Customer Reviews

Flyaway

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

All most a poetic book, the story reflects the romanticism of a sandy desert. An engrossing story captures the imagination of the reader and sends him/her right into the wild, slow, serene yet harsh desert. Fast paced action starts from the first page in London spreads quickly to Sahara in search of a pre WW2 airplane with a hope of lost glory and comes back to London for the O'Henrian climax. The characters of the story are alive and easy to relate to and linger for a long time. One of the best and a must read. The best Bagley that I have read.

Well....I'd put it down to the most exilarating book i've read.....sends u travelling in ur seat and makes u love the desert.

love it for the feeling of "on the road" i get everytime i read it...

As with all of Desmond Bagley's books, this one has plenty of action and adventure, plenty of exotic locations that Bagley handles as if he'd lived there for his whole life, and interesting yet plausible characters handled deftly and smoothly; like almost all of his novels, this one also has a puzzle that keeps the reader guessing for the whole book. If there's a flaw with it at all, it's that he withholds a bit of the information that his main character has for just a chapter or two, so that the reader has no chance of solving the puzzle before the main character spells out the solution. But that's a small price to pay for this delightful book, and I highly recommend it as I do most of Bagley's ouvre.

Desmond Bagley comes up with yet another excellent and informative novel about an unhinged man going to the Sahara to find his father's plane. He worships his father yet wishes that he is dead so that his name remains clean. The security consultant of his company finds his disappearance from London fishy and investigates. An attack on him makes him even more determined to find Paul Billson, the missing man. Then Max Stafford, the security consultant follows Billson's trail all over north Africa with the help of a local Luke Bryne. The search becomes more and more dangerous as someone is hell bent on preventing the discovery of the plane. Finally the exciting finish in London where Max nails down the villain. A wonderful book as thrilling as it is informative. One of the best books I have read, and definitely a collector's item.

This book made me love Bagley, mystery, foreign locales and old-time aviation all at once. You gotta pick it up if you have any affinity for mystery thrillers, or good books in general

One of the very best books I've read!

"Flyaway" retraces the course of a pilot who disappeared while on a race over the Sahara Desert in the '30s. It's nearly 50 years later, and documents are found that suggest the disappearance might not have been accidental, and the family wants to find out the truth.

Bagley creates yet another reluctant hero eventually finds the missing pilot's airplane beautifully preserved in the dry desert air - and the unwanted attention of those who wish the disappearance to remain a mystery. All this after a captivating journey along desert caravan routes and some time-travel between "then" and "now."

It's a great story, well written .. what more can I say?

Britain's three classic thriller writers of this period: Maclean, Bagley, and Innes, all had distinct styles. Alistair Maclean's books were driven more by straight-out action, while Hammond Innes was far more focussed on characters and the surrounding environment. Desmond Bagley fell between the two; stronger characters and plot than Maclean but more action than Innes. His earlier books like 'The Golden Keel', 'Landslide', 'Running Blind' and 'Freedom Trap' were more in the Maclean mould, but some of his later works were much more descriptive and character driven, and closer in style to Hammond Innes. 'Flyaway' is a good example. Like Innes, the focus is squarely on the harsh-yet-seductive Saharan environment and the unusual characters that inhabit it. Like Innes, the journey sometimes feels more important and engaging than the destination. In fact, sometimes I had to re-check the title to remind myself it was Bagley and not Innes himself who wrote this.

When low-level "nobody" Paul Billson disappears, a routine investigation by security consultant Max Stafford soon turns up all manner of bizzare questions, revolving around the mysterious disappearance of Paul's air-ace father "Flyaway Peter" forty years ago. A combination of personal and professional curiosity eventually finds Stafford travelling through North Africa in search of Paul, who is also being pursued by those who are very keen that the secrets of Peter Billson's air crash never be revealed.

It's a very solid plot for a thriller, but as I say the focus is more on the journey than the destination. Bagley brings to life the desert surroundings and the people that inhabit them. In particular, Luke Byrne as the white man who has gone native is a fascinating character who remains enigmatic throughout the book. Billson himself is portrayed as weak, selfish, and impatient early on, but gradually grows and matures as the book progresses. Even minor characters such as Hesther are interesting in their own right, although the antagonists are pretty stock-standard Bad Guys.

The unravelling of the mystery, though, is a bit rushed and ham-fisted, coming in a few pages at the very end of the book. In an ironic twist, if the main antagonist hadn't been so concerned about keeping tabs on Paul Billson, he probably would have got away with his deception. The villain showing his hand, combined with obvious inconsistencies such as Billson's salary, were what drew Stafford (and hence Byrne) into the situation in the first place. If Billson had simply been left to go blundering impulsively into the desert on his own, he would never have found the aeroplane and almost certainly would have died. Problem solved.

That rushed ending is a bit of a let down after the slow, Innes-like build up, and it's a pity it couldn't have been handled better. But for the most part, `Flyaway' is very good, not just as an engaging thriller, but as a solid piece of descriptive writing.

Four stars.

I first read this book some 30 years ago. And in the last 4 or 5 years, I have re-read
it every summer and/or during the winter holidays - even when I have a choice of other books
to read! There is something about the setting, the characters, the plot and perhaps
Bagley's writing style that makes this book a great source of relaxation.

I used to borrow this book from my local library all these days. Looks like they finally
got rid of it by selling it as a old/used book! :-( I will now have to look for a copy of
my own on Amazon!

Btw, I found it somewhat intriguing that 3 out of the 7 reviews (and now, make it 4 out
of 8 reviews) are from readers of (East) Indian origin..

This review is for Audio Book only:
The Book is , as with all of Bagley, a great story.
The Reader is however, about as inept as anyone I have ever heard. My nine year old niece is much more fluent.
This man stumbles over words, slurs the delivery and is generally difficult to listen to.
Read the book yourself, by all means.

I don't keep or re-read many of the paperbacks that I buy, but I've owned a copy of this one for years. I've loaned it to several friends, and each one loved it. It's one of the greatest adventure stories ever.

If you decide to get it, do an image search on 'Haggar Mountains' to get an idea of what the author is describing.