Knock and Wait a While

by William Rawle Weeks

William Rawles Weeks is a very special kind of suspense writer. To an extraordinary gift for words, he adds personal experience in Army Intelligence. In this chilling novel, he takes us into the nightmarishly real world of constant tension where a man has to stake his own life and the reputation of his country on the swiftness and accuracy of his own solitary decisions.

310 pages

First published January 1, 1957

Reviews

[Sean Brennan]

Really worth hunting out.

[Raime]

3.5⭐ An Edgar award best first novel award winner from 1958. A serious attempt at a grounded spy story with at times clunky prose. An interesting and unexpected side-kick.

[Frank Hickey]

Somehow, Weeks wins.

He shoots past dozens of other writers to grip

you right from the start.

This may be the first novel written by a CIA

officer, even before E. Howard Hunt wrote.

Packard Gray, an American intelligence officer,

gets assigned to investigate Sarah, an outspoken

writer who condemns US foreign policy.

It is almost a routine plot.

What elevates the story is how Weeks writes. Not

a word is wasted. He involves you right from the

start.

There are no heroics or speeches. You care

about the characters.

You feel that the writer knows his territory.

The book notes describe Weeks as having

worked in Army Intelligence. It shows in his

tradecraft.

His obituary read that Weeks served in the Army

during the war and joined the CIA in the early

fifties. The Cold War was nasty and dangerous then.

The book shows that. A mistake meant death or

a Communist prison.

As far as I can tell, Weeks never wrote another

book.

In my view, he did not have to. This one echoes

forever.


+++Frank Hickey, writer of the Dancing Max Royster

crime novels about the world's only ballroom

dancing detective.

Re: frankhickey.net

[Joseph Kincaid]

This edition: 1958 pb Bantam
Purchased June 2026.
Edgar Award Best First Novel - 1958