The Enemy - Desmond Bagley ****

Desmond Bagley seems to have been a writer that I have overlooked which seems strange as I am a huge fan of Innes, Maclean & Duncan Kyle. The Enemy is the first book that I have read by him and certainly won’t be the last.

Malcom Jaggard is supposedly a financial consultant, but this is a just a front for a man that works undercover as a sort of secret service agent. He gets involved with a Dr Penny Ashton and is soon invited back to meet her father, a business magnate called George Ashton. Things begin to flourish between the two until an acid attack on Penny’s sister causes Ashton to flee the country. Trying to find out a little more about his prospective father in law, Jaggard uses his contacts and is surprised to find that all is not as it seems, the further he digs the more he embroils himself deep into a tangled web of double identities, death and ultimately a decision that will determine his loyalties. I love books like this, and it was really hard to try and second guess where Bagley was going with the plot, and the ending was just something that I never would have thought could possibly have happened. It seems the author likes to follow the traditional spy/action adventure, but isn’t afraid to put his own mark on it either.

I will definitely be reading a few more of his books in the near future and he is deserving of having his name placed alongside the greats of the Action book. ( )

Great premiss; well up to Bagley's usual high standard.

© Koplowitz 2011 ( )

A good yarn until the very gratuitous ending. It added nothing to the overall plot. ( )

An influential business man's daughter is courted by a secret agent. But when tragedy strikes the investigation starts turning up stones better left untouched. Why is so much information about the father so highly restricted. Another of Bagley's tightly written thrillers, unusually set in the UK. This one features a wonderful train set.

One of Bagley's best book in my humble opinion. Malcolm Jaggard meets and courts Penny Ashton who's father is an influential business man.The story is set in the late 70's but many of the attitudes portrayed are much more dated than that. Malcolm ask's the father's permission for marrige before the girl's which altough traditional must have been out of favour in the 70's. The women do all the cooking all the time, even after they've come back from a full day's work. However that work is surpirsingly up-to-date and still relevant to today's moral questions. Penny is genetiscist working with e coli bacteria. The feear of contamination and the alienation of religious extremists remain controversial issues today.

A good story well told, obviously thin characters in places with a usual scheming evil baddie only looking out for himself, but not too badly done at all. Don't forget the wonderful train set! ( )

NIL