Shenanigans in the Sahara…

Back in the early days of aviation, flyer Peter Bilson disappeared somewhere in North Africa while competing in a long-distance race. Neither he nor his plane were ever found, and his wife was eventually paid the large sum for which every competitor had been insured. Now, in the 1970s, Peter’s son, Paul Bilson, has also disappeared. Max Stafford, the narrator, owns the firm that provides security services for the company Paul worked for, and finds himself becoming interested in the reasons for Paul’s disappearance. When Paul’s half-sister tells him that Paul had become obsessed with finding his father’s plane, Stafford decides to follow Paul to Algeria. Stafford will soon find himself on a dangerous journey across the Sahara under the guidance of Luke Byrne, an American who has made his life among the Tuareg people. And it will soon become clear that there are men who don’t want Paul to find the wreck of the Flyaway, his father’s plane, and who will stop at nothing to prevent him...

I recently read a posthumous novel of Bagley’s, Domino Island, published just a couple of years ago from a manuscript found among Bagley’s papers and “curated” by Michael Davies, a self-confessed lifelong Bagley fan. Then Davies wrote a follow-up to Domino Island, Outback, using the same characters and sticking to Bagley’s style, but creating an entirely new story. I enjoyed both of these very much and decided it was time I finally read one of Bagley’s original novels. He was hugely popular in his time and still has a strong following among people who enjoy the action thriller genre. So I pulled on my flying helmet, adjusted my goggles and prepared for take-off…

The setting of the novel is its real strength. The desert world that Bagley shows us feels entirely authentic and, while the story stays with the Westerners, we get a real picture of how this region which seems so alien and inhospitable to us is home to many different peoples all with their own individual ways of life. Through Stafford, Bagley gives a vivid picture of the geography of the region and its inhabitants, especially the nomadic Tuareg and their reliance on camels as both a form of transport and a means of trade. Although Stafford is new to the desert, he is, like so many of the heroes of action thrillers, a military veteran and so has good survival skills, knowledge of guns and has kept himself fit. However he is completely reliant on Byrne for all the local knowledge he lacks, and especially for the skills of navigation and survival in this hostile terrain. Byrne is also a good man to have by his side when the baddies show up, since he too is a man of courage and handy with a gun or any other weapon that comes to hand. Byrne also knows about planes, having worked as a mechanic at an earlier point in his life. Again there is a lot of detail about the technical aspects of early flight, and of the challenges that early flyers faced. All this information is interesting and well-presented, but it slows the pace down and sometimes begins to feel rather more like a documentary than an adventure.

The characterisation is a mixed bag. Stafford and Byrne, the two main characters, are well-developed and likeable for the most part. (There’s one ugly scene early on where Stafford hits his wife, which sadly would not have been remarkable at the time – she “deserved” it – but which made it hard for me to go on seeing him as a hero. This is always an issue with action books of this era – the women are treated as secondary at best, and casual low-level violence towards them is not unusual.) The other characters are rather under-developed, to the extent that I kept having to remind myself who was who whenever they were mentioned. The hired baddies are straight out of central casting. Their motivation is that they are bad in exchange for money, and that’s about as deep as the characterisation of them gets. The real baddie who is behind all the mayhem is rather better fleshed out, though only in the latter stages. Female characters are few and far between and play no part in the action, which considering Bagley/Stafford’s attitude towards them is probably a good thing! Interestingly he completely avoids the other common issue in books of that era, racism, showing respect and admiration at all times for the people of the region* and their various cultures.

(*men of the region, that should be – not a single Arab woman gets so much as a passing mention, as far as I recall. It’s as if they don’t exist.)

The plot is intriguing, with the search for the missing plane and its pilot providing a steady, if slow-paced, stream of action, while the underlying question of why the baddies want to stop the plane being found provides both mystery and suspense. Happily the pace picks up towards the end, culminating in the expected thrilling climax and providing a satisfying conclusion to the story. So, despite the slow pace and the woman problem, I enjoyed it overall and will certainly look out for more of his books.

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A new author and genre for me

I wanted to listen to a book with more adventure than crime. This fitted the bill in spades. It gave a good insight into what life would have been like for desert peoples in the late 60's and into the 70's. I found myself Googling many of the descriptions of the clothing, weapons, saddles etc that are described/mentioned in the story. Paul Tyreman's narration is perfect for the story and it's easy to distinguish the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book and had to consciously stop myself from listening to it in one sitting. Sadly it shows a life that, I suspect, has all but disappeared as the march of time moves on leaving the listener wishing it hadn't. I suspect so many desert dwellers have swapped their camels for Landcruisers.

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I now miss the desert too

This has been the best Desmond Bagley book I've listened to. Proper fiction adventure book

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2 people found this helpful

Outstanding yarn, well read

This is a really good adventure/thriller. Running blind is my favourite bagley, and this one comes a close second. Narrator does it justice!

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3 people found this helpful

Great Story

I had forgotten how good Desmond Bagley was. Having read most of his books in the '70's, I had missed this one and thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters are well sketched and believable - especially if you imagine it written in the mid-1970's.

The story may seem a little far fetched but there have been stranger 'true stories'. The lost plane in the desert is a great thread and the search, hampered by villains, has lots of local colour. You can almost feel the sand under your feet and wind in your hair. Nice twist at the end too...

I love Bagley's eye for detail - rather like Fleming - it's not just a 'rifle' but an "early Lee Enfield .303". Shame he went on to describe 'detaching' the magazine to fill it, though, because you load a Lee Enfield with a clip from the top and not by the magazine. Never mind, the story was excellent.

The only downside was the narration which was a bit slow and ponderous.

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3 people found this helpful

Good solid adventure

Atmospheric and people driven story.
Took me back to.. long ago... reading and loving Running Blind.
Same feeling all these years later.

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2 people found this helpful

Wonderful adventure

What a pleasure to listen to.
A real unfolding adventure set in the marvellous surroundings of North Africa. How thrilling that the story should be based there. A really riveting listen

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Exactly what a great adventure story should be

I have come back to the Novels of Desmond Bagley after a gap of about 30 years and it is such a joy to rediscover just how well they are written. Flyaway, gives the reader a rich & vivid insight into life in the Sahara, clearly based on personal experience. If you have not read a Desmond Bagley novel, why not start with this one or "Night of Error" Both are somewhat "of their time" but mostly in a good way. Thoroughly recommended.

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2 people found this helpful

Excellent

An unusual story but one that seems completely credible. Bagley really does the hard yards when it comes to research. He must have spent months trawling the desert to bring this tale to life. Luke Byrne is a great character and so believable is he you know he must be based on a real person.
An excellent story.

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