The Freedom Trap - Desmond Bagley
Action thriller by the classic adventure writer set in Malta.
The Scarperers, a brilliantly organised gang which gets long-term inmates out of prison, spring a notorious Russian double agent. The trail leads Owen Stannard to Malta, and to the suave killer masterminding the gang. Face to face at last with his opponents, Stannard must try to outwit both men ￢ﾀﾓ who have nothing to lose and everything to gain by his death￢ﾀﾦ
Review by Goodreads user Geoff Boxell:
Another re-read of a book from a book fair: I got this one in the early 80s.
I was born, and lived in till I came to NZ in 1969, in a house in Earlsfield, London that backed onto the railway. We were in the Wandle Valley and up the top of the East Hill was Wandsworth Prison. Many times an escaping prisoner used the railway cutting then embankment as part of his escape route. It could be quite exciting at times with the hue and cry in full song. So, I gained an interest in prison escapes and that is a large part of this tale.
My father had close contacts with the staff at Wandsworth Prison and when the Great Train Robbers made their break he brought home inside information on how they made their break, and it was not via the railway lines! Later the spy, Blake, also made it clean away in another escape that obviously involved a well organised gang. Following on from this the Government of the day called on a review of prison security by Earl Mountbatten. This enquiry is the inspiration, to a degree, for this book. The author would have wondered how such escapes could be run.
The main man is recruited by a mysterious contact to take part in a diamond robbery, He gets away with the swag and passes it on, only to be shopped and ending up as a high risk prisoner on a 20 year stretch. Can he get out? Ah, yes, that is what the story is about: escape.
This is a good read and has a twist or three to it
Vintage paperback
Condition: Fair
