The Retaliators

Matt Helm, Book 17

By: Donald Hamilton

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Matt Helm is unexpectedly rich, and he doesn’t like it. Twenty thousand mysterious dollars appear in his bank account, but this is no time for celebration. Another secret agent with an unexplained surplus is murdered, and Helm figures he better work out who his “benefactor” is before he becomes the next target.

©2019 Donald Hamilton (P)2019 Skyboat Media, Inc.

Good fun as usual

Donald’s fertile imagination gives us another entertaining story. It’s a formula but it works which is more than one can say for the lame and goofy garbage thrust upon us as contemporary or modern fiction. Enjoy the relief from failures to be creative.

Viva la revolución!

We find Mr. Helm at his bank in Santa Fe withdrawing around $8K to purchase a four-wheeled drive vehicle (SUV) in preparation for the upcoming hunting season. The teller was busy updating his passbook since Helm hadn’t been in Santa Fe for over a year. The passbook returned, Helm notices an extra $20K he had no notion of depositing. Calling Mac, he finds that another $20K had been deposited to his Washington account. Mac played along alerting Helm that their internal security (BIS) was on to this and looking for him. A female driver, Clarissa O’Hearn picked him up saying his hotel was monitored. Her brother Jack, another operator, was also being framed in the same way. Helm picked up his new SUV, or carryall as he called it, heading out of Santa Fe with Clarissa in tow. A BIS agent was also in tow, who Helm trapped, questioned, discovering that Jack had been killed by the BIS, and took along with Clarissa as hostage number two, heading to Mexico where he released the man. So much for the setup of the story. As the story progresses, it is clear that the BIS intends to kill Helm. He was sent south to put the touch on an enemy agent but things have become much more complicated. Something odd is going on in Baja, perhaps connected with the BIS problem, and Helm needs to figure out what it is, preferably before he’s dead. A revolution?

Solid continuation of the Matt Helm series

Enjoyed this book as much as most of the series. If your working through the series, you won't be disappointed by this entry.

oh his gets the girl

always gets the girl and gets in trouble with all. but yet does not learn his lessons.