A psychological thriller, the story is of a deadly cat-and-mouse chase. To revenge the execution-style death of his love, a man plots to shoot from long range the leader who gave the order. He misses his chance and is captured, tortured, and thrown at the edge of a cliff so as to appear an accident. Household's strongly-written character has the will and the cunning to escape, and survives through arduous, exhausting and dangerous conditions, because he is not done. ( )

An enjoyably rustic thriller that manages to blend ambiguity about a lot of things with a simple plot and some great action. I can see why it’s considered a classic, and I enjoyed it a lot, even if the language took me a while to get used to. ( )

Where do I put this, how do I rate this. While I really enjoyed the story and the writing, I utterly detested the main protagonist. I detested his point of view, his action, his "nose up in the air" "I am so much better" bullshit.

So, there it is, 3 stars, no more, no less. And I am not sure if I would recommend this or not. ( )

In 1939, British writer Geoffrey Household imagined how a lone sniper might attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler at his Bavarian vacation home near Berchtesgaden. Two years later, anti-Nazi German director Fritz Lang -- now exiled to Hollywood -- filmed the story as 'Man Hunt'. And three years after that, officers in the Special Operations Executive (SOE) drafted a plan to kill Hitler, seemingly based on this story. Life does indeed imitate art.

Household's book is a great story, far superior to John Buchan's thrillers like The 39 Steps. It follows what happens to the assassin, who is a big game hunter, after he is captured by the dictator's guards, tortured and then escapes back to England. One is reminded of Frederick Forsyth's 'Day of the Jackal' as this book too goes into minute detail about how one might kill a world leader and get away with it. Unlike the later films (and Operation Foxley, the secret SOE plan) in the book the assassin is not named, nor is his target. Household later confirmed in an interview that he intended it to be Hitler all along, but left open the possibility that it could have been Stalin too.

A great read. ( )

A good thriller, which rather like John Buchan’s novels (John Macnab as well as Hannay stories) I also enjoyed as it provides an insight into attitudes in England (not Britain, as Buchan) in 1939. Published in May 1939 before the outbreak of WWII, the object of the initial assassination attempt is not named, but is obvious.
The novel now conjours up that period of time in England when another European war seemed likely, and conflict in the Spanish Civil War is referenced, but war was not yet certain.

Some of the writing is very much of its time, with which some may be uncomfortable, such as:
She was a sturdy wench in corduroy shorts no longer than bum-bags, and with legs so red that the golden hairs showed as continuous fur. Not my taste at all. But my taste is far from eugenic. ( )