Written by Rich Rogers
“Death of a Citizen.” Donald Hamilton. 1960, reprint 2013. Titan Books. Paperback. 240 pages. $7.99.
5 stars
It’s time to celebrate — Matt Helm is back in print! If you love great action/adventure/spy novels, Helm is the guy for you. And if you have memories of those terrible movies starring Dean Martin as a drunk, singing secret agent, please don’t hold those against the books. They are universes apart. The only things they have in common are the titles and the names of characters.
“Death of a Citizen” was supposed to be a one-off novel from Swedish-born writer Donald Hamilton. Hamilton had been writing detective, spy, and Western novels since 1947, as well as stories for magazines such as Collier’s and the Saturday Evening Post, and pieces for several outdoor magazines. His editor at Fawcett Gold Crest Books (they were also home to Travis McGee and Sam Durell, and a host of other spy and mystery titles and characters) spotted the possibility for a series in Helm (many assume, and I can’t say one way or the other, that the editor saw him as a gritty and tough American antidote for the elegance of James Bond), and convinced Hamilton to create one.
From that point on, other than a few Western short stories (Hamilton was also a member of the Western Writers of America), one standalone novel, “The Mona Intercept,” and a collection of travel writings, Helm was Hamiltion’s life — 27 novels worth, and one unfinished at the time of his death in 2006. With the series being republished, there is some hope for “The Dominators” to finally see the light of day. The publisher, Titan Books, currently has 12 of the series in print, with others planned for release in 2015.
The story begins with Helm, a World War II veteran, now a family man and journalist, at a party some 15 years after the end of the war. A woman, Tina, whom he recognizes from his military days, enters and gives him the high sign to be ready for something. When he finds a dead woman in his bathtub (another guest at the party), his old instincts kick in.
In that moment, the citizen, Matthew Helm, dies, and the wartime agent/assassin code named “Eric” is reborn. The international game of cat-and-mouse is still in full cry 15 years later, perhaps even more so with the Cold War. Before long, Helm’s daughter is kidnapped to force him to do dirty work for people he doesn’t like, much less trust. Though a bit rusty after a few years of non-use, Helm’s wartime skills serve him well, and his daughter is returned unharmed. In the process, his wife discovers the truth of his wartime service, and it’s too much for her. Cast adrift, Helm is again working for that gray man, Mac, in his gray office and back in the fold of the no-frills, low-budget government agency he worked for in World War II.
Hamilton’s writing is tough, gritty, and tense, tight as a guitar string, echoing the noir novels of Dashiell Hammett. Helm is more at home in the outdoors, a reflection of Hamilton’s love of hunting and fishing (Hamilton wrote from a studio behind his home in Santa Fe, N.M.) There are no exotic destinations; Helm isn’t in an upscale hotel, but a low-rent apartment with a beat-up car or out in the open. The locales range from the Sangre Cristo Mountains of New Mexico to the Florida Everglades, from Hamilton’s home country of Sweden to the Alaskan wilderness.
As a character, Helm is tough and good at his job, which is counter-assassination, i.e., killing the bad guys from the other side before they kill someone on our side. He’s cynical, but there is something of a knight errant peaking through at times. He also has a wry sense of humor. As a character, he knows about the “James Bond” movies, and at one point in the series makes a sardonic comment about what people expect from a government agent after having seen too many movies. He’s a nasty customer, but when the chips are down, he’s the kind of nasty you want on your side. He’s good with a pistol, a rifle, or knife, and realizes there are people on the other side just as good as he is.
If you’re hungering for great, exciting, tense spy novels, which were described by the late Tom Clancy as “a real world with a real character,” this is for you. You’ll be coming back time and again for one of the toughest agents ever.
Rich welcomes questions and comments from readers. You can reach him at [email protected]
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