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Girl From UNCLE #1
The Birds of A Feather
A novel in the British series based on The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. television show.
128 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1966
About the author
Michael Avallone
202 books41 followersAlso wrote Nick Carter: Killmaster series under Nick Carter alias with others
Michael Angelo Avallone was a prolific American author of mystery and secret agent fiction, and novelizations based on TV and films. He claimed a lifetime output over 1,000 works, including novels, short stories, articles, published under his own name or 17+ pseudonyms.
His first novel, The Tall Dolores 1953 introduced Ed Noon PI. After three dozen more, the most recent was 1989. The final volume, "Since Noon Yesterday" is, as of 2005, unpublished.
Tie-ins included Man from U.N.C.L.E., Hawaii Five-0, Mannix, Friday the 13th Part III, Beneath the Planet of the Apes and even The Partridge Family. In late 1960s novellas featured U.N.C.L.E.-like INTREX. He is sometimes cited incorrectly as the creator of Man from U.N.C.L.E. (as in the January 1967 issue of The Saint Magazine), or having died March 1.
As Troy Conway, Rod Damon: The Coxeman novel series 1967-73, parodied Man from UNCLE. An unusual entry was the novelization of the 1982 TV mini-series, A Woman Called Golda, the life of Golda Meir.
Among the many pseudonyms that Michael Avallone used (male and female) were: Mile Avalione, Mike Avalone, Nick Carter, Troy Conway, Priscilla Dalton, Mark Dane, Jeanne-Anne dePre, Dora Highland, Stuart Jason, Steve Michaels, Dorothea Nile, Edwina Noone, John Patrick, Vance Stanton, Sidney Stuart, Max Walker, and Lee Davis Willoughby.
From 1962-5, Avallone edited the Mystery Writers of America newsletter. Personal Life:
He married 1949 Lucille Asero (one son; marriage dissolved), 1960 Fran Weinstein (one son, one daughter); died Los Angeles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_...
http://www.thrillingdetective.com/tri...
Michael Angelo Avallone was a prolific American author of mystery and secret agent fiction, and novelizations based on TV and films. He claimed a lifetime output over 1,000 works, including novels, short stories, articles, published under his own name or 17+ pseudonyms.
His first novel, The Tall Dolores 1953 introduced Ed Noon PI. After three dozen more, the most recent was 1989. The final volume, "Since Noon Yesterday" is, as of 2005, unpublished.
Tie-ins included Man from U.N.C.L.E., Hawaii Five-0, Mannix, Friday the 13th Part III, Beneath the Planet of the Apes and even The Partridge Family. In late 1960s novellas featured U.N.C.L.E.-like INTREX. He is sometimes cited incorrectly as the creator of Man from U.N.C.L.E. (as in the January 1967 issue of The Saint Magazine), or having died March 1.
As Troy Conway, Rod Damon: The Coxeman novel series 1967-73, parodied Man from UNCLE. An unusual entry was the novelization of the 1982 TV mini-series, A Woman Called Golda, the life of Golda Meir.
Among the many pseudonyms that Michael Avallone used (male and female) were: Mile Avalione, Mike Avalone, Nick Carter, Troy Conway, Priscilla Dalton, Mark Dane, Jeanne-Anne dePre, Dora Highland, Stuart Jason, Steve Michaels, Dorothea Nile, Edwina Noone, John Patrick, Vance Stanton, Sidney Stuart, Max Walker, and Lee Davis Willoughby.
From 1962-5, Avallone edited the Mystery Writers of America newsletter. Personal Life:
He married 1949 Lucille Asero (one son; marriage dissolved), 1960 Fran Weinstein (one son, one daughter); died Los Angeles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_...
http://www.thrillingdetective.com/tri...
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 20, 2022
Read a couple of pretty smart books recently, so figured I deserved something stupid - which means it's time for a detour to the Shite Shelf!
And make no mistake, this book is just awful. So why 3 stars? Well, gotta give it at least two, because I know there is still worse out there - need look no further than the contemporary Girl From U.N.C.L.E. Magazine, all seven issues of which have embarrassing, 60s-fashion-at-its-worst covers like this:
And then of course a third star for sheer nostalgia value. Because bad as this is, it did bring back happy childhood memories of a simpler time; when National Geographic, the Sears-Roebuck catalog, and titilating stories like this - with its awkward references to "her wide shelf of breasts and long white legs thrusting from a beige sheath skirt" and comments like "Miss Van Atta had a body built for bed" - were about as close as we came back then to pre-teen, pre-internet porn.
