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Murder Foretold
Agent John Bentick was not enjoying his latest assignment for British Intelligence—personal bodyguard to Nargan, a foreign diplomat who had flown to Britain on a covert mission to exchange military secrets.
His discomfort lay with the obnoxious ill-manners of Nargan himself. But on their arrival at the isolated house of British scientist Professor Dale – where the exchange was to be effected – Bentick soon sensed a greater danger.
The house was permeated with an atmosphere of strange tensions, of mystery and menace generated by Dale’s latest invention - a sinister machine that was somehow shaping the destiny of everyone in the house. And Bentick found himself a helpless pawn in a figurative chess game that could only end in death…
His discomfort lay with the obnoxious ill-manners of Nargan himself. But on their arrival at the isolated house of British scientist Professor Dale – where the exchange was to be effected – Bentick soon sensed a greater danger.
The house was permeated with an atmosphere of strange tensions, of mystery and menace generated by Dale’s latest invention - a sinister machine that was somehow shaping the destiny of everyone in the house. And Bentick found himself a helpless pawn in a figurative chess game that could only end in death…
124 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2018
5 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Denis Hughes
96 books3 followersDenis Talbot Hughes (1917-2008) was born in London and was the son of Victorian artist Talbot Hughes. He trained as an Air Observation Pilot in WWII, but a serious crash prematurely ended his flying career. His first book, Fury Drives By Night, was published in 1948; over 80 more titles followed, published under numerous contractual pseudonyms. In addition to science fiction, he also published westerns and adventure novels. This prolific period ended when his main publisher collapsed in 1954.
From 1954, until his retirement in the 1980s, he wrote short stories for DC Thomson, specialising in WWII adventures for boys' papers including Victor, Hotspur, Warlord and Wizard.
From 1954, until his retirement in the 1980s, he wrote short stories for DC Thomson, specialising in WWII adventures for boys' papers including Victor, Hotspur, Warlord and Wizard.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 13, 2024
Published 1950 by an author who wrote a lot of stories for boys' papers, and that's exactly how this reads. I've been chasing some of the older publications, which have been appearing more frequently in the library.
Here we have a handsome secret agent assigned to protect the foreign diplomat from hell, a dreadful caricature. Said agent hasn't got clue one about a protection assignment. Considering there are state secrets involved, there's a lot of loose talk. They should have been well aware of the wartime caution - "loose lips sink ships". We have a mad scientist with a fantastic invention called the Telecopter - yuk yuk - and we also have his young and beautiful ward. Funnily enough, the agent pays more attention to the YBW than to his real job.
The whole premise for this scenario is ridiculous. Although classified loosely as SF, there is no attempt to explain the workings of the Telecopter. Luckily this was only a short book, and I awarded a generous 1.6 rating, assuming this may have been aimed at younger readers. I definitely won't be reading any more from this author.
Here we have a handsome secret agent assigned to protect the foreign diplomat from hell, a dreadful caricature. Said agent hasn't got clue one about a protection assignment. Considering there are state secrets involved, there's a lot of loose talk. They should have been well aware of the wartime caution - "loose lips sink ships". We have a mad scientist with a fantastic invention called the Telecopter - yuk yuk - and we also have his young and beautiful ward. Funnily enough, the agent pays more attention to the YBW than to his real job.
The whole premise for this scenario is ridiculous. Although classified loosely as SF, there is no attempt to explain the workings of the Telecopter. Luckily this was only a short book, and I awarded a generous 1.6 rating, assuming this may have been aimed at younger readers. I definitely won't be reading any more from this author.
Displaying 1 of 1 review