Customer Reviews

The Double Image

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Helen Mac Innes (1907-1984), an American writer born in Scotland has been described as "queen of spy-story writers" by Time, is a favorite of mine. She has been a favorite writer of Alistair MacLean too.

Helen MacInnes specialising in spy/espionage stories, mostly on WW-II sceneario,has written over 20 books, each one being a gem .

Her very first book,Above Suspicion(1941) was a bestseller followed by many other best sellers including;Decision at Delphi, Message from Malaga, Venetian Affair, and Salzburg Connection which was also made into a 1972 movie.

Helen MacInnes writes most credible stories, and creates most credible,humane characters...no outlandish Ludlum type scenarios, no superhuman characters like James Bond. Reading Helen, one can feel that any one of us can be in similar situation. The Hero's only qualifications are; he is an intelligent and resourceful person with a presence of mind, and has a sense of duty to the country/society. Most of her stories are spy stories in which a common man, accidentally/inadvertently gets caught in a tangle of international espionage and intrigue. Using his own wits and common sense the Hero gets himself out of the situations and in the process thwarts the enemy plans too. The stories have an under current of a subtle romance and love too, which not only embellishes the story but also provides much needed relief to the reader from the tension which readers feel while reading mystery-suspense books.

Helen writes beautifully,her description of people,places,and situations is so lucid and picturesque that a reader feels like being in a movie hall watching it all.

Double Image is one of her best books. John Craig, an American, economic historian while vacationing in Paris,bumps into his old college professor of Archaeology, Mr.Sussman. Sussman , a survivor of Auschwiz, is in a shock having been accosted by an ex-Nazi official,( who has since been declared as a war criminal )on streets of Paris whereas officially has been declared dead over 10 years ago! Craig teels about the experience to his sister, who blurts it out at a party. Next day Sussman is dead, and Police start questioning Craig, French Intelligence Suerete steps in,...the nightmare starts!.

Soon French,Italian,British and American intelligence step in because the man who accosted Sussman is not just an ex-nazi, but much more than that!

The scene shifts to Greek Islands, more people get killed, intelligence agents and the enemy agents try outwit each other, intense struggles and interesting chases.

The story is very interesting and well written, taut, racy and fast paced. I cant reveal Revealing anything more will take away the pleasure of reading. I want all the readers interested in spy thrillers to read this book. In my opinion, its one of best books of this genre, and highly recommended for a dull weekend.

The Double Image is MacInnes's best novel. The romantic plot and the thriller plot are not just tied together -- they drive each other at just the right moments. As with her other best work, the point of view of the story mainly lies with amateurs who have been sucked up into the world of espionage. The difference between this and some of her lesser works is mainly just perfection of style and execution. In any collection of anything, one member of the collection has to be the best. For MacInnes, this one is it.

This is one of Helen MacInnes' two best novels. It is set in Paris and the island of Mykonos. The plot is excellent and the romance that is in almost all her novels is well woven into the plot. The story is dated, as are all her novels (She died in 1985), but the writing is excellent and the description of the locations where her story takes place makes the book worth the price. I have been to Mykonos and Ephesus and it make it more fun to find her locations. It's worth reading.

Read this book on vacation last year. I thought it was an excellent novel. I had not a read a novel by Ms. MacInnes since I was a young teenager in late 1970s. Excellent story that holds up well. I actually read Fleming's goldfinger on the same vacation. It seemed much more dated than double image. Ms. MacInnes does a great job of giving an authentic descriptions of the settings. Her books are nice mix between Alan Furst and Ian Fleming- more of a thriller than a Furst novel but more cerebral than Fleming.