Classic Action Thriller: Desmond Bagley was only 59 when he passed away in 1983. Trained as a journalist, his lucid writing and meticulous research made his action novels best-sellers in the twenty years after 1963. Readers that like Hammond Innes and Victor Canning will like Bagley.
Landslide - Desmond Bagley
Bob Boyd wakes up after a car accident in 1957. He can’t remember anything personal. The little he is told indicates that he was hardly a model citizen. Boyd, whose cosmetic surgery gave him a new face, is keeping himself to himself, so to speak.
Luckily, he can remember knowledge and skill in his field of geology. So for the next 10 years he is able to make a living working temp consultant jobs in British Columbia in order to finance his solo trips into the Northwest Territory to go prospecting. Living on little money with few possessions has helped him forge an identity that readers like in an action hero: resourceful, disciplined, and confident.
In 1967, he returns to the little town of Fort Farrell, in northeastern British Columbia. It is located near the scene of the crash that caused his memory loss. Fort Farrell is run by the Matterson Corporation, founded by father Bull who provides guidance that can’t be ignored and managed day to day by his heir Howard. They hire our hero Boyd to survey a valley soon to be inundated by a new dam. The Matterson Corporation wants to make sure they are not covering any opportunities for mineral extraction.
The more Boyd finds out about the Matterson father and son, the less he likes them. He doesn’t cotton to the unjust way they run Fort Farrell. And he is troubled by their ruthless erasing of the memory of their business partner John Trinavant and his family who were killed in the crash that cost Boyd his memory.
Readers that like the age-old story in which a stranger comes to town and shakes things up in the name of fairness and keeping faith with the past will find much to like as Boyd gives a kick to the shaky foundations of the Matterson empire. Boyd strikes up an alliance with the comely Claire Trinavant, niece of nearly forgotten John, which is lucky since it gives Boyd a more plausible motive for shaking things up than truth and justice. Rich, attractive, kind, smart and liking the outdoor life – what more could a hero in an action novel ask of a romantic partner?
Don’t let the iffy plot device of amnesia put you off. I
assure the prospective reader that amnesia really works, unlike a coma, a bumbling
police chief or an Evil Twin. The plot twists unfold at a brisk pace. The
action is gripping. There are excellent surprises. This is not the best-known of
Bagley’s many novels but I think it is well-worth reading. And how often do we
read a thriller set in remote Canada?
Prize Winning Classic: The Moviegoer – Walker Percy
Classic Novella: Old Man – William Faulkner
Classic Epistolary Novel: Augustus – John Williams
Classic Comic Novel: Thank you, Jeeves – P.G. Wodehouse
Classic Short Stories: New York Stories – John O’Hara
Classic Air Pilot Memoir: Wind, Sand, and Stars - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Classic Set in the Big Apple: Manhattan Transfer – John Dos Passos
Classic 19th Century Novel: Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite – Anthony Trollope
Classic Police Procedural: Wolf to Slaughter – Ruth Rendell
Classic War Memoir: Flight to Arras - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Classic American Mystery: Might as Well Be Dead - Rex Stout
Classic Courtroom Drama: A Woman Named Anne – Henry Cecil
Classic Abandoned: Gravity’s Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon
Classic Set in France: Maigret’s Patience – Georges Simenon
Classic English Mystery: Hallowe’en Party – Agatha Christie
Classic Set in Ye Olde Teashoppe Englande: Road to Rhuine - Simon Troy
Classic Set in Working Class England: Living - Henry Green
Very Long Classic: Moment in Peking - Lin Yutang
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