Quiller Balalaika (Otto Penzler Books) [Hardcover]

Adam Hall (Author)

Book Description

Series: Otto Penzler Books | Publication Date: November 16, 2003

It's Quiller's most dangerous mission yet, and is also his last for the British intelligence agency so secret that it has no name. No matter that its orders originate at the Prime Minister level; if detected, it would be denied at that and every other level of the government. Quiller's orders this time take the pseudonymous operative to post–Cold War Russia to infiltrate the powerful and omnipresent mafiya that controls every sector and ruble of the country's fragile economy. More ruthless than the Sicilian brotherhood and as conscienceless as the Colombian drug cartels, the mafiya owns top politicians, judges, generals, bankers, and the police. Those it doesn't own it can buy, and those it doesn't choose to buy, it eliminates. Chief among the lawless mafiya lords stands a criminally brilliant British national, whom the agency wants taken out of play. Quiller learns that the one man who can help him achieve his goal is impounded in Gulank, the most infamous of all the gulags. Quiller must sneak his way into Gulank, and from a gulag that no prisoner has ever escaped, rescue the only person who can save his last, internationally vital mission.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

First published in the U.K. in 1995, shortly after the pseudonymous Hall's death from cancer, the 19th book about the British secret agent known only as Quiller, set in Boris Yeltsin's Russia, contains the same reliably exciting mixture of the exotic, the erotic and especially the dangerous as its best-selling predecessors. Hall was a smooth and accomplished craftsman who could set up an action scene with a few deft strokes and then pay it off without a wasted word. Authors of some of today's bloated thrillers could learn a lot from this book's opening pages, as an extremely reluctant Quiller finds himself being coerced into taking on a British-born criminal, Basil Seckes (aka Vasyl Sakkas), who has risen to head up the Russian mafia. Slipping into a notorious Siberian labor camp to rescue the one person with the key to a mission code-named Balalaika provides Quiller's ultimate challenge. Wonderful touches abound, from fighting techniques and the internal politics of Quiller's ultrasecret outfit to the way a small mistake (using a literal Russian translation of an American phrase, "Don't miss this great opportunity") puts Quiller in great peril. Eight years doesn't seem like such a long time, but this last Quiller outing sadly reminds us of how far we've come from a golden age of adventure fiction.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The detritus of the cold war in the former Soviet Union comprises self-serving bureaucracies, opportunistic ex-KGBers, and organized criminals who make their U.S. mafioso counterparts seem like mischievous delinquents. Into the mix drops pseudonymous Brit agent Quiller, with the intent of taking out a British national--Basil Seckes, aka Vasyl Sakkas--who is secretly heading up the burgeoning Russian criminal empire. To bring down Sakkas' empire, Quiller needs the help of one Marius Antonov, currently residing in a Gulag prison. Freeing Antonov entails Quiller making his way into the prison and then escaping with his target, no small feat because the prison is virtually escape proof. Author Hall, whose real name was Elleston Trevor, died in 1995. This is the first U.S. publication of the last Quiller novel, which appeared elsewhere in 1996. The book is a typically atmospheric, exciting Quiller adventure. The author's son and daughter provide moving codas describing their father's courageous battle with cancer and his determination to finish one last novel for his many fans. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf (November 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786712651
• ISBN-13: 978-0786712656
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,073,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For Quiller fans, a powerful, must-have finish, November 10, 2003

By 

Tom Bittman (Sandy Hook, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quiller Balalaika (Otto Penzler Books) (Hardcover)

While not his best Quiller novel, this final book in the 19-novel series carries a tremendous power that is unique in the series. The reader knows that this is the last book - both for Quiller and Mr. Trevor. Throughout the book there are references and comments that are clearly "final" messages from the author to his readers. Elleston Trevor put a bit of his soul on paper, and the book's intensity is that much higher for it. I couldn't put the book down - not just because of the story, but because of the author's story. I have to admit, I didn't want the book to end - and the end was a bit of a surprise to me. A great read, and I look forward to reading the entire series again. Hats off to you, Elleston Trevor. Signal ends.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE END OF A LITERARY LEGEND!!!, April 28, 2004

