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Title: Destination Unknown by Agatha Christie, Emilia Fox ISBN: 1-57270-400-4 Publisher: Mystery Masters Pub. Date: 09 August, 2004 Format: Audio CD Volumes: 6 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.75 (12 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: An Entertaining But Minor Cold War Thriller
Comment: In the 1920s and 1930s Agatha Christie often created novels that were more "thriller" than "mystery"--but as time passed she became less and less interested in such material. 1954's DESTINATION UNKNOWN (also published as SO MANY STEPS TO DEATH) is one of her few such novels from the latter half of her career.
The novel has a topical story line that references the Cold War, defections, and even the notorious House Unamerican Activities Committee. In the aftermath of her child's death and a painful divorce, Hilary Craven travels to the Middle East in an effort to escape her past--and when this fails determines to kill herself. But her attempt at suicide is foiled when she is confronted with an intelligence officer aware of her intention, an intelligence officer who makes her an unusual proposal: if you are so determined to die, why not do it in a way that would serve your country? A nuclear scientist has defected; his wife, rushing to join him, has died in a plane crash. And Hilary, intrigued, agrees to take the wife's place in an effort to trace the missing scientist and uncover the intent behind his disappearance. It is a mission from which she is unlikely to return alive.
Although the premise is interesting, the resulting novel reads rather like the outline for a minor Alfred Hitchcock film. Christie writes with her usual expertise, but the characters here are not greatly memorable and the story itself falls down a bit toward the novel's conclusion. Still, it is a fast and fun read, and fans of the writer will likely enjoy it as a change of pace from her more typical fare. Mildly recommended.
--GFT (Amazon reviewer)--
Rating: 2
Summary: A letdown
Comment: The scientist Thomas Betterton, a brilliant young American who developed the ZE Fission technology that can be very important for modern warfare, has disappeared suddenly out of England. Has he been kidnapped or did he depart out of free will to work for the enemy? If Betterton's wife asks for permission to leave the country for a relaxing trip to Morocco, she gets followed by security agent Jessop. It all turns bad when her plane crashes on its way to Cassablanca. Nevertheless she succeeds in continuing her trip, but is not fully aware into which beehive she stumbles.
First of all it must be stated clearly that this is not a detective story, but an atempt at an espionage novel. When Agatha published Destination Unknown in 1954, Ian Flemming had just created his famous James Bond character in the novel Casino Royale. Although Agatha clearly has the intention of making the plot flamboyant and bursting with action, she never succeeds in coming close to the fantastic plots that Flemming created. It is clear that the specialty of the Queen of Crime lies in the typical whodunit with Poirot and Marple as the key-characters and not in novels of espionage. The plot of Destination Unknown is straightforward and, although some admirable attempts were made to surprise the reader, lacks the level of suspense that normally characterizes this type of thriller.
This book certainly does not belong to Agatha Christie's highlights. But then again, it is still remarkable that seen the enormous size of her oeuvre, she only wrote but a few really bad books.
Rating: 3
Summary: Satisfying thriller
Comment: I'm not much of a fan of the thriller genre - there's usually so much detailed intrigue that I can't even keep up with what's happening, let alone figure out what's really going on. So hooray for Agatha Christie! Her thrillers are plot-focused (rather than designed to show off how clever she thinks she is), admirably economical, and contain some really appealing characters.
Hilary Craven is a woman who has lost her husband and child, and is seeking escape by travelling to Morocco. But once there, she discovers that her problems are within her - that there is no escape. She decides to end her life, but is interrupted by the practical Mr Jessop. Jessop has previously been encountered investigating the disappearance of Thomas Betterton, another brilliant scientist who has vanished without a trace. He suggests that if Hilary is so bent on death, she could make herself useful to him while she seeks it. Deciding that she's up to the challenge and convinced that death is what she really wants, Hilary impersonates the wife of Thomas Betterton and heads off into the unknown. She waits for Mrs Betterton's mysterious allies to contact her and take her to join her "husband", knowing she will be beyond help if her ruse is discovered. And once she is contacted, then the fun really begins.
Is there a happy ending? ... Hilary is a great character, the mystery she gets caught up in is a satisfying one, and as with all Christie novels, there is a great sense of era as the concerns and foibles of the 1950s (when this book was written) are brought to life.
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Title: Death Comes As the End by Agatha Christie ISBN: 0312981619 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 15 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Three Blind Mice by Agatha Christie ISBN: 0312979762 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 14 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie ISBN: 0312979746 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 14 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie ISBN: 0312981716 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 15 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie ISBN: 0312981708 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 20 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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