Assignment Peking

Sam Durell #28

by Edward S. Aarons, Robert McGinnis (Illustrator)

Sam Durrell, alias Major Shan, finds himself stuck in a Chinese hellhole and his face physically altered when he is betrayed by someone he had trusted

Genres: Espionage

Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

AKA Paul Ayres, Edward Ronns.

Edward Sidney Aarons (September 11, 1916 - June 16, 1975) was an American writer, author of more than 80 novels from 1936 until 1962. One of these was under the pseudonym "Paul Ayres" (Dead Heat), and 30 were written using the name "Edward Ronns". He also wrote numerous articles for detective magazines such as Detective Story Magazine and Scarab.

Aarons was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and earned a degree in Literature and History from Columbia University. He worked at various jobs to put himself through college, including jobs as a newspaper reporter and fisherman. In 1933, he won a short story contest as a student. In World War II he was in the United States Coast Guard, joining after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. He finished his duty in 1945, having obtained the rank of Chief Petty Officer.

Reviews

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rogue agents in both China and the US decide to use Taiwan as a pawn to start a nuclear war between China and the United States. As a sort of reverse Manchurian Candidate, CIA agent Sam Durell undergoes plastic surgery in order to penetrate the inner ring of Peking's most powerful security agency. And to Aarons's credit, he creates enough of a sense of confusion and deception that the mystery of just who is behind these forces holds up until the very end of the story.

Aarons does display some slippage and sloppiness in the novel, however, particularly with the character of Jasmine Jones. A "California Chinese," Jasmine, who first appeared in the Sam Durell novel just before this one, Nuclear Nude, is brought into the mission and is to accompany Durell to China. The problem is that Jasmine only speaks Cantonese and is told to keep quiet during the trip. Yet just a few days later, Jasmine is in Peking with Durell and apparently speaking Mandarin to every Chinese she encounters. A bigger problem awaits at the end of the novel, where Jasmine sets off a bomb in Durell's hotel room. At that point, it appears that Dickinson MacFee, Durell's superior in the CIA is responsible, although it quickly becomes evident he wasn't--and is, therefore, not a traitor. The real traitors are soon uncovered but never the person responsible for the bomb in the hotel room. So, presumably, there is still left out there some unidentified foe lurking in the wings, ready to strike again.

Despite these flaws, the rest of the novel works well. All except for the reappearance of the whimpering Deirdre Padgett, Sam's one time girlfriend and now a fellow agent in the CIA. I've come to dislike Deidre more and more as the series goes forward. Socialite, fashion photographer turned CIA agent because . . . ? And she has been in the Assignment series since the first book. Always described the same, with Sam constantly ogling her figure and "raven black" hair, Deidre must be hitting 40 plus years old by now, as the first book was published in 1955 and this one in 1969. It gets tiring.

[John Peel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Normally I enjoy the Sam Durell books immensely, but this one was rather disappointing. Sam gets plastic surgery to become a double for enemy Chinese agent Major Shan, and it gets sillier from there. The plot is all over the place, with double-, triple-crosses and worse, so it's hard to keep track of which lies you're supposed to be following. Not entirely bad, but nowhere near as good as usual.

[David Frazier · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat rare for a 60s pulp fiction spy novel, it is set in Taiwan, with Sun Moon Lake, Taipei, and the Grand Hotel described in convincing detail. The China sections were most likely fabricated from magazine articles and guidebooks, as Westerners could not visit China at this time, so the feel for China is mostly wrong.

The plot--I'm not going to give you a spoiler--involves a KMT general that has gone missing in China. The question is: was he captured and tortured and did he reveal secrets? Or did he defect to the communists? Even more worrying, this question mark of a KMT general is linked to a larger plot that could launch nuclear war between the US and China, with hidden power brokers pulling the strings.

It's pacy action with plenty of sex and violence, great stuff for 14-year-olds in 1969 middle America. As one other reviewer put it, "if the characters are not made out of cardboard, they're pretty close to it." So its compulsive readable, and this was the reason for the success of Aarons' spy novels, but as a book, a story, or whatever, it is also pretty dumb. Reading these helps me realize why this kind of spy fiction only really ever works as blockbuster movies. Film has an ability that books do not: they can make you happily turn your brain off.

Still! I find it interesting that it provided a not wholly imagined window on a very foreign part of the world and its politics. The take on Taiwan and its political factions at that time is surprisingly believable.

[Bargle]

Not a true review, but something interesting I stumbled on. The cover illustration from this book has been used for the Kindle edition of "Secret Mission to Bangkok" by F. Van Wyck Mason. Check it out.

Secret Mission to Bangkok