Books like The Trojan Horse

This very early Hammond Innes book is contemporary with Eric Ambler's first novels. And it seems influenced by the success Ambler had already garnered. The meticulous plotting and the crescendo of the chase all can be found in Ambler's novels of the 1930s and 1940s. As well is Innes' focus on a nondescript, ordinary protagonist swept up into a fantastic spy story by accident, a signature of Ambler's writing.At the same time, The Trojan Horse carries the hallmarks of what will come to distinguish and set apart Innes' stories over his lengthy career. In particular, there is the chase through the London sewers that Andrew Kilmartin undertakes while attempting to escape Nazi agents. In book after book, Innes employs the imagery of a sole individual cast into danger and darkness, with nothing but his innate wits to save him. Here, that darkness is literal, as Kilmartin sloshes through the rat infested maze of London sewers until emerging into the oily cold of the Thames. Tested to his limits, he finds new strength in his own surprising accomplishments.If there is one letdown in this novel, it is with the revelation of the puppet master behind the German spy ring. That comes quite awkwardly about midway through and lacks the satisfaction of allowing the reader to piece the clues together along with Kilmartin. The leader just suddenly comes out of the blue to lead his henchmen in the quest to rob Britain of vital wartime secrets.The book seems to have been written as well as set during the Phony War, that period of time between the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 and the German invasion of France on May 10, 1940. Only Poland is mentioned as having fallen to the Nazis. Otherwise, the Western front still seems intact behind the Maginot Line. Innes shows that he is learning quite well with this book. The 27 year-old author would live to be 84 years old, writing novels almost until the end. They would mostly deliver a better overall read than The Trojan Horse. But this one is not too bad, either.