Levkas Man [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Hammond Innes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1972

The strange love-hate relationship between a young man and the anthropologist who adopted him starts in Amsterdam and moves swiftly to Malta and the isles of Greece.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 571 pages
• Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print (October 1972)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0854561471
• ISBN-13: 978-0854561476
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,610,137 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Man the Killer, October 29, 2002

By 

Toby (Deal, Kent) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Levkas Man (Paperback)

Hammond Innes has written some great books and some average ones, but Levkas Man is his masterpiece. It is a superb, unusually dark, adventure story about the hunt for the remains of primitive man by two rival scientists. That in itself is exciting, but it is the characters that make this book. The way the modern cast display the same, primeval emotions of ancient humans is brilliantly done, and, although entertaining, this is a bitter tale of how individual people don't change any more than the human race as a whole.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dark and disturbing Innes, April 14, 2010

By 

H. Jin (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Levkas Man (Paperback)

As the other reviewer noted, 'Levkas Man' is considerably darker and more downbeat than other Innes novels, even allowing that Innes' later books were all pretty serious in tone. For starters, unlike Innes' usual Everyman heroes, Paul Van Der Voort is a rebellious and quite unlikeable protagonist who begins the story on the run after killing another man. It is more his desperation to flee the country that leads him to Greece rather than any genuine concern for his father. Elsewhere, though, the characterisation is typical Innes; Pieter Van Der Voort is the enigmatic obsessive who drags the protagonist into the story, Holroyd is a well-drawn antagonist who stops short of being a true villain, and when you read that Sonia Winters "looks just like a boy", you know in an instant she's the heroine and love interest.

The character study of Pieter Van Der Voort and his radical evolutionary theory is set against the backdrop of Cold War tensions, with Pieter's former Communist sympathies raising eyebrows in Greece. Paul soon finds himself drawn into the investigation, with everyone from scientific colleagues to Greek authorities determined to uncover Pieter's intentions. The pursuit of Pieter and the savage, violent climax re-inforce the obvious message of the novel: despite millenia of "civilisation", Man is still beholden to his primitive hunt-and-kill urges.

As usual, the description of the Greece and the islands is detailed, and based on personal journeys Innes himself made. I was particularly intrigued by the academic conflict that forms the basis of the story, and as a scientist myself I am well aware of how ego, personal conflict, and politics can corrupt scientific truth. Typically, Innes refuses to settle for easy answers here; Holroyd is a blustering egomaniac, but he does have a point. If you're going to fabricate your results and sell your scientific soul to Russia, then Western scientists will regard your claims with deep suspicion.

The ending is quite downbeat and disturbing as mentioned, although given Paul's circumstances as a criminal on the run, you know that a happy-ever-after ending is unlikely. Nevertheless, this is an excellent book that proves once again Innes is not your typical thriller writer. A quite unique and individual book, and one of his best.