The 2nd in the 7 Harry Palmer books. Continues the grim nature of Cold War spying of the early 60's. The title isa bit cryptic, but we discover during the story that "Horse" is a nickname for heroin and the combination of nazi sympathiser blackmail, drugs and sunken submarines make a great read when combined with double agents and inter spy-agency rivalries between US & the UK and within the UK itself. ( )

The WOOC(P) Files #2
Review of the Penguin Modern Classics paperback edition (April, 2021) of the original Jonathan Cape hardcover (1963)

Dawlish always tended to placate other departments when they asked us to do something difficult or stupid. I saw each job in terms of the people who would have to do the dirty work. That's the way I saw this job, but Dawlish was my master. - the nameless protagonist about his boss in Chapter 2 of Horse Under Water

'You didn't understand your role, my boy,' he said in his smug voice, 'we didn't want you to discover anything. Somehow we knew that you would make them do something indiscreet.' - Dawlish to the unnamed protagonist in Chapter 58 of Horse Under Water

See image at http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eqBbi9pdVq8/UsVX-2ksyvI/AAAAAAAAK6g/pusDxgWRf-c/s1600/...
Michael Caine as Harry Palmer on one of the paperback editions of Horse Under Water, image sourced from http://vintagepopfictions.blogspot.com/2014_01_01_archive.html. Note: The book did not have a movie adaptation.

Horse Under Water is the 2nd of my re-reads after having recently learned of the Penguin Modern Classics republication of all of Len Deighton's novels which is being planned over the course of 2021 in an online article Why Len Deighton's spy stories are set to thrill a new generation (Guardian/Observer May 2, 2021).

This second outing was just about as confusing as The IPCRESS File. The nameless agent (renamed Harry Palmer in the Michael Caine movies) of the mysterious WOOC(P) secret service is at first sent out to retrieve counterfeit currency from a sunken German U-Boat off the coast of Portugal. A rag-tag group of hangers-on gradually join the proceedings, almost all of them are not whom they say they are. The mission turns into a hunt for heroin instead (thus the use of the slang word 'Horse' in the title) which also is not the real mission. Eventually everyone reveals their true motives and the real purpose of the mission becomes clear almost at the very end of the book. The protagonist is mostly as confused as we are, but finally sees the goal. Oh, and there was an ice-melting machine somewhere in there as well to add another red herring to the mix.

I'm still enjoying revisiting these books from early espionage fiction reading days, but it is more for the banter than the confusion of the plots. I am already on to the 3rd book Funeral in Berlin which at least seems to stick to the main plot throughout with less diversions.

Trivia and Link
I do rather like how the cover designs of all of these 2021 Penguin Modern Classics editions incorporate the painted crossing-walk stripes that were used in an early Horse Under Water edition pictured above. ( )

Horse Under Water was Deighton's second novel and a sequel to his first, The Ipcress File. It continues with the same unnamed protagonist, told in his droll, often circumspect voice, singling out relevant details and allowing the reader to stitch the picture together. The plot involves a great deal of "frogman" action, largely off the coast of Portugal. But there is also intrigue in London, with a fair amount of travel back and forth. Chapters are short, often just one or two pages, and their titles all have the flavor of crossword clues, consistent with the obscurity of the facts as the man from W.O.O.C.(P) tries to discover the real narrative behind the malefactors he encounters.

Baix of the (Marrakech) Sûreté Nationale ...: "In any narcotics investigation we are most enthusiastic that the criminal is apprehensive."

"I know what you mean," I said. (211)

Sequel to the Ipcress File featuring the same nameless secret agent (dubbed Harry Palmer in the films). More straightforward than the previous book, this is more of a potboiler about a sunken Nazi u-boat, heroin smuggling and neo-fascists. There's lots of to-ing and fro-ing between London and Portugal and the short chapters keep things moving along at a nice pace. A minor Deighton, but an enjoyable read. ( )

The truculent secret agent is in Portugal learning to Scuba dive, and indulging in some onion peeling. The ostensible mission isn't the real mission, and that one..... Good fun. ( )