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Revenge

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"Invites Comparison with 'The Day of The Jackel' - Boston Herald

"A notch above the Ludlums and Clancys of the world...." Booklist

"Noel Hynd knows the ins and outs of Washington's agencies both public and private." Publishers Weekly

By the author of "The Russian," and "Murder in Miami." A classic story of a manhunt, an international thriller!

US AIr Force Lt. Richard Silva's hell on earth begins in the fall of 1970 when his plane is shot down over North Vietnam. Silva is captured and taken to a POW camp where he is turned over to a shadowy interrogator who specializes in the systematic torture of American prisoners. Miraculously, Silva survives and returns to the US.

He finds an America that is profoundly different from the country he left. But America isn't the only thing that has changed. Silva's mind has been horribly altered. For him there is only one way Find the man who tortured him. Find him and kill him. With only a few clues to his enemy's true identity, Silva embarks on a manhunt.

Silva quickly penetrates a shadowy underworld of politicians, criminals and intelligence agents in New York, Washington andultimately in Paris. In France, he further burrows into a nether world of professional killers, political extremists, cops and assassins. Along the way, he finds romance with a beautiful young artist and rediscovers his own humanity, all the while drawing closer to the man he must murder in order to redeem his own soul.

This is a 2018 revised version of a novel originally published under the title "REVENGE" to rave reviews by Dial/Doubleday.

"A Tense Bloody trail to a grim climax!" - Liverpool Daily Post

"'Revenge is....an Intricate spine chiller....Bloody good!" - NY Times

"Ingenious and fast paced without a wasted word." - Chicago Tribune

"A Powerful Book!" - The Scotsman

"Entertaining and absorbing!" - Birmingham Evening Mail

344 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

210 people are currently reading
107 people want to read

About the author

Noel Hynd

62 books218 followers
I've been a published novelist for longer than I care to admit, since 1976. I'm frequently asked, however, how I first got published. It's an interesting story and involved both Robert Ludlum and James Baldwin, even though neither of them knew it --- or me --- at the time.

My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.

The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."

The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.

That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.

My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.

Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.

That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.

Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve

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5 stars
185 (38%)
4 stars
178 (37%)
3 stars
85 (17%)
2 stars
19 (3%)
1 star
9 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Profile Image for Randy Payne.
2 reviews
April 1, 2016
Very good book. Keeps your interest through out entire book.

Very good book. Keeps your interest through out entire book.

This book does a great job of reflecting what US soldiers went through during the Viet Nam war and many other wars. it's nice to see that one that suffered so severely got his revenge. it also shows why there is not much trust in the American Politicians .
1,477 reviews25 followers
August 29, 2021
Revenge. Noel Hynd

A tortured Air force pilot. A resident of the infamous Hanoi Hilton. The prisoner of war prison. His interrogator a rogue French intelligence agent. A sick sadistic bastard. Upon his release, Richard Silva only has one thing that occupies his every day existence. Revenge. He strikes a deal with a group of very secretive people. He has to kill for them in order to get the information and location of his torturer known as the Imp. What know unfolds is a twisted tale of deceit, promises and lies. The French agents tracking him in France where the Imp resides gain a strong understanding of Silva. In the end France and America understand the injustice Silva has endured. Also, he accomplished his mission. An excellent read!!!
28 reviews1 follower
November 25, 2021
Ok But Not Great

This was an easy read with an interesting premise. But it’s not one of Hynd’s better ones. The ending is rushed, unlikely, and therefore not satisfying. More cliches than usual in a book like this. A way to past the time if you can’t find something better to do.
Profile Image for Kenn Goslin.
810 reviews7 followers
March 13, 2025
Noel Hynd, Robert Ludlum, James Baldwin I love, have read and own Most of the books!

I read the book years ago and I was still captivated by the complexity and suspense of the story line!
Profile Image for Jak60.
737 reviews15 followers
June 19, 2018
DNF; gave up at one third of the story due to plausibility issues, just too much for my standards.
Profile Image for Glenn.
1,746 reviews8 followers
February 5, 2020
A surprisingly good story for me, very enjoyable.
Profile Image for Charles  Kiers.
15 reviews
May 3, 2020
A very exciting and action-packed novel. I enjoy all on Noel’s books...keep them coming! 👍
65 reviews1 follower
May 11, 2021
A great read

Surprise ending. Characters well portrayed. Suspenseful and exciting. All of the author’s books are well written and a great source of entertainment.
269 reviews
September 6, 2021
Very good

Wel we8tten plot. Characters,saying something similar? Enjoyed reading thus very much looking forward for other books by this author. He mixes,fact and fictionb
31 reviews
March 17, 2024
Disappointed

I read the trilogy Trumans Spy, Eisenhower’s Spy and Kennedys Spy. They had greater depth and a bit more polished character development. The main character conversations were more like dialogue from a Bogart movie.
58 reviews3 followers
November 3, 2015
Fast- paced and well constructed

Hynd is a low-profile writer of compelling fiction. Almost everything of his is available on Kindle.

This is a post Vietnam novel about an ex-POW seeking retribution who becomes embroiled with a mysterious group of Americans using them for their own purposes. He becomes a man hunted by three factions. There is a big police procedural component, and it is excellent.

Revenge is Tom Clancy-esque, but much more precise and propelled. The structure would lend itself to movie treatment without modification.

I look forward to reading every book he has written.

Profile Image for Nancy.
1,380 reviews28 followers
March 23, 2016
Richard Silva is a pilot who is shot down during the Vietnam war nd taken to Hanoi where he is kept and though his injuries are treated he is still badly abused and many of the men are shot right in front of him. He can not get it behind him when he goes home. He keeps thinking about the European who did some of the worst torture he received. He makes a deal to find this man and the story unfolds with him getting ready to go and then going to Europe to find him. Many other events are part of the story. If you like to read Noel Hynd then you will like this one.
Profile Image for Robert.
47 reviews1 follower
July 23, 2014
Wow, I really enjoyed this book. I couldn't put the book down. The main character was well developed and I like the way the author blended all the characters together. I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good spy novel. The covert, strategic aspects of this novel were on point and believable.
Profile Image for Jeanne.
365 reviews9 followers
April 2, 2016
Revenge

Interesting story of how an American POW from Viet Nam gets revenge on one of his torturers. There were long parts that could of been eliminated throughout the story and I found the end to be utterly ridiculous.
Profile Image for Noel Hynd.
Author 62 books218 followers
December 11, 2008
This was my first novel in 1975. It has its flaws but it's not bad, even after all these years...... Plus I got a movie deal on it, so what's not to like?
390 reviews3 followers
March 12, 2014
The best story I have read on Kindle

Fast paced and engrossing. I loved it because of the characters, their motivation, and the overall interesting plot and details.
68 reviews
June 8, 2015
Actually 3.5. Some rough confusing places but all in all, kept my interest.
Profile Image for Chaplain Stanley Chapin.
1,978 reviews22 followers
May 5, 2016
A novel worth reading

I had previously read his novel "Truman's spy" which was enjoyable, thus this one, it was apparent that this was the first.

Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews

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