Nicholas Whistler is a very unlucky young man, debt-ridden, and an easy target for someone who wants to recruit him for something illegal and dangerous in the Cold War 60s. But Nicholas has little choice in the matter and agrees to travel to Prague to fetch important state or technological secrets. The Night of Wencelas is non-stop adventure as his simple mission becomes life-threatening and he suddenly realizes what he has become involved with. No longer a tourist, he is now a hunted man in an enemy city and must find his way to the British Embassy to make his escape.
As I read the book I realized that Lionel Davidson had managed to work his magic twenty years after the book was written. I eagerly read the Rose of Tibet and the Menorah Men in quick succession. Though I enjoyed The Rose, it didn't quite have the same hold on me that Night of Wencelas had produced. Then I started on The Menorah Men. My eyes bugged. Wow! Talk about mind candy. I couldn't put it down.
Imagine what it would be like to be a young archaeologist who is sudeenly and unexpectedly recruited by the government of Israel to find a treasure that was thought to have been destroyed in Roman Times, but may still exist hidden somewhere in the Sinai. Young Casper Laing is intrigued, but unconvinced. He is even more hesitant when he realizes that Arabs from Jordan were also hot on the trail of the artifact. His partner in the search is a beautiful young Israeli soldier who has an archaeological background. She is also engaged to a Yemeni officer in the Israeli Army. Along the way, Laing is kidnapped, shot at, takes a prolonged bath in the Dead Sea and untilmately unlocks the code to where the true Menorah was hidden. He also wins the heart of his assistant. The history is so vivid and the codes so challenging that I was immediately convinced that this was the greatest treasure hunt novel ever written, better far than all of Indiana Jones' adventures. It also became the benchmark for my own novel, The Cellini Masterpiece, as I perfected it over the next two decades.
From his website I learned that he was born in Hull, Yorkshire. He left school early to become an office boy at The Spectator in London. Later he joined the Keystone Press Agency. In the Second World War he served with the Royal Naval Submarine Service. In 1946, he returned to the Keystone Press Agency. He travelled all over Europe as a reporter. On one of these trips he got the idea for his first thriller. His first book was a tremendous success and he gave up his job to become a full-time writer. It turtned out to be a good move. He has won the Gold Dagger three times: in 1960 for The Night of Wenceslas, in 1966 for A long way to Shiloh (US title The Menorah Men) and in 1978 for The Chelsea Murders (US title Murder Games)Davidson lived in Israel for a time and then returned to England. In 2001 he was awarded the Diamond Dagger. Davidson lives and works in London.
I have never had the pleasure or opportunity of meeting this giant in the mystery field, but I do hope I will. For all of you who haven't had the pleasure of reading his work, I invite you to find copies. You're in for a wonderful treat.
John Anderson is a fan of Mystery/Adventure/Suspense. The Cellini Masterpiece is set on the island of Malta and involves a secret dating to the mid 1500s. He welcomes all questions and comments and invites you to his website: http://www.cmasterpiece.com