course! A good thriller by Desmond Bagley. One of his best.

[David K · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for great adventure, good characters, look no further than this. Desmond Bagley writes with a simplicity that allows the reader to get involved easily. Unlike some authors who pad their stories out useless information, Desmond Bagley doesn't. A terrific read!

[Iain Cosgrove · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story and one which was eminently believeable. I read this first when I was a kid and re-read it last month. It has really stood the test of time. A perfect book for someone who likes their action and adventure.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fair but starting to age badly.

[Abdelmoumen · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting story

[Suby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A ship with a keel made of Gold! Smuggling gold out of the country is the purpose.
An excellent thriller by Desmond Bagley.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

i enjoyed this good old adventure never read any of bagleys before will look out for some more of his now

[Walter]

OK