Alistair MacLean style thriller.

I forgot I already had a copy of this book when I picked this up at YHA Keswick and read it in just a couple of days at the end of a great week walking in the Lake District. This is quite a good thriller, told in a fairly terse, factual way very much in the style of Frederick Forsyth (although the cover cites Alistair MacLean). A fairly typical example of the genre, with somewhat two-dimensional characters and a rather predictable plot development about two-thirds of the way through. I liked the setup, but found the story becomes increasingly far-fetched, especially when two armies (merceneries and gangsters) start slugging it out without resorting to guns (so as not to alert the Police). There's also a flaw in the plot that is so gaping it could really sink the whole enterprise, bearing in mind that the gang includes a boat-builder and a gold-miner, but I won't be more specific or I'll spoil it for you. Written about the time Lee Harvey Oswald was counting down the days, it could probably be forgiven for being formulaic, especially as it may well be one of those books that defined the formula in the first place.

Click here to go to The Enemy by the same author.

Under a stone right beside a kissing gate. At the time of writing this gate seemed somewhat redundant as there was no fence and it was possible to walk around it. For those walking from Tintagel, it comes up after three stone stiles (stone steps built into the walls they cross). I've deliberately hidden the book from view because I want it to be found by WormyOne, who is planning to walk past there in a few weeks' time.

Found!

As the bag was the worse for wear and letting in water, I didn't leave it in the open. Instead, I knocked the bugs off it and carried it on to Port Isaac.

The cover art is different from that shown here.

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