Of course, these books were equal opportunity offenders. The bad guys include an evil "Chinaman" whose codename - I swear - is "Fried Rice," and a turbaned Indian alternately referred to as "the Hindu" and "the Sikh," (even though these are totally separate religions).
As for the plot and "literary merit"…well, there are basically none of either - this thing probably took me the same time to read as it did for Davis to write it. But at 50 cents, I was still getting over two pages per penny, so it's hard to complain. And again - much as I hate to admit it, it was kind of fun in an EXTREMELY-guilty pleasure sort of way.
...AND A FINAL, WEIRD NOTE ON U.N.C.L.E. ITSELF: Mentioned here and in many other books, this goofy spy organization is divided into six section:
SECTION I: Policy and Operations
SECTION II: Operations and Enforcement
SECTION III: Enforcement and Intelligence
SECTION IV: Intelligence and Communications, etc...
Having retired from "government service," this just breaks me up, because it is both TOTALLY STUPID and also something THE GOVERNMENT WOULD VERY MUCH DO. What is up with that intentional overlap of functions??? Some shit goes down, the clock starts ticking....and the first (and last) meeting is all, "we need to launch an operation - call Section I..."; "well, actually I think that's more something we in Section II should handle...;" "we need more intelligence first - get me Section III...!!"; "not to disagree, but wouldn't that be a Section IV thin-..."
And make no mistake, this book is just awful. So why 3 stars? Well, gotta give it at least two, because I know there is still worse out there - need look no further than the contemporary Girl From U.N.C.L.E. Magazine, all seven issues of which have embarrassing, 60s-fashion-at-its-worst covers like this:
And then of course a third star for sheer nostalgia value. Because bad as this is, it did bring back happy childhood memories of a simpler time; when National Geographic, the Sears-Roebuck catalog, and titilating stories like this - with its awkward references to "her wide shelf of breasts and long white legs thrusting from a beige sheath skirt" and comments like "Miss Van Atta had a body built for bed" - were about as close as we came back then to pre-teen, pre-internet porn.
Of course, these books were equal opportunity offenders. The bad guys include an evil "Chinaman" whose codename - I swear - is "Fried Rice," and a turbaned Indian alternately referred to as "the Hindu" and "the Sikh," (even though these are totally separate religions).
As for the plot and "literary merit"…well, there are basically none of either - this thing probably took me the same time to read as it did for Davis to write it. But at 50 cents, I was still getting over two pages per penny, so it's hard to complain. And again - much as I hate to admit it, it was kind of fun in an EXTREMELY-guilty pleasure sort of way.
...AND A FINAL, WEIRD NOTE ON U.N.C.L.E. ITSELF: Mentioned here and in many other books, this goofy spy organization is divided into six section:
SECTION I: Policy and Operations
SECTION II: Operations and Enforcement
SECTION III: Enforcement and Intelligence
SECTION IV: Intelligence and Communications, etc...
Having retired from "government service," this just breaks me up, because it is both TOTALLY STUPID and also something THE GOVERNMENT WOULD VERY MUCH DO. What is up with that intentional overlap of functions??? Some shit goes down, the clock starts ticking....and the first (and last) meeting is all, "we need to launch an operation - call Section I..."; "well, actually I think that's more something we in Section II should handle...;" "we need more intelligence first - get me Section III...!!"; "not to disagree, but wouldn't that be a Section IV thin-..."
September 17, 2026
Listen it’s fine and there’s some good stuff in it but Avallone’s idea of the interior life of a woman is absolute drivel and kinda damaged a lot of the enjoyment I would otherwise have got from the book. The fact that it’s from April’s POV tho is quite funny because it means some of Avallone’s lusty descriptions of other female characters just come across as if April is interested in them. April Dancer bisexual confirmed ❤️ I was delighted by the appearance of Napoleon at the end, but the whole time I thought maybe Joanna Paula Jones might be a traitor which would have really elevated her character imo and made her much more interesting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 22, 2019
I am now down to two U.N.C.L.E paperbacks left to read. It has been a fun nostalgic journey. This one was very predictable, a little sexist(do not forget it was the sixties,) but enjoyable nonetheless. There are only two in the Girl from U.N.C.L.E. series so I should tackle the second one and the ABC's of Espionage in the near future then on to other reading projects
May 22, 2010
standard television novel
April 22, 2020
The book was an offshoot of the TV show from the mid 1960’s, ‘The Girl from UNCLE'.
