Plot introduction
Joseph Rearden is a better-than-average crook from South Africa with a jail conviction on his record. In London, he meets an agent of the British Government called Mackintosh, who recruits him for a new and deadly assignment - to snare The Scarperers (a notorious gang of criminals who organise gaol-breaking for long-term prisoners) and Slade, a notorious Russian double agent whom they have recently liberated. Rearden is asked to rob a postman with a package of uncut diamonds, for which he will be caught and sent to jail in the hope that this will attract the attention of the Scarperers. Thinking that this will be an easy score, Rearden accepts. He is successful, but finds that he has been freed by the Scarperers to help fulfil their own evil political agenda. The trail goes to Malta, where Rearden must outwit the Scarperers in order to save his own life.
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (Swaziland); and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and, with over 57 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European (White), Asian (Indian), and multiracial (Coloured) ancestry.
In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who, in fact, has been discovered by the target organization and is now spying on their own country's organization for the target organization.
Malta, officially known as the Republic of Malta, is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. It lies 80 km (50 mi) south of Italy, 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunisia, and 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya. With a population of about 475,000 over an area of 316 km2 (122 sq mi), Malta is the world's tenth smallest and fifth most densely-populated country. Its capital is Valletta, which is the smallest national capital in the European Union by area at 0.8 km.2 The official languages are Maltese and English, with Maltese officially recognised as the national language and the only Semitic language in the European Union.
Bagley carried over the Slade character from Running Blind.
Running Blind is a first person narrative espionage thriller novel by English author Desmond Bagley, first published in 1970 with a cover by Norman Weaver.
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The Sandbaggers is a British television drama series about men and women on the front lines of the Cold War. Set contemporaneously with its original broadcast on ITV in 1978 and 1980, The Sandbaggers examines the effect of espionage on the personal and professional lives of British and American intelligence specialists. The series was produced by Yorkshire Television, based in Leeds.
George Blake is a former British spy who worked as a double agent for the Soviet Union. He became a Communist and decided to work for the KGB while a prisoner during the Korean War. Discovered in 1961 and sentenced to 42 years in prison, he escaped from Wormwood Scrubs prison in 1966 and fled to the Soviet Union. He was not one of the Cambridge Five spies, although he associated with Donald Maclean and Kim Philby after reaching the Soviet Union.
Deathstroke is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is a mercenary and assassin who serves as the archenemy of the Teen Titans, specifically Dick Grayson. Over the years, writers have developed him as an adversary of other superheroes in the DC Universe as well, such as Batman and Green Arrow.
Julian Penkivil Slade was an English writer from London of musical theatre, best known for the show Salad Days, which he wrote in six weeks in 1954 and which became the UK's longest-running show of the 1950s, with over 2,288 performances.
The Filth is a comic book limited series, written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Chris Weston and Gary Erskine. It was published by the Vertigo imprint of American company DC Comics in 2002.
Doctor Alchemy is a name used by different supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The most notable was Albert Desmond who originally used the name of Mister Element.
The Montmorency series, or simply Montmorency, is a series of five Victorian era crime novels written by Eleanor Updale and published by Scholastic from 2003 to 2013. It features Montmorency, an English ex-convict turned spy for whom both the first book and the series are named. The first book is set in London, frequently in its sewers, and London remains a primary setting. The latest novel was released in 2013 after a six-year break.
The Mackintosh Man is a 1973 British-American Cold War spy thriller film, directed by John Huston and starring Paul Newman, Dominique Sanda and James Mason.
The Enemy is a first person narrative espionage thriller novel by English author Desmond Bagley, first published in 1977. In 2001 it was made into a movie, starring Roger Moore, Luke Perry and Olivia d'Abo.
Flyaway is a first person narrative thriller novel by English author Desmond Bagley, first published in 1978. It introduces Max Stafford as protagonist, who would later appear in Bagley's novel, Windfall.
Windfall is a novel written by English author Desmond Bagley, and was first published in 1982. It was the last of his works to be published within his lifetime.
"Orpheus with Clay Feet" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, originally published in 1964 in Escapade magazine. The story has a self referential time travel theme, and was published under the pen name "Jack Dowland".
High Citadel is a novel written by English author Desmond Bagley, and was first published in 1965.
The Spoilers is a novel written by English author Desmond Bagley, and was first published in 1969 with a cover by Norman Weaver.
Juggernaut is a first-person narrative novel written by English author Desmond Bagley, and was first published in 1985. This was Bagley’s last novel, and as he died in 1983, it was published posthumously by his widow.
Montmorency is the protagonist of the Montmorency series of Victorian-era thrillers for children by Eleanor Updale, published between 2003 and 2013, in which he is a former convict turned gentleman. Montmorency works legally as a British agent and illegally as his alter ego, Montmorency's vile manservant, Scarper.
Events from the year 1580 in Ireland.
