The Quiller Novels

[ripper]

Between 1965 and 1996, Elleston Trevor wrote 19 novels under the name Adam Hall featuring his character, Quiller, a British intelligence operative, who worked for the "Bureau." The novels are:

The Berlin Memorandum (1965)
The Ninth Directive (1966)
The Striker Portfolio (1968)
The Warsaw Document (1971)
The Tango Briefing (1973)
The Mandarin Cypher (1975)
The Kobra Manifesto (1976)
The Sinkiang Executive (1978)
The Scorpion Signal (1979)
The Pekin Target (1981)
Quiller/Northlight (1985)
Quiller's Run (1988)
Quiller KGB (1989)
Quiller Barracuda (1990)
Quiller Bamboo (1991)
Quiller Solitaire (1992)
Quiller Meridian (1993)
Quiller Salamander (1994)
Quiller Balalaika (1996)

There was also a short story titled Last Rites, written in 1986.

The stories are written in the first-person and follow Quiller from initial briefing of his mission to the end of the mission. These are not Executioner-style men's adventure books. There is a fair bit of action, but also a considerable amount of introspection. They are closer to Fleming than Le Carre, though I would personally rate the Quiller novels as being better than the Bond novels of Fleming. You really get to know how Quiller is feeling: his fears and anger that the Bureau could cast him adrift at any time if it suited them are an important thread in the novels. In fact, in one mission the Bureau rigs a car bomb to kill Quiller in the middle of a mission when he becomes expendable.

All the novels are recommended if you like taut, suspenseful thrillers, with believable plots and action. Oh, and one thing more, Quiller never carries a gun, preferring to rely on his considerable self-defence skills.

The film, The Quiller Memorandum, starring George Segal, was based on the first Quiller novel , The Berlin Memorandum, and filmed in 1966. There was also a short-lived BBC series produced in 1975 called Quiller and featured Michael Jayston as the titular character.

[andydecker]

May 6, 2013 12:45:57 GMT ripper said:

Between 1965 and 1996, Elleston Trevor wrote 19 novels under the name Adam Hall featuring his character, Quiller, a British intelligence operative, who worked for the "Bureau." The novels are:

The Berlin Memorandum (1965)
The Ninth Directive (1966)
The Striker Portfolio (1968)
The Warsaw Document (1971)
The Tango Briefing (1973)
The Mandarin Cypher (1975)
The Kobra Manifesto (1976)
The Sinkiang Executive (1978)
The Scorpion Signal (1979)
The Pekin Target (1981)
Quiller/Northlight (1985)
Quiller's Run (1988)
Quiller KGB (1989)
Quiller Barracuda (1990)
Quiller Bamboo (1991)
Quiller Solitaire (1992)
Quiller Meridian (1993)
Quiller Salamander (1994)
Quiller Balalaika (1996)

There was also a short story titled Last Rites, written in 1986.

The stories are written in the first-person and follow Quiller from initial briefing of his mission to the end of the mission. These are not Executioner-style men's adventure books. There is a fair bit of action, but also a considerable amount of introspection. They are closer to Fleming than Le Carre, though I would personally rate the Quiller novels as being better than the Bond novels of Fleming. You really get to know how Quiller is feeling: his fears and anger that the Bureau could cast him adrift at any time if it suited them are an important thread in the novels. In fact, in one mission the Bureau rigs a car bomb to kill Quiller in the middle of a mission when he becomes expendable.

All the novels are recommended if you like taut, suspenseful thrillers, with believable plots and action. Oh, and one thing more, Quiller never carries a gun, preferring to rely on his considerable self-defence skills.

The film, The Quiller Memorandum, starring George Segal, was based on the first Quiller novel , The Berlin Memorandum, and filmed in 1966. There was also a short-lived BBC series produced in 1975 called Quiller and featured Michael Jayston as the titular character.

I never could get into Quiller, I had a problem with the writing style, couldn't just finish the novels I tried. Of course they were more literary then, say, Ted Allebury whom I liked a lot.  I remember the movie which became a little bit infamous in Germany as the distributor changed the Nazi-angle into a murky non-political conspiracy in the dubbing. 1966 really was another time, concerning these things.

[ripper]

Hi Andy, could I ask which novel or novels you tried? I like all of them, though I do prefer the later ones, from Tango Briefing onwards. There is a quirk in the writing that Trevor uses rather regularly, which irks some people, though I don't mind it speaking personally. Chapters often end on a dramatic note and the beginning of the next chapter then will occur some time later, and you only gradually learn how Quiller managed to get out of the situation. I've heard some people say that this is an annoyance, though I don't mind it too much. I like the Bond books, but Quiller's adventures engage me much more. In Trevor's novels there are no super villans trying to take over the world, and it's pretty rare for Quiller to stay in expensive hotels or bed beautiful, exotic women. Quiller's world is one of betrayal; he can trust no-one, not even the Bureau if it suits them. I also like the tradecraft that Trevor describes so well: tagging people or losing a tag for example. My favourite novel is Quiller Balalaika. It was my first exposure to Quiller, though the last in the series, finished only days before the author's death.

I have seen the film and liked it a fair bit, but have not managed to see any of the BBC series from 1975. Michael Jayston is an actor I like and it would be very interesting to see how he portrayed Quiller.

[andydecker]

May 8, 2013 11:22:34 GMT ripper said:

Hi Andy, could I ask which novel or novels you tried? I like all of them, though I do prefer the later ones, from Tango Briefing onwards. There is a quirk in the writing that Trevor uses rather regularly, which irks some people, though I don't mind it speaking personally. Chapters often end on a dramatic note and the beginning of the next chapter then will occur some time later, and you only gradually learn how Quiller managed to get out of the situation. I've heard some people say that this is an annoyance, though I don't mind it too much. I like the Bond books, but Quiller's adventures engage me much more.

I really don't know any longer. Back then all novels were newly translated and I got the whole package for free. They just couldn't grab me. I think I sampled some of them, earlier and later books. This was somewhere at the begining of the 90s, so memories are kind of vague.