Il prezzo del tradimento

by Francis Durbridge

Sam Harvey, ex poliziotto, scrittore di libri per ragazzi. I suoi genitori annullano all'improvviso un viaggio e vengono trovati su un misterioso furgone, crivellati di colpi. Naturalmente, Sam sente ribollire il suo vecchio istinto di segugio e si mette in caccia, mentre il suo appartamento si trasforma nella scena di confessioni, menzogne, accoltellamenti. Mentre un tizio inquietante, certo Hogarth, ossessiona Sam, insieme a un taccuino zeppo di cifre e a una vicina ficcanaso. Un romnzo esemplare, per il quale si può avere il coraggio di usare, senza tema di essere tacciati di retorica, il vecchio, famoso slogan: "non vi farà dormire".

163 pages, Paperback

Published July 27, 1987

About the author

Francis Henry Durbridge was an English playwright and author born in Hull. In 1938, he created the character Paul Temple for the BBC radio serial Send for Paul Temple.

A crime novelist and detective, the gentlemanly Temple solved numerous crimes with the help of Steve Trent, a Fleet Street journalist who later became his wife. The character proved enormously popular and appeared in 16 radio serials and later spawned a 64-part big-budget television series (1969-71) and radio productions, as well as a number of comic strips, four feature films and various foreign radio productions.

Francis Durbridge also had a successful career as a writer for the stage and screen. His most successful play, Suddenly at Home, ran in London’s West End for over a year.

Reviews

[Roger Pettit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Francis Durbridge was a noted British playwright, novelist and radio and TV dramatist who specialised in mystery thrillers and serials. His work was popular in the UK in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. It has largely fallen into neglect, although the BBC radio dramas featuring his most popular creation, the debonair private detective Paul Temple, are still broadcast occasionally and are available as audio CDs. Durbridge's milieu is the ultra middle class English Home Counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey and the central London areas of Knightsbridge and Mayfair. His world is essentially one of penthouse flats, cocktails and glamour. 'Breakaway' does not deviate much from the Durbridge norm. Its principal character, Sam Harvey, is a police superintendent and budding children's author. He is a person of independent means and lives in a flat in an affluent part of London - South Kensington. His parents, Jason and Hannah, live in an equally upmarket place, Guildford in Surrey. Just before boarding a flight to Australia, they unexpectedly and mysteriously cancel their trip and are later murdered. There appears to be no credible explanation for their action or its devastating aftermath. Sam investigates the affair with some of his police colleagues. 'Breakaway' is less a 'whodunit' type of mystery, however, and more a 'what on earth is going on?' sort of story.

One of Durbridge's trademark plot devices was the inclusion of a twist or cliffhanger at the end of most episodes of his radio and television dramas. They were, of course, designed to hook the listener and viewer and to persuade them to tune in to the next programme in the series. He uses that ploy in this book, which is essentially a novelisation of his TV serial of the same name (which was broadcast in 1980). Chapters in 'Breakaway' frequently end with an intriguing development or an unexpected change of plot direction that encourage the reader to continue with the story. It's a tactic which, in conjunction with the author's easy, simple style, makes for a readable and enjoyable mystery. And, with Durbridge, the story is all. His characterisation can best be described as facile. You shouldn't read (or watch or listen to) a Durbridge novel or drama in the expectation of being confronted with anything remotely thought-provoking. Entertainment and escapism are the hallmarks of his work - nothing more and nothing less. He writes posh pulp fiction, the purpose of which is simple: to provide a few hours of harmless entertainment for anyone with a bit of time on their hands. And in this spare, diverting but, yes, very simplistic thriller, Francis Durbridge does just that. 6/10.