The book starts with our heroine, April Dancer perched on a ledge on the 19th floor of a building. Totally unlike the TV show, April is much more independent and a karate chop sends a THRUSH agent who is after her spiralling to his death, something April was never allowed to do in the TV show. The book is also more ‘racy’ than the TV show. When April comes face to face with a female T.H.R.U.S.H agent called Arnolda van Atta, Van Atta quickly overpowers the Girl from Uncle and shoves a small needle into April’s arm, injecting a knock-out serum into April Dancer. The serum works quickly and April Dancer faints. Having successfully rendered the Girl from Uncle unconscious, van Atta kidnaps her and removes April’s clothes, leaving the unconscious April Dancer in only her white bra and panties! It is certainly an action packed book and a quite easy read and was like taking a nostalgia trip back to the 1960’s.
The book starts with our heroine, April Dancer perched on a ledge on the 19th floor of a building. Totally unlike the TV show, April is much more independent and a karate chop sends a THRUSH agent who is after her spiralling to his death, something April was never allowed to do in the TV show. The book is also more ‘racy’ than the TV show. When April comes face to face with a female T.H.R.U.S.H agent called Arnolda van Atta, Van Atta quickly overpowers the Girl from Uncle and shoves a small needle into April’s arm, injecting a knock-out serum into April Dancer. The serum works quickly and April Dancer faints. Having successfully rendered the Girl from Uncle unconscious, van Atta kidnaps her and removes April’s clothes, leaving the unconscious April Dancer in only her white bra and panties! It is certainly an action packed book and a quite easy read and was like taking a nostalgia trip back to the 1960’s.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 29, 2024
I grew up watching both The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. They were crap. I watched them because I was eight years old, I wanted a cool action-oriented spy drama, and I Spy was on after my bedtime. I made do with what I got. This book is how I wanted those TV shows to be. Instead of camp and tongue in cheek, it's played serious here. The action is fairly good. The protagonist is plucky, there are the requisite cliffhangers and plot twists, and the author makes you feel that the heroes are in genuine peril. The use of mercy bullets by the good guys, infrared projectors, and martial arts makes me think Avallone was intentionally channeling some Doc Savage vibes. The novel feels just like an older Pulp-era product: short, to the point, good guys versus very bad guys, fun. Placed in the Pulp pool, it's a competent entry. If you want some nostalgic fun, skip the disillusion inherent in trying to stomach the TV reruns and read this instead.
January 5, 2024
Rating 3
An okay read, obviously dated in language and attitudes.
It was fast paced , entertaining enough and pretty much what you expect from a tv series tie-in novel.
Probably the best way to approach this and other entries in the UNCLE series would be to read with tongue firmly in cheek. The same the tv series was relatively serious for series one and then become sillier and more humorous in approach.
An okay read, obviously dated in language and attitudes.
It was fast paced , entertaining enough and pretty much what you expect from a tv series tie-in novel.
Probably the best way to approach this and other entries in the UNCLE series would be to read with tongue firmly in cheek. The same the tv series was relatively serious for series one and then become sillier and more humorous in approach.
August 31, 2017
That was cute!! Wonder if they still air those anywhere?
September 8, 2017
A fun read.
November 7, 2020
While it is a pretty average novel, I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.
May 30, 2026
definitely a product of it's time, but a quick and fun cold war era spy novel nonetheless
April 27, 2019
Based on the nearly forgotten tv series from the 1960's, this was actually a good spy story. Good intro to the main character April Dancer, a good plot, and no lags in the action.
(Soapbox: The book's only downfall was that it was written in the 1960's, when all of America was acting like a juvenile out from under it's mother's wise and watchful eye with regard to "sex". Not that this book has any graphic content; it has none. But the repeated hearkening to sexual topics early on got a little wearisome. The story definitely deserves a "4" and a "2" for needless references, like April's "measurements".)
(Soapbox: The book's only downfall was that it was written in the 1960's, when all of America was acting like a juvenile out from under it's mother's wise and watchful eye with regard to "sex". Not that this book has any graphic content; it has none. But the repeated hearkening to sexual topics early on got a little wearisome. The story definitely deserves a "4" and a "2" for needless references, like April's "measurements".)
October 31, 2024
2 1/2 stars. Dumb, often fun in a silly way (like the TV show), and sometimes racist (the time period, y'know). I wouldn't exactly recommend it but I knew what I was getting into.
December 28, 2012
A decidedly campy spy thriller based on an indubitably campy 1960s spy show -- very short, action-packed (right down to a rooftop showdown), and great fun. Our Heroine April Dancer is much more independent and interesting here, though some of the casual racism of the time period grates a little.
February 12, 2016
Excellent book adaptation of the TV series. Great spy adventure book. Recommended
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews