Duncan Kyle (1930–2001)

It’s 1941. The United States has not yet entered the Second World War. An organization of expatriate Germans in the States is trying to drum up loyalty to the Fatherland. It’s not averse to a little blackmail in order to get people on board, and pilot Ernie Miller is about to find this out the hard way. As a pilot, he may be called upon to use these skills for nefarious means…

I picked up this book entirely on the strength of the cheerful yellow seaplane on the cover, and it was a wise show more purchase indeed. About half the book is set in Canada, which I was not expecting at all, so that was a nice bonus. And the book delivered amply on the aviation front: lots of technical details to keep the nerds like me happy, but plenty of adventure and thrills as well. Less helpful was the eyeroll-inducing language about women’s instincts whenever Ernie’s wife, Dot, was mentioned—and this is definitely more of a man’s fictional universe. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this a great deal, and I found it had a fresh enough (to me) angle on the Second World War to hold my interest. show less

Whiteout - Duncan Kyle **** (Also released under the heading In Deep)

One day (if not already) there will be a list drawn of all the world’s greatest action/adventure authors. There will be the likely candidates of MacLean/Fleming/Higgins etc, and I just hope that the compiler remembers to add Duncan Kyle into that list, and hopefully he will be somewhere near the top.

Whiteout follows the adventures of Harry Bowes, a salesman from a company that makes all terrain snow vehicles, a sort of show more hovercraft. In order to try and secure a deal with the army he is offered a chance to demonstrate the machines capabilities at Camp 100, cut off and situated high above the Arctic Circle. However things don’t go entirely to plan and bodies start appearing all around him, being a naturally inquisitive man he decides to do a little investigating and ultimately endangers his own life in the process.

I loved the way Kyle describes the barren environment and the harshness of the men’s situation that you get the feeling he must have experienced these conditions himself. He manages to pack so much into the books 224 pages that any fan of the genre will find something to satisfy them. In some ways I felt the book deserved 5 stars but on occasion I found the way in which Harry was received by the military was a little unrealistic. Here is a man with no major connection to the station, which at times is allowed to wander around unguarded or unseen, even though there is obviously a murderer /sabotager at work. It needed a bit more substance in the plot to really allow the reader to believe this could happen. Having said that, I really enjoyed the book and finished it with a sense of satisfaction that very few authors provide. show less

Thrilling and clever historical treasure hunt. A new executive at a respected London Bank queries an unusual annual payment. This results in a series of written accounts of a British officer's mission to Russia in 1918, right into the heart of the Revolution in search of the Russian Royal family. However it also states that the story will bring about disaster for the bank, and the bankers must jump through numerous costly an humiliating hoops to receive each installment of the story.

Really show more enjoyable, though slightly reminiscent of Brian Garfield's Kolchak's Gold - albeit not as epic. Still, a lot of fun. show less

Green River High - Duncan Kyle ****

Having been a fan of Alistair Maclean for many years it is a natural progression to try other authors in a similar field. Duncan Kyle appears to have been almost forgotten in recent years and that is a real shame as many of his books are as good today as when they were first written. Green River High isn’t one of his best stories, but it is still worth discovering.

An ex soldier, now bank clerk (George Tunnicliffe) foils a robbery where he works. His name show more becomes plastered across the press and as a result he receives communication from two individuals who knew his father a number of years previous. It seems that his now deceased father had rather a colourful life and was involved in the disappearance of thousands of rubies during World War 2. The only problem now is that there is only person alive who knows the area well enough to try and locate the crash site, and she is an aging ex mercenary who strikes a hard bargain for the sake of the church.

Anyone who likes a book to have a fair piece of action, double crossing and adventure in faraway lands then give this a try. Many of these novels have dated over the years, but Kyle still seems relatively fresh. I particularly like the way in which he describes his characters, and the trek across the English countryside could well have been taken from a Buchan novel.

Not quite a 5* read, but a very decent 4* show less