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The Interlopers

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Matt Helm has another complicated mission. He is sent to Canada to help another government agent by replacing a murdered messenger. But wiley old Mac -- Matt's boss -- has a second and more dangerous mission. Matt has to eliminate a dangerous assassin before he can kill the President of the U.S. As usual, Hamilton delivers another action packed novel filled with intrique. Don't miss this book.

Matt Helm and James Bond have only two main traits in common. Each are government sanctioned assassins called a code name/number during business hours who bring hands-on violence to the table for the good of his country and both of their bosses have short names that begin with M (and in the case of Bond that is his boss's name).

Bond lives in London and motors around in an Aston-Martin in the line of duty, Helm drives a chitty chitty bang bang pickup with a camper and New Mexico is home. Fleming envisioned 007 on paper as resembling Hoagy Carmichael, while Eric is a skinny 6'4" beanpole, and is addressed as such by more than one of his foes. Bond's hobbies are drinking, smoking, gambling, high performance motorcars and womanizing, but our man Helm is a hunting fishing outdoorsman into photography, who coincidentally can womanize with the best of his counterparts across the pond in MI6. While Bond might travel in Old World style aboard the sleek Orient Express, Helm spends most of his time in THE INTERLOPERS in his truck with Hank, his new bird dog, and not some blonde babe with a rack that'd've incited envy in Jayne Mansfield. Don't think because Hamilton hasn't got the sex on the front burner it'll be a bland meal, he's brought the violence to a boil here. There's some serious bloodletting in this novel. Helm racks up a remarkable body count. Driving his nondescript vehicle along a convoluted courier route he spends some quality time aboard a ferry and has close encounters with the occasional ambuscade. The dog is as much a main character as any speaking member in the cast.

THE INTERLOPERS is unarguably among the two or three best books Hamilton wrote about Helm, the others being DEVASTATORS and TERMINATORS. This is a visceral thriller featuring the most likable sociopath in fiction at his most savage. Not even an OJ caliber challenger can best Eric when it comes to handling cutlery.