The Eyes of the Tiger (Killmaster novel)
Encyclopedia
The Eyes of the Tiger is the ninth novel
in the long-running Nick Carter-Killmaster
series of spy novels. Carter is a US secret agent, code-named N-3, with the rank of Killmaster. He works for AXE – a secret arm of the US intelligence services.
Inc. The novel was written by Manning Lee Stokes.
This novel was originally written in the third-person narrative style. However, since at least 1973, later editions of this novel were rewritten in first-person narrative
style.http://suspenseandmystery.blogspot.com/2010/10/number-9-eyes-of-tiger.html
Hermann Goering’s treasure gleamed in the Swiss bank vault…hair-triggered for sudden death to Nick Carter!
, Switzerland
on Mission Tiger – a plan to steal a large gold and ruby statue of a tiger from Hermann Goering’s private Swiss bank vault. Former SS General Max Rader and Imperial Japanese Army
Colonel Shikoku Hondo are also on their way to steal the tiger. The vault has been locked using a French key – a device that requires two matching key components to be inserted together – one half of which is kept by Rader and Hondo, respectively. Baroness Elspeth von Stadt – a West German intelligence agent – and the only person able to identify Max Rader after his recent plastic surgery – is assigned by AXE chief Mr. Hawk to help Carter. The Baroness claims to hate Rader as he executed her German army officer father following an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler
during World War II
.
Carter fights with Hondo and recovers his half of the French key. Hondo is injured and is imprisoned by Rader while Carter and the Baroness take shelter at the isolated Villa Limbo on an island in Lake Geneva
. The housekeeper, Osman, an employee of Rader, tries to kill Carter but is killed in the attempt. Carter hides the body and he and the Baroness flee to Geneva
. To draw Rader out into the open, Carter allows the Baroness to be kidnapped by Rader’s men. Rader contacts Carter to make a deal – the Baroness for Hondo’s half of the French key. Carter agrees and is told to wait at the Villa Limbo for further instructions.
Hondo escapes from Rader and lies in wait for Carter at Villa Limbo. Before Hondo can retrieve his half of the French key he is killed by Rader’s men. Carter is summoned to Rader’s castle to continue negotiations. The Baroness is tortured by Rader’s men in the castle dungeons to force Carter to produce the key. Carter manages to release the Baroness and pursues Rader through the labyrinth of tunnels beneath the castle. Rader is cornered and Carter shoots him dead. Rader has hidden his half of the French key in the scar tissue beneath a dueling scar on his face. Carter cuts it out with Hugo - his stiletto.
After the statue is safely recovered Carter discovers that the Baroness was Rader’s mistress and former Hitler Youth
member and was responsible for denouncing her own father to the Nazis. Carter gives her a bullet to kill herself with and a head start before reporting her to the authorities. The Baroness escapes to Paris and kills herself.
Carter discovers that hidden inside the tiger statue is a list of the names of German children expected to launch the future Fourth Reich using money and valuables hidden in 20 sunken German submarines concealed in various locations around the world. Hawk informs Carter that the children will be watched as they grow up and the sunken submarines and their contents recovered.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
in the long-running Nick Carter-Killmaster
Nick Carter-Killmaster
Nick Carter-Killmaster is a series of spy adventures published from 1964 until the late 1990s, first by Award Books, then by Ace Books, and finally by Jove Books. At least 261 novels were published....
series of spy novels. Carter is a US secret agent, code-named N-3, with the rank of Killmaster. He works for AXE – a secret arm of the US intelligence services.
Publishing history
The book was first published in September 1965 (Number A152F) 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 Manning Lee Stokes.
This novel was originally written in the third-person narrative style. However, since at least 1973, later editions of this novel were rewritten in first-person narrative
First-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
style.http://suspenseandmystery.blogspot.com/2010/10/number-9-eyes-of-tiger.html
Tagline
ReichsmarschallReichsmarschall
Reichsmarschall literally in ; was the highest rank in the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II after the position of Supreme Commander held by Adolf Hitler....
Hermann Goering’s treasure gleamed in the Swiss bank vault…hair-triggered for sudden death to Nick Carter!
Plot summary
The story is set in September 1965. Carter is in GenevaGeneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
on Mission Tiger – a plan to steal a large gold and ruby statue of a tiger from Hermann Goering’s private Swiss bank vault. Former SS General Max Rader and Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
Colonel Shikoku Hondo are also on their way to steal the tiger. The vault has been locked using a French key – a device that requires two matching key components to be inserted together – one half of which is kept by Rader and Hondo, respectively. Baroness Elspeth von Stadt – a West German intelligence agent – and the only person able to identify Max Rader after his recent plastic surgery – is assigned by AXE chief Mr. Hawk to help Carter. The Baroness claims to hate Rader as he executed her German army officer father following an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
during World War II
World War II
World 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...
