Help me find this book!
May 4, 2009 6:29 PM Subscribe
Help me find an old spy novel (details inside) ...
Hello, I'm trying to locate an old spy novel... I have not read this novel but the details were related to me by an older gentleman who has since passed on.
So:
-The setting was post WWII (or if not, during WWII).
-the main character was British, he was in the U.K. after the war, and had served in the U.K. military.
-I believe he spent time in a POW camp or had some exposure to the german military in spite of the fact that he was part of the British military.
-one day, in his day-to-day activities, he sees a man who he recognizes as a former german military official.
-the british man then reports this to the authorities.
-the authorities then instruct him to follow the german in turn, as a counter-espionage activity, and the story takes off from there.
-the villain, which may or may not be this german, had one leg.
-at the climax of the story, I think this peg-legged man is climbing the stairs, and the sound of his wooden leg plunking on the stairs makes for a suspenseful climax.
-the book would have been written no later than the late 1950's.
-the final trick: I'm not sure of the original language this novel was written in.
The gentleman I knew, read this novel when he lived in hungary, and the novel was in hungarian. I do not know if this was an authentic hungarian novel or it was translated into hungarian from english.
Any insights would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Hello, I'm trying to locate an old spy novel... I have not read this novel but the details were related to me by an older gentleman who has since passed on.
So:
-The setting was post WWII (or if not, during WWII).
-the main character was British, he was in the U.K. after the war, and had served in the U.K. military.
-I believe he spent time in a POW camp or had some exposure to the german military in spite of the fact that he was part of the British military.
-one day, in his day-to-day activities, he sees a man who he recognizes as a former german military official.
-the british man then reports this to the authorities.
-the authorities then instruct him to follow the german in turn, as a counter-espionage activity, and the story takes off from there.
-the villain, which may or may not be this german, had one leg.
-at the climax of the story, I think this peg-legged man is climbing the stairs, and the sound of his wooden leg plunking on the stairs makes for a suspenseful climax.
-the book would have been written no later than the late 1950's.
-the final trick: I'm not sure of the original language this novel was written in.
The gentleman I knew, read this novel when he lived in hungary, and the novel was in hungarian. I do not know if this was an authentic hungarian novel or it was translated into hungarian from english.
Any insights would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Response by poster: Thanks for the info adamvasco. But the details I was given were specific, that a villain (or *the* villain) was the guy with the wooden leg. The climax I think was a bit like the scene in Rear Window where the hero hears the guy approaching, the sound of his wooden leg clomping as the villain gets closer and closer ...
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 2:41 PM on May 5, 2009
posted by thermonuclear.jive.turkey at 2:41 PM on May 5, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by adamvasco at 4:45 AM on May 5, 2009