First published 1972. Fontana paperback, 1981, pp 220, c.85,000 words.
This is a classic, straight-forward thriller of the period. It follows Alistair Maclean’s formula of taking an ordinary man and placing him in an extraordinary situation, and then throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him, and once he has survived that, the plumber is thrown at him. It also follows the post-war thriller recipe of the protagonist being a tough resourceful individual, usually ex-forces, and now dissatisfied with life and scraping a living doing odd, slightly dodgy, jobs flying.
This being the early seventies, the hero, John Shaw, served his time in the air-force, primarily in peace-time. He is currently making a living delivering aircraft. A light airplane needs collecting from its manufacturer in California and delivered to a customer in the UK. Nothing could be more straight-forward. Except then he is asked by a British spy agency to bring someone back with him without letting anyone else know; oh, and he is also asked to deliver some spare parts for a car owned by the US agent for the aircraft. Immediately he lands in the US things start to go wrong. What follows is an action-packed tale of mayhem and chaos, kidnapping and close calls in cars, boats and ‘planes. Nature plays its part as well as a raft of bad guys. We are given the scenic tour of San Francisco highlights: China Town, The Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, etc. As we expect, the bodies pile up and our hero takes a battering.
The language is laconic, and amusing, e.g.: ‘Imagine a mouse of exceptionally timid disposition who lives in an exhibition hall and discovers that a Siamese cat show is being held. Imagine how he would stick his nose through the hole in the skirting, the beady-eyed, whisker-twitching, dry-mouthed care he’d take before he moved one paw one millimetre. That was how I went out into that corridor.’ [p42]. Also: ‘Gander presented, as ever, a dismal picture, with fine snow blowing little whipped swirls off the empty tarmac and the grey forbidding waters of the cove assuring you that this was a bleak and blasted spot.’ [p127]
There are a couple of typos which is unforgivable in a reprinting: ‘al’ for ‘all’ and ‘currupt’ [p212]. A description of the Tiger Stripe aeroplane is given twice, [p100 and p130].
Kyle writes well and is a very able thriller writer, on top of his game with this one. There are some very atmospheric descriptions of place and action. The cast are somewhat thinly sketched and caricatured. Suspend your disbelief at the plot holes and unlikely escapes, and enjoy this highly entertaining fast-paced ride.
Wikipedia biography of Kyle (including summary of the book): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_Kyle
Others’ reviews of the book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3616057-flight-into-fear?ref=nav_sb_ss_3_16
© William John Graham, December 2023