.
Carter fights with Hondo and recovers his half of the French key. Hondo is injured and is imprisoned by Rader while Carter and the Baroness take shelter at the isolated Villa Limbo on an island in Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva or Lake Léman is a lake in Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. 59.53 % of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland , and 40.47 % under France...
. The housekeeper, Osman, an employee of Rader, tries to kill Carter but is killed in the attempt. Carter hides the body and he and the Baroness flee to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
. To draw Rader out into the open, Carter allows the Baroness to be kidnapped by Rader’s men. Rader contacts Carter to make a deal – the Baroness for Hondo’s half of the French key. Carter agrees and is told to wait at the Villa Limbo for further instructions.
Hondo escapes from Rader and lies in wait for Carter at Villa Limbo. Before Hondo can retrieve his half of the French key he is killed by Rader’s men. Carter is summoned to Rader’s castle to continue negotiations. The Baroness is tortured by Rader’s men in the castle dungeons to force Carter to produce the key. Carter manages to release the Baroness and pursues Rader through the labyrinth of tunnels beneath the castle. Rader is cornered and Carter shoots him dead. Rader has hidden his half of the French key in the scar tissue beneath a dueling scar on his face. Carter cuts it out with Hugo - his stiletto.
After the statue is safely recovered Carter discovers that the Baroness was Rader’s mistress and former Hitler Youth
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...
member and was responsible for denouncing her own father to the Nazis. Carter gives her a bullet to kill herself with and a head start before reporting her to the authorities. The Baroness escapes to Paris and kills herself.
Carter discovers that hidden inside the tiger statue is a list of the names of German children expected to launch the future Fourth Reich using money and valuables hidden in 20 sunken German submarines concealed in various locations around the world. Hawk informs Carter that the children will be watched as they grow up and the sunken submarines and their contents recovered.
Main characters
- Nick Carter (agent N-3, AXE; posing as Rubli Kurz, Frank Manning)
- Mr Hawk (Carter’s boss, head of AXE)
- Baroness Elspeth von Stadt (West German intelligence agent, Rader’s former mistress)
- Max Rader (former SchutzstaffelSchutzstaffelThe Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
(SS) General) - Shikoku Hondo (former Imperial Japanese ArmyImperial Japanese Army-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
Colonel) - Osman (servant at Villa Limbo, employee of Max Rader)
- Mignon Franchette (housekeeper, Villa Limbo)
- Mr. Poindexter (head of AXE Special Effects and Editing)
Trivia
- The front page teaser before the title page appears to indicate that Hermann Goering is alive and scheming to retrieve the contents of his Swiss bank vault. In the book however, it is clear that Goering is dead. The plotline refers to Nazi plunderNazi plunderNazi plunder refers to art theft and other items stolen as a result of the organized looting of European countries during the time of the Third Reich by agents acting on behalf of the ruling Nazi Party of Germany. Plundering occurred from 1933 until the end of World War II, particularly by military...
– valuables systematically confiscated from victims of the Nazi regime of which Goering was a noted participant. - Carter is described as speaking fluent French, German and Italian and a little Romansch. Carter’s French abilities show a consistent trend of improvement as the series of Killmaster novels progress being described as limited in ‘’Safari for SpiesSafari for Spies (Killmaster novel)Safari for Spies is the fourth novel in the long-running Nick Carter-Killmaster series.-Publishing history:The book was first published in August 1964 by Award Books part of the Beacon-Signal division of Universal Publishing and Distributing Corporation , part of the Conde Nast Publications Inc....
and good in ‘’SaigonSaigon (Killmaster novel)Saigon is the sixth novel in the in the long-running Nick Carter-Killmaster series of spy novels. Carter is a US secret agent, code-named N-3, with the rank of Killmaster...
’’. - The novel describes the first appearance of Mr. Poindexter, head of AXE’s Special Effects and Editing department. He appears to be the equivalent of ‘’QQ (James Bond)Q is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. Q , like M, is a job title rather than a name. He is the head of Q Branch , the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service...
’’ in the 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,...
books and films. Poindexter provides Carter with “Gladstone” a rhino hide suitcase containing concealed compartments holding “vials, bottles and kits” (a reference to Gladstone bagGladstone bagA Gladstone bag is a small portmanteau suitcase built over a rigid frame which could separate into two equal sections. Unlike a suitcase, a Gladstone bag is "deeper in proportion to its length." They are typically made of stiff leather and often belted with lanyards...
).