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'A literate, exciting, knowledgeable adventure story - Desmond Bagley is incomparable.' SUNDAY MIRROR
'As long as meticulous craftsmanship and honest entertainment are valued, and as long as action, authenticity, and expertise still make up the strong framework of the good adventure/thriller, Desmond Bagley's books will surely be read.' REGINALD HILL, Twentieth Century Crime and Mystery Writers
'Bagley is a master storyteller.' DAILY MIRROR
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.Product Description
Ex-MI6 spy Alan Stewart is coerced by his former masters to undertake a very simple mission – to deliver a small parcel to a man in Iceland. But he has been double crossed…
It all began with a simple errand - a parcel to deliver. But to Alan Stewart, standing on a deserted road in Iceland, with a murdered man at his feet, it looked anything but simple.
The desolate terrain, some of the world's most dramatic scenery, is obstacle enough. But when Stewart realizes he has been double-crossed, and that the opposition he has met so far is only the beginning of his problems, his simple mission seems impossible…
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'Running Blind' is a book for anyone who has even a passing interested in the international struggles of the Cold War in the 60's/70's and is a well researched insight into the underworld of secret and double agents. The book has a confident, well thought out plot and there are enough twists, without entering into the heavy text of spy's coming in from cold places, to keep the reader guessing to the last page.
Alan Stewart (the central character) is from Scotland and as a land owner and ex-special agent is skilled with a rifle. Bagley, as in all his books, has researched his subjects fully. Few books cover the art of rifle shooting this accurately. You won't find any gun laden nymphomaniacs popping off police cars at a hundred yards with a .22 hand gun whilst running at full speed towards a speeding 4x4! Damn!
Stewarts past catches up with him in Scotland and, with Erin (his Icelandic Girlfriend), he is pursued through the hostile scenery of Iceland. Too many coincidences start Stewart questioning motives and the plot thickens when the Americans are added to an Anglo/Russian feud. The twisting plot keeps the reader glued from the first page and you just wish you had all day to read it - plug in the intravenous drip and get started!
Bagley writes so descriptively about Iceland that you feel you have lived there for ever. This book should be for sale in every Icelandic Tourist information office. 'Running Blind' is THE desert island book. For a young lad, as I was when I first read it, 'Running Blind' awakened me to the incredible possibilities that lay ahead in the world of good spy/action writing.
Read 'Running Blind' and then the rest...... Bagley wrote plenty.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I was so gripped by Bagley's novels I used to read them walking down the road. I was 12-13 years old at the time, so I'm not sure how well these would stand up to being read by an adult. And they are also somewhat dated, I'm sure, in the way Old Spice aftershave is. Nevertheless, within the confines of the genre, Bagley produced masterpieces and this is the one that stands out in my memory.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Desmond Bagley's 'Running Blind' is a very good, fast-paced crime/spy novel. His hero, Stewart, is a retired secret agent with a special attachment to Iceland.
Forcibly retired after making a fuss about a series of double-crosses in his previous assignment, Stewart retires to his family's ancestral lands in Scotland to make a quiet living with his deer herds.
However, when his Department finds itself with a manpower shortage, they approach Stewart to run a delivery errand on his adopted turf in Iceland - an errand which seems deceptively simple at first glance.
However, Stewart has powerful enemies, and not just among his own people. The infamous Kennikin of the KGB has his own, personal reasons for wanting Stewart stopped, and they don't have much to do with the packet that Stewart is carrying.
Set in the dramatic scenery of Iceland, with its wild countryside and peaceable, scattered population, Stewart's mission is complicated by the presence of his long-term girlfriend, Elin Ragnarsdottir, and his enigmatic chief, Slade.
Can he fulfill his mission without starting an international incident, and most importantly, will he want to?
This novel has a great plot, with an unusual setting and some very believable characters, and will keep you guessing right up until the last moment. Definitely a must for those moments in the departure lounge.
Forcibly retired after making a fuss about a series of double-crosses in his previous assignment, Stewart retires to his family's ancestral lands in Scotland to make a quiet living with his deer herds.
However, when his Department finds itself with a manpower shortage, they approach Stewart to run a delivery errand on his adopted turf in Iceland - an errand which seems deceptively simple at first glance.
However, Stewart has powerful enemies, and not just among his own people. The infamous Kennikin of the KGB has his own, personal reasons for wanting Stewart stopped, and they don't have much to do with the packet that Stewart is carrying.
Set in the dramatic scenery of Iceland, with its wild countryside and peaceable, scattered population, Stewart's mission is complicated by the presence of his long-term girlfriend, Elin Ragnarsdottir, and his enigmatic chief, Slade.
Can he fulfill his mission without starting an international incident, and most importantly, will he want to?
This novel has a great plot, with an unusual setting and some very believable characters, and will keep you guessing right up until the last moment. Definitely a must for those moments in the departure lounge.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Timeless Cold War classic
Ah - Desmond Bagley; a thriller writer par excellence from a bygone age when a reader could be kept enthralled without profanity-riddled dialogue and graphic descriptions of... Read more
Published 3 months ago by T
Fantastic Book, Fantastic Country
I first read this book in the 1970s and resolved to visit Iceland. Fortunately my wife and I agreed, so we took a long weekend break in 2000 which confirmed our resolve to try to... Read more
Published 18 months ago by E. A. Parr
Best spy novel by a master storyteller in an hugely unusual setting
As a young boy, I loved Desmond Bagley and Alistair McLean and Running Blind was the first great adult novel I read, the first and probably the greatest spy thriller I've read and... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Grant MacNeill
Dated? Perhaps but what a read!
Running Blind is one of my favourite Desmand Bagley novels, and I reckon I own all of them. I found it an absolutely captivating read, even the third or fourth time of reading it,... Read more
Published 22 months ago by skipper8361
Running Blind
I read this novel many years ago, but the 'family copy' was falling apart and so i was advised to seek a replacement through Amazon; it's a cracking read, very relevant story-line... Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2010 by Mr. P. Hume
Solid entertainment in an old fashioned style
Desmond Bagley knew how to construct a pacey thriller and this is one of his best. His set-ups are usually intriguing and the element of mystery set up in the first few pages keeps... Read more
Published on 28 Jun 2002 by bryn griffiths
MASTER OF THE FAST MOVING ADVENTURE STORY
Running Blind is one of those stories that keeps you on the edge of your seat from the very first page. Bagley certainly knew a thing or two about writing thrillers. Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2001
A realistic, well written thriller that's down to Earth
Desmond Bagley is a very eloquent writer, he has fluid smooth style and he doesn't waste book space over-describing things which don't need describing all that much. Read more
Published on 4 Dec 1999
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