Run, Spy, Run (Killmaster novel)
Encyclopedia
Publishing history
The book was first published in February 1964 (Number A101F) by Award Books part of the Beacon-Signal division of Universal Publishing and Distributing Corporation (New York, USA), part of the Conde Nast PublicationsCondé Nast Publications
Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a magazine publisher. In the U.S., it produces 18 consumer magazines, including Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps...
Inc. The novel was written by Valerie Moolman. Copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
was registered in the US on 21 April 1964.
Plot summary
The story takes place in early September 1963. After relaxing following a successful mission in JamaicaJamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, secret agent Nick Carter receives an anonymous letter asking that he return to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
via a specific flight where the writer will contact him on the plane. On the flight Carter is contacted by stewardess Rita Jameson, who believes Carter to be a private investigator. Carter is asked to help solve the mystery surrounding a plane crash that killed Rita Jameson's pilot fiance and for which he has been named responsible. Also on board is a minor diplomat with an artificial hand. Upon disembarking in New York, the diplomat is killed by a bomb that appears to have been contained within his own artificial hand. Carter learns that "the man with the steel hand" is the fourth anti-Communist politician/diplomat to have been killed by explosions linked to planes in recent months. Their successors are all pro-Communist sympathizers. Rita Jameson is murdered and attempts are made on Carter's life indicating that the crash that killed Jameson's fiance and the murder of "the man with the steel hand" at least are connected. Government agencies around the world suspect that all 4 crashes are indeed linked and cover up the fact (prompting Jameson's independent investigation). Carter and Julia Baron are assigned to protect US Ambassador to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, Lyle Harcourt - a staunch anti-Communist - as he travels to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. On board, Carter and Baron foil a plot by a suicide bomber to set off a bomb. The would-be bomber commits suicide by poison before he can be interrogated. In London, Carter and Baron contact the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Henry Judson. However,they become suspicious of him when he probes the meaning of coded messages sent to Carter from AXE via the embassy. As they leave the embassy, Carter and Baron are knocked out and transported to the London hideout of Mr. Judas - an international terrorist who hires out his services to the highest bidder. He is currently employed by China to destabilise anti-Communist sentiment among world leaders. As they are about to be tortured and murdered by Mr. Judas and his sexually sadisdic henchman, Braille, they manage to escape, killing Braille and wounding Mr. Judas in the process. In revenge and to prevent Carter and Baron identifying him in future, Mr. Judas arranges to have Harcourt kidnapped, thereby forcing Carter and Baron to attend a potentially fatal meeting. Carter and Baron meet Mr. Judas to arrange Harcourt's release. Mr. Judas attempts to bribe Carter into planting a bomb on the US President's plane. After a struggle Mr. Judas is thwarted and Harcourt rescued. Mr. Judas escapes into the London fog.
Main characters
- Nick Carter (agent N-3, AXE, undercover using the assumed name Peter Cane)
- Mr Hawk (Carter’s boss, head of AXE)
- Julia Baron (US agent)
- Mr. Judas (international terrorist, Carter's foe)
- Braille (Mr. Judas’ henchman)
- Henry Judson (US Ambassador to UK)
- Lyle Harcourt (US Ambassador to the United Nations)
- Rita Jameson
Physical characteristics
In this first novel of the series, Carter is described as tall, lean and handsome with a classic profile and magnificently muscled body. He has wide-set steel gray eyes that are icy, cruel and dangerous. He is hard-faced, with a firm straight mouth, laugh-lines around the eyes, and a firm cleft chin. His hair is thick and dark. He has a small tattoo of a blue axe on the inside right lower arm near the elbow, a knife scar on the shoulder, a shrapnel scar on the right thigh. He has a sixth sense for danger. He practices yoga.Publicity
Promotional material was quoted on the cover of the first US edition as follows:- A new young Nick Carter is here...a suave, ruthless super-secret intelligence agent who is "the American answer to Ian Fleming's James Bond" - The Third Degree Magazine.
- What colleagues of mine from the Corps Diplomatique or Intelligence, I wonder, is the real author using the pen-name Nick Carter? These Nick Carter novels may be straight from the diaries of an American intelligence agent … or they may be the creations of some best-selling novelist’s imagination. In any case, they have the touch, and they make grand reading. Welcome to the club, Nick Carter!” Ladislas FaragoLadislas FaragoLadislas Farago was a military historian and journalist who published a number of best-selling books on history and espionage, especially concerning the World War II era....
, Chief, Desk X, Radio Free EuropeRadio Free EuropeRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
Trivia
- AXE is described as comprising 24 agents, including Carter (N-3). Agents A-24 and K-7 are also referred to.
- The novel is "Dedicated to The Men of the Secret Services of the United States of America."
- The novel is set in early September 1963 and involves a failed plot to assassinate the President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
(at the time John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
), by planting a bomb in a plane on which he is due to travel. By the time the novel had been published in February 1964, Kennedy had indeed been murdered. The plot ringleader, Mr. Judas, escapes at the end of the novel, perhaps allowing him to fulfill his promise to Carter, "If it [the bomb plot] fails, I shall try other means." - The initiation of the Killmaster series of novels appears to be closely linked with the cinematic success of the first James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
movie, Dr. NoDr. NoDr. No is the sixth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 31 March 1958. The story centres on Bond's investigation into the disappearance in Jamaica of a fellow MI6 operative, Commander John Strangways and his secretary, Mary Trueblood. He...
. The movie premiered in the UK in October 1962 and in the US in May 1963. The cover of the first edition boasts the caption "the American answer to Ian Fleming's James Bond". The similarities to Dr. No continue. At the beginning of Run, Spy, Run - Carter is found relaxing after a successful mission in Jamaica. In Dr. NoDr. NoDr. No is the sixth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 31 March 1958. The story centres on Bond's investigation into the disappearance in Jamaica of a fellow MI6 operative, Commander John Strangways and his secretary, Mary Trueblood. He...
, James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
is first sent to Jamaica to investigate the missing Strangways. In the movie, Dr. No has a pair of powerful artificial hands. In Run, Spy, Run - the villain, Mr. Judas, also has an artificial hand. - Carter's age is not mentioned. However, it is stated that he fought in World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and served in OSSOSS-Science and technology:* Open-source software* Open Sound System, a standard interface for making and capturing sound in Unix operating systems* Open Search Server, search engine software...
, indicating that he must be at least 40 years of age at the time the novel is set. - Mr. Judas reappears in several other novels in the series Fraulein Spy, Danger Key, Weapon of Night, Judas Spy, Rhodesia, Sea Trap, The Human Time Bomb, Vatican Vendetta.
- Julia Baron reappears in the novels The China Doll and Weapon of Night.
Plot errors
In Chapter 1 it is stated that Carter spent 5 years in OSS (Office of Strategic ServicesOffice of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
). The OSS existed only for 3 years (13 June 1942 to 20 September 1945) before being superseded by the CIA.