The Lonely Skier (alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi 1947; vuoden 2016 painos)

Hammond Innes' breakthrough novel captures the fears and uncertainty of the immediate postwar years. It also highlights the opportunities that someone like its protagonist, Neil Blair, could see right over the horizon. Until then, however, former Nazi agents, would-be mafiosos, filmmakers poised between the bright lights of the cinema and the twilight of former espionage careers, and vengeful courtesans make for an intimate group of plotters seeking to uncover a wartime cache of Nazi gold.

It's all just as wonderful as it sounds. Clearly influenced by Eric Ambler, here, Innes creates a claustrophobic setting amidst the rugged landscape of the Italian Dolomites. Avalanches, blizzards, and the cold check the aspirations of everyone at every turn. Already, Innes has begun to incorporate the formula that would generate so much success in subsequent books--a not too out of the ordinary man suddenly taken from his gentle surroundings and made to face the scheming of deadly enemies and the fierceness of natural forces.

A few minor flaws: in places the story is repetitive, even the very same words and sentences reappearing just a few pages later in the telling of things. And Innes, early on, had an obsession with his characters "slithering" and "whilsting" through their adventures. Otherwise, The Lonely Skier is a nicely plotted story, whose pace increases almost as quickly as the accumulation of snow and ice that traps the visitors in the remote mountain hut that holds all that gold. ( )

The Lonely Skier - Hammond Innes ****

My first book by this author but it definitely won't be my last.

Neil Blair is offered a job by his old commanding offer in post war Britain. He is to report back on the goings on at a desolate Italian ski lodge whilst under the guise of a scriptwriter.

Little does he realise he is being asked to spy on a group of people who have direct links the Nazi in wartime and are all on the hunt for some hidden Nazi gold. We encounter a hot-tempered Italian Comtessa, a racketeering pimp, and a Greek criminal.

The book runs very smoothly (mainly due to few characters) and unfolds as a mystery/action adventure, not dissimilar to Alistair Maclean in terms of style. When the action comes it is thick and fast. I think I will be looking out for a few more of Innes books. ( )

Adventure and intrigue concerning a Nazi treasure in the Italian Alps just after World War II