By 

Wayne C. Rogers (Las Vegas, Nevada United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Quiller Balalaika (Otto Penzler Books) (Hardcover)

I read the QUILLER MEMORANDUM in the fall of 1969, during my freshman year in college and was introduced to a British agent who traveled to dangerous, exotic locales and put his life on the line time and time again, using only his mind and martial art skills to complete the mission and then return home safely. This was an agent who dared to let the reader into his mind and see just how human he really was, and how the stress of the job affected his solitary life. This was a spy who was totally different from the other fictional characters of the Sixties such as James Bond, Sam Durrell, and Matt Helm. This was someone I could actually identify with, feeling the fear and pressure of each assignment, not knowing if you would die some terrible death in a foreign land, or be coming back alive. Needless to say, I became a die-hard fan of Quiller and his author, Adam Hall (a.k.a. Elleston Trevor) and would diligently search out any Quiller novels over the next thirty years. Finding a book by Adam Hall was always a true gift of the spirit. It wasn't until I finally purchased a computer three years ago that I found out the author had died of cancer in 1995, just as he finished QUILLER BALALAIKA, the last novel in an utterly fantastic series. Though the book was immediately published in England after Mr. Trevor's death, it would be eight years before it saw publication in the United States. While not considered the best in the "Quiller" series, this novel is the last, and that makes QUILLER BALALAIKA very, very special. In this story, our famous secret agent is sent to Russia on what is basically a suicide mission. He knows it, as does the head of British Intelligence. Quiller is given the absolute best team to work with (Ferris and Croder) and then told to go to Moscow, infiltrate the Russian Mafia, and take out its leader, Vasyl Sakkas. Sakkas is about to bring down Boris Yeltsin and his Russian government, and this will have an astronomical affect on the rest of the world. To get close to Sakkas, Quiller will have to place his life on the line and hope there's a way out once the dirty deed is done. There are some truly excellent scenes in the book that stay in the reader's mind long after the novel has been finished. In one, Quiller finds himself in a room with three professional killers and realizes that he will have to take each of them out in hand-to-hand combat at the same time, or die. In another scene, to stay alive and escape the wrath of Sakkas' men, Quiller must navigate his way across the snow-covered roofs of several buildings during the night, trying not to fall as he jumps from one to another. The final scenes in the book do feel rushed and probably were since the author was dictating the last chapters to his son just before he died. Still, QUILLER BALALAIKA is an excellent read with the last page leaving the reader filled with a deep sense of sadness, knowing that there won't be any more missions for our British agent. Elleston Trevor was indeed a true master of the written word, and he is sorely missed by all of his fans. Wherever you are, Mr. Trevor, I bow my head in gratitude.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trevor's last and one of his best, January 15, 2004

By 

Alan Wolff "knightswhosayni" (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Quiller Balalaika (Otto Penzler Books) (Hardcover)

The last pages of this final Quiller novel were dictated to Trevor's son as the author was dying of cancer (you will want tissues ready whilst reading the afterwords by the author's wife and son--well, for goodness sake, what would you expect?). While this novel will have sentimental value for his fans, it stands on its own as one of the best novels of the series. In this final book, Quiller moves from one Red Sector to another with the skills of the top Executive we have come to know and love reading about. Trevor pulled out the stops for this last novel, engaging favorites from the series--Croder and Ferris, for example--and using them in ways that are simultaneously familiar and subtly different than in previous novels. Quiller has also clearly matured with his creator. At the plot level, the novel excels, and will not fail to keep even new Quiller readers glued to the book. This is a final, wonderful act from a truly gifted author and a deeply interesting character, the likes of which we may not see again. Send a rose to Trevor's wife, Chaille.