Eldorado Network

by Derek Robinson

1941. Hitler rampant. Spain neutral. Madrid, like Casablanca, the launching pad for spies from all sides. The most daring and audacious is codenamed 'Eldorado'.

Young, inexperienced, hotheaded, he had no right to survive, let alone succeed. Now his network is the most valuable in Europe, and the fates of armies lie in his hands.

But who does he work for? Or is he only in it for himself? One thing's for sure. War may be a dirty business, but it certainly brings home the bacon.

Based on a true story, The Eldorado Network is the first novel in Derek Robinson's acclaimed Luis Cabrillo Quartet. A tense and gripping espionage thriller from a master of action and suspense.

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

466 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 1980

About the author

Derek Robinson is a British author best known for his military aviation novels full of black humour. He has also written several books on some of the more sordid events in the history of Bristol, his home town, as well as guides to rugby. He was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1971 for his first novel, 'Goshawk Squadron.'

After attending Cotham Grammar School, Robinson served in the Royal Air Force as a fighter plotter, during his National Service. He has a History degree from Cambridge University, where he attended Downing College, has worked in advertising in the UK and the US and as a broadcaster on radio and television. He was a qualified rugby referee for over thirty years and is a life member of Bristol Society of Rugby Referees. He was married in 1964

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Derek Robinson is one of our finest writers of military aviation. His WWI quartet of the Royal Flying Corps and WWII Royal Air Force trilogy are both exciting and authentic stories of war in the air. Goshawk Squadron, the third book in the RFC quartet was nominated for the Booker Prize. The Eldorado Network is a very different novel than the Robinsons I've previously read.. Based on a true story this novel is a story of spying by Germans and British agents in neutral Spain and Portugal. It is an awfully amusing tale and its factual roots only emphasize that. Basically, it is the story of Luis Cabrillo, an enterprising young Spaniard who, after offering his services to the British and being refused, offered those same services to the Germans. Remarkably, the German intelligence office in the Madrid embassy accepted his offer.

Luis's objective is unrelated to the war aims of any combatant power. Luis sees in war an opportunity for financial advancement. Trained by the Germans in spycraft he is sent to England to discover English secrets. For this he is to be paid a handsome sum. Luis, however, does not go to England but instead hops over to Lisbon and from the peaceful Portuguese capital creates detailed reports on all aspects of British war planning, production, morale; all and any secrets that can be discovered. Of course, Luis is sitting in sunny, safe Lisbon creating these reports out of his own fertile brain. The more he produces the more the Germans pay him. His stated goal is to become the first spy millionaire. Robinson acknowledges the factual roots of his tale in an afterword but the novel is filled with many fictional additions that undoubtedly increase the entertainment level.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are few topics that form the basis for a good story so well as outrageous fraud. The Eldorado Network is based on the true story of a young Spaniard who wants to become a spy during WWII, primarily as a way to make money. The British turn him down, but he manages to get hired by the Germans. After a rigorous training course, he's supposed to go to Britain to begin spying. Instead he goes to Portugal, where he writes fictitious reports based on out-of-date travel guides and creates an entire network of fake operatives. Sure there are inconsistencies, but his German handlers have so much invested in his success that they're happy to believe what they want to believe.

This cynicism is characteristic of the novel, which is full of sharp edges bursting the bubbles of bravery, honor, and patriotism that often go along with war. Despite the darkness of the humor, I found there to be a small glimmer of joy occasionally peaking through. While Robinson largely paints war as an exercise in bureaucracy and self-delusion, he can't help but revel a little in the human spirit that compels his characters to take crazy risks and pull them off. Reflecting on the death of a charismatic colleague, the protagonist, Luis, puts it aptly:

After a while Freddy could make you believe that down was up, and sometimes now I think maybe he was right, that down is up, and the law of gravity is just a regulation invented by all those dull, heavy people who can't fly and want to make it illegal for everyone else to get up off the ground, the way Freddy Ryan could.

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is a little too slow paced and short of action to be a top notch spy thriller but it isn't without some merits. The writing is solid and the story well constructed. Robinson scores bonus points for his well placed humor - my favorite example being, "You can't expect anything from a man who writes books for a living".

[Neil Pierson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an engaging, picaresque novel based on some real events. Young Spaniard Luis Cabrillo engineers his survival in the Spanish Civil War. But his war is more Catch 22 than For Whom the Bell Tolls. Disillusioned by the cynical brutality of the Fascists and the fatal naivete of the International Brigades, he becomes a spy during World War II. He spies for... well, whoever will pay him the most. Or does he?

The first part of this novel is a 5 star knockout. The story loses momentum in the second half but is still an entertaining read.

It's Catch 22 with spies instead of bombers. And it's told from the viewpoint of Milo Minderbinder instead of Yossarian.

[Vijai · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know, everyone keeps comparing this "Catch-22" and I don't see how.

I mean, by in itself this is a good book, an entertaining read and all that. But. On par with Catch 22? No. Just, no. No way.

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable as I have found all of Mr Robinson's books that I have read. Would make a good mini-series except Hollywood would probably muck it up.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty well crafted novel of WW2 espionage, based on the true story of the double agent Arabel / Garbo.