Looking for a well-crafted light thriller? Booklist, in a retrospective of mystery writers, recommended Donald Hamilton as a writer who has been underated and forgotten in recent years. I happened to have an old copy lying around, and I agree with their positive assessment.Matt Helm, his hero, works for a shady government agency performing tasks that would never be officially sanctioned, e.g. assassinations, etc. There job is to keep track of bad guys taking them out when necessary.
Doug, another agent and old friend of Matt, is in jail for having some marihuana on his boat. Doug is ostensibly in retirement and close to death with assorted medical problems. Matt is asked to help Doug's daughter reconcile with her father. Together they watch as Doug blows up his boat after escaping from custody. Turns out the whole thing is a setup. Doug is hardly retired, and his daughter is suspected of being an agent for a nefaiours exposive expert who adopts aliases relating a religious theme, e.g. Aloysius Pastor. Alfred Minister, and Alan Priest.. Matt's job is to "succomb" to Amy's (Doug's daughter) blandishments in order to track down Alfred Minister who is suspected of wanted to destroy a disarmament conference.
The action becomes almost "Bondian" without the gimmicks as Matt proceeds to save the world from nuclear disaster while bedding the attractive opposition. Still, Hamilton has created a very likeable hero who understands that what he does is often amoral but contextual.
