Operation Starvation (novel)

Last updated

Operation Starvation is the seventeenth novel in the long-running Nick Carter-Killmaster series of spy novels. [1] Carter is a US secret agent, code-name N-3, with the rank of Killmaster. He works for AXE, a secret arm of the US intelligence services.

Contents

Publishing history

The book was first published in 1966 (Number A197F) by Award Books part of the Beacon-Signal division of Universal Publishing and Distributing Corporation (New York, USA), part of the Conde Nast Publications Inc. The novel was written by Nicholas Browne. [2] [3] Copyright was registered on 1 March 1966. [4]

Plot

The novel is set in Spring 1966 (late March – early April). Nick Carter is in Paris when he is attacked by four Asian assailants. Meanwhile, a Dutch Boeing 707 from Paris to New York City is hijacked by Asian terrorists. One of the passengers, renowned Chinese microbiologist Dr Lin Chang-su, is kidnapped and forced to return to China; the other 150 passengers are killed and the plane destroyed to make it look like a mid-air explosion.

Dr Lin has discovered a spore that kills a fungal pathogen of the rice plant, potentially leading to a cure for global hunger. He has also discovered the antidote to the spore – an invention that could condemn millions to death by starvation. Dr. Lin refuses to continue to work on the spore until his daughter, Kathy Lin, who accompanied him to Paris, is returned to him alive and well. Agents of the People's Republic of China are frantically searching Europe for her. Nick Carter is ordered to find her first.

Carter joins CIA agent Rusty Donovan at a Paris nightclub where he encounters Johnny Wu-tsang and Dominique St. Martin – known associates of Kathy Lin. Carter recruits Dominique as an aide in getting to Kathy first. Dominique arranges to meet her in Les Halles marketplace in Paris. Johnny Wu – a communist Chinese spymaster - and his men are also there waiting to intercept Kathy. Dominique meets her and secretly tags her with a radioactive tracer. She attempts to flee. Carter tracks her with a Geiger counter as Johnny Wu and his men also give chase. Carter intercepts Kathy and takes her back to her hotel. Carter reveals that Kathy's father has been captured and returned to China. Kathy has given her signet ring to Dominique for safekeeping. The ring is to signal to her father that the bearer can be trusted if she cannot herself return to meet him.

Dominique is kidnapped by Johnny Wu and interrogated at his chateau by Arthur – Wu's sadistic henchman. Carter attempts to free Dominique and retrieve the ring but is also captured and tortured by Arthur. Wu reveals that Rusty Donovan was unable to stop Kathy from being captured. Carter escapes, kills Arthur, and retrieves the ring from Dominique. Before she dies from the effects of Arthur's torture, Dominique tells Carter that Wu has taken Kathy to his chateau in Biarritz. Before he can pursue Johnny Wu, Hawk orders Carter to China to extract Dr Lin from custody.

Carter parachutes into the Taklamakan Desert and meets up with a group of mercenary Afghan Khuf tribesmen led by Changra Lal. Packages containing the parts for a mini-helicopter have been dropped into the camp ahead of Carter's arrival. Carter assembles the two-seat helicopter and flies into the secret agricultural station where Dr Lin is working. Carter rescues Lin and returns to the Khuf camp.

A few days later, Carter returns to Biarritz with Rusty Donovan to rescue Kathy. Together, Carter and Donovan launch an assault on the heavily armed villa. Donovan is killed and an enraged Carter savagely clears the house room by room. Johnny Wu escapes with Kathy to a nearby dock and attempts to launch his yacht in an approaching storm.

Carter dives off the pier and intercepts the yacht as it struggles to leave port. Carter fights hand to hand with Johnny Wu and they both fall into the sea. Exhausted from fighting Carter struggles back to the yacht and allows Wu to drown. He sails to a Basque port and makes love to Kathy.

Main characters

Related Research Articles

<i>The 13th Spy</i>

The 13th Spy is the eighth novel in the Killmaster series.

The Executioners is the fifty-fifth novel in the 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.

Dragon Flame is the fourteenth 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.

<i>Fraulein Spy</i> Spy adventure novel by Valerie Moolman

Fraulein Spy is the fifth novel in the long-running Nick Carter-Killmaster series.

<i>Saigon</i> (Killmaster novel)

Saigon is the sixth 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.

<i>Istanbul</i> (novel)

Istanbul is the tenth 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.

The Terrible Ones is the thirteenth 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.

Hanoi is the fifteenth 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.

<i>The Weapon of Night</i>

The Weapon of Night is the nineteenth 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.

The Golden Serpent is the twentieth 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.

Double Identity is the twenty-second 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.

The Devil's Cockpit is the twenty-third 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.

Seven Against Greece is the twenty-fifth 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.

Temple of Fear is the thirty-sixth 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.

Hood of Death is the thirty-fourth 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.

Peking & The Tulip Affair

Peking & The Tulip Affair is the forty-second 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.

Operation Moon Rocket is the thirty-second 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.

The Death Strain is the sixtieth novel in the 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.

The Code is the seventy-seventh novel in the 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.

Agent Counter-Agent is the seventy-eighth novel in the 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.

References

  1. ↑ "Nick Carter".
  2. ↑ "Nicholas Browne Spy Author Information Page". www.spyguysandgals.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-28.
  3. ↑ "The Nick Carter & Carter Brown Blog".
  4. ↑ Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series: 1967: July–December. By Library of Congress. Copyright Office, p2214
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.