Somewhat less interesting than most Shutes, for me. Our Hero is...I don't know, a little vague? He has quirks rather than motivations, and is willing (eager) to throw his life, or at least his reputation, away helping the others. The reasons given don't ring true, to me. The story is a bunch of random events with Complex Secrets underlying them - which neither we nor Our Hero know until very late in the book, so there's a lot of confusion on both sides. A lot of convenient allies, ditto skills...It's not bad for a thriller, I just expect more of Shute. Oh, looking at other reviews - this was his _first_ book. That makes a lot of sense. ( )

Apparently, this is the first book Nevil Shute wrote. In his introduction, he mentions that he had to write it through three times. It seems pretty similar to vintage Shute, which means that it's a GoodRead, well worth one's time. It has many elements one finds in later Shute books, airplanes, small sailing vessels in the English Channel, and romance that progresses as two people slowly develop a friendship while they are working together to address a problem. It's at once calming and deeply engaging.

In this book, we have an airplane pilot who is a bit wild outside his flying, but quite competent within the flying. He has a crash because his plane was turned around too quickly, and the engine blew out on him. An escaped convict from Dartmoor saves his life. As a consequence, he becomes involved in saving the convict. It seems that the convict has an Italian half brother who is smuggling drugs into England, and the convict has escaped to try to stop the smuggling. After all, in England one doesn't do such things as smuggle drugs. The escaped con also has a female cousin who isn't all that much of a looker, but who is a competent, independent young woman. So naturally, while the pilot works to save the convict, by helping to bring the half brother to justice, he also falls for the cousin, because, after all, looks become ever so much more enchanting once wit and intelligence have had their chance to beguile the senses.

This is really a fun story. Perhaps not my favorite of Shute's works, but I've yet to find a dog among them. Why didn't I discover Nevil Shute earlier? ( )

Philip Stenning makes a living as a charter pilot in England after the Great War. The company he works for pushes the pilots and the planes to their utmost limits, with little to no turnaround time to allow engines to cool and pilots to rest. On one such precarious job, Stenning crash lands in a field and nearly dies in the wreckage. His life is saved by Denis Compton, an escaped prisoner who is passing through the field. Stenning then becomes involved in Compton’s plans for his post-prison life, which consist of putting a stop to some illegal activities Compton came across (the perpetrators of which were instrumental in putting him in prison in the first place).

This was a thrilling book, although I totally got the time period wrong. Somehow I had it in my head that this was after the Second World War, but it is indeed set during the interwar years and an earlier age of flight. Aviation enthusiasts will love this book for the details about the planes and the flying manoeuvres, and those who like good old-fashioned smuggling yarns will enjoy the plot. There’s even a female character who is as resourceful as she’s allowed to be in 1920s society, which is pretty good! Another bonus is the key setting: Marazan is a sound in the Isles of Scilly, off the coast of Cornwall.

In the minus column, there are some awkward references to people from Italy and stereotypes of Chinese people in the drug trade, which is not unexpected in novels of this period; this book was first published in 1926.

Overall, I would recommend this book particularly as an escapist adventure for grownups who fondly remember the days of the Famous Five and the Hardy Boys, who always seemed to be unearthing smugglers. ( )

Written in 1925 so a bit dated now. Very "Biggles" and RAF "frightfully" but still a ripping good story, well written. ( )

Figured I'd give it a try since I liked "On the Beach" so much. Not nearly as good. ( )