Oh, what a sad day for this column, as the three titles below are the last of my Donald Hamilton novels from his Matt Helm series. I know there are places online from which I could acquire more, but I like to actually look at them before making the purchase. Or maybe some kind reader could send me some gratis. But enough yappin’ – let’s get down to brass tacks, since in this column we jump all over the place in Helm continuity.

THE BETRAYERS by Donald Hamilton – The great thing about Hamilton’s titles is that apply so well to the actual story; that includes 1966’s THE BETRAYERS, since Matt Helm is pretty much betrayed throughout the whole novel, this being number 10 in the series. It opens with Matt at the office going over the previous adventure in which he was paired up with a female agent. They pretended to be married and she got herself killed in the process. Matt wants to go on a vacation to Hawaii, and boss Mac begrudgingly lets him, knowing full well there is a mission there for Matt to handle. It seems one of Mac’s other agents – code name Monk – has been abusing his power and running a little fiefdom, helping the Chinese to create World War III. There is also the problem of a “sister-in-law” who tracks Matt down since he was left a considerable amount of money from his “wife.”

THE BETRAYERS has plenty of killing and some great double-crosses you won’t see coming. This is Hamilton at his best, when you are thrown from one idea to a twist you just did not expect. Unlike Ian Fleming, who sometimes was more concered with the food or location Bond was in, Hamilton is all about action and suspense.

THE INTIMIDATORS by Donald Hamilton – Read MURDERERS’ ROW before reading this 1974 entry, since a character from that book plays a very important role in this adventure. You can still enjoy THE INTIMIDATORS without it, but it will ruin huge plot points from ROW.

Here, Helm’s mission is a simple one: A Russian hitman has flown to Nassau for a job, and Helm is there to stop him. But that is really just a small part of the whole grand scheme. I can’t go into greater detail without spoiling it all, but I’ll say Helm has a few enemies himself and they want retribution. We are also told about a rich Texas oil man who has finagled his way to Mac, wishing to borrow Matt for his own search and rescue party. A few ships and planes have gone missing in the Bermuda Triangle, each carrying some wealthy and important people – namely the oil man’s fiancée and family.

THE INTIMIDATORS also finds the Helm books getting a bit thicker then usual as Hamilton just brims with more ideas. Before the next review, I would like to point something out: Matt Helm is 36 in DEATH OF A CITIZEN and he does age over the course of the books. But then it seems he enters the world all other secret-agent series go, with the never-aging spy. Helm’s age shows on the covers of THE BETRAYERS and THE INTIMIDATORS, but on the next one, he looks extremely young (just look how Michael Knight he appears below!). I know that’s nitpicking, but what made Helm so different is that he actually got older and wasn’t some invulnerable young hero.

THE VANISHERS by Donald Hamilton – With this 1986 installment being the 23rd in the series, I was a bit leery. I figured Hamilton probably ran out of steam and hit a point of making the stories totally unbelievable.

I was so wrong. This is Helm as he was in all the other books, cold-blooded and ruthless. As the title has it, this one deals with certain people who have gone missing with no explanation. With Mac putting himself up as bait, he wants Helm to look in on a wife of one of these vanished men. She might have been poisoned and is waiting in a hospital for him. Meanwhile, the agency undergoes a coup as a former enemy takes control and puts out an all-points search to liquidate Helm. Once Helm makes contact with the hospitalized woman, he is sent on a chase to his family’s home country in Europe. As it turns out, he’s just being used to figure out what is really going on at some secret building in Sweden.

I’ve stated this before, but it bears repeating: Hamilton is the spy master. He has such intricate ideas floating around, it’s just jaw-dropping. From the betrayals, an old-time shootout, some gore and the real reason of Mac’s disappearance, he knows how to push the readers’ buttons and I, for one, loved every page of it.

Why these books are still not in print amazes me, since they are not really dated and only very little real-world references are mentioned – what is is more political climate than pop culture. Come on, reissues! Please bring back Matt Helm. I’m talking to you, Hard Case Crime.

Next week, with two shots, you get eggroll. –Bruce Grossman

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MISS EARLIER INSTALLMENTS OF ‘BULLETS, BROADS, BLACKMAIL & BOMBS’? REGASM THESE:
• #11: Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
• #10: Spaghetti Westerns, Pulp-Style
• #9: Me Tarzan, You Remo
• #8: Spillane … ‘Nuff Said!
• #7: Still No Martini Drinkers Here

OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THESE AUTHORS:
• MURDERERS’ ROW by Donald Hamilton
• NIGHT WALKER by Donald Hamilton