5 replies to this topic

[chrisno1]

Does anyone remember this "secret agent" - I use the term with some reservation - who appeared in a short series of novels post Bond in the sixties.
I first saw them advertised at the back of the Pan edition of Mayo's Let Sleeping Girls Lie and have tracked them down on line.
They are a bit odd to say the least, though not unenjoyable for all that. I'll post a review in the near future.

Hugo Baron - A Man-about-Danger - How like Bond and just as good - Hugo Baron: ex-barister, lover of danger, Bond-style agent operating on both sides of the law.

[chrisno1]

DIECAST
1964

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John Michael Brett wrote three thrillers featuring the freelance agent Hugo Baron. This is the first.

A barrister by trade, who writes a weekly satirical column on the legal profession for a magazine, Baron is sucked into the world of Paul Lorenz, a millionaire newspaper magnate, whose empire has allowed him access to politicians and power brokers. Sound familiar, Mr. Murdoch? Anyway, Lorenz believes staunchly in the freedom of the individual, not in an anarchistic fashion, but more akin to a human rights activist. He is equally abhorrent of supposed democratic administrations that oppress their people as he is of fascist or communist states.

Lorenz has formed an informal peace-through-violence organisation called DIECAST, the Disorganisation of International Espionage and Counter Activities for Stability and Trust.

Say what? I hear you cry!

Slightly preposterous acronym, but I have to give Brett marks for a great title to his novel.

Anyway, Baron gets embroiled in a blackmail plot fostered by Lorenz’s illegitimate daughter, Paulette, who is under the influence of Section CX of the Russian Secret Service. It’s very concise and involves infidelity, some snappish violence, a bout of animalistic sex and a couple of surprising narrative twists. There is even an inventive and tense torture scene at the novel’s end.

The hero, Hugo Baron, is a cynical, philandering, all-action man. Boxer, swimmer, gambler, bon viveur, well traveller tourist, master of several languages, you name it, blah blah blah. He’s interesting in a sort of Philip Marlowe way, unraveling the plot more by luck and intuition than genuine guile. His investigations tend to veer off at startling tangents, particularly in regard to society and ideology. Thankfully he steers clear of religion.

The women are all beautiful, from the teenage innocent Paulette, through Lorenz’s prick-tease wife, Lydia – the most obvious romantic foil, but not used as such – and on to the tragic Adele.

Paul Lorenz is a stout, almost demonic head of DIECAST, a rougher, uncompromising version of M, if you like. There’s a great early scene where he bets Baron £1000 on the cut of a card, the forfeit for Baron being he must willingly become Lorenz slave for a month.
There’s a sense of wicked purpose to Lorenz as he tries to discover the man beneath the skin of Hugo Baron. Equally, Baron wants to uncover the myth behind the man. Baron, naturally wins, but as I said, its luck.

The bad guy is a hulking French Communist Roche and he finally materializes in time to deliver a suspenseful final quarter.

DIECAST is a fun novel. It’s short, takes a while to get going and has some good moments of dialogue. The action, until the end, is a bit shallow, but there’s plenty of London atmosphere and a fair stab at humour. It’ll never trouble the literary elite, but I rather liked it.

Edited by chrisno1, 07 June 2011 - 01:42 PM.

[Brisco]

DIECAST
1964

John Michael Brett wrote three thrillers featuring the freelance agent Hugo Baron. This is the first.

A barrister by trade, who writes a weekly satirical column on the legal profession for a magazine, Baron is sucked into the world of Paul Lorenz, a millionaire newspaper magnate, whose empire has allowed him access to politicians and power brokers. Sound familiar, Mr. Murdoch? Anyway, Lorenz believes staunchly in the freedom of the individual, not in an anarchistic fashion, but more akin to a human rights activist. He is equally abhorrent of supposed democratic administrations that oppress their people as he is of fascist or communist states.

Lorenz has formed an informal peace-through-violence organisation called DIECAST, the Disorganisation of International Espionage and Counter Activities for Stability and Trust.

Say what? I hear you cry!

Slightly preposterous acronym, but I have to give Brett marks for a great title to his novel.

Anyway, Baron gets involved in a blackmail plot involving Lorenz’s illegitimate daughter, Paulette, who is under the influence of Section CX of the Russian Secret Service. It’s a very story and involves infidelity, some snappish violence, a bout of animalistic sex and a couple of surprising narrative twists. There is even an inventive and tense torture scene at the novel’s end.

The hero, Hugo Baron, is a cynical, philandering, all-action man. Boxer, swimmer, gambler, bon viveur, well traveller tourist, master of several languages, you name it, blah blah blah. He’s interesting in a sort of Philip Marlowe way, unraveling the plot more by luck and intuition than genuine guile. His investigations tend to veer off at startling tangents, particularly in regard to society and ideology. Thankfully he steers clear of religion.

The women are all beautiful, from the teenage innocent Paulette, through Lorenz’s prick-tease wife, Lydia – the most obvious romantic foil, but not used as such – and on to the tragic Adele.

Paul Lorenz is a stout, almost demonic head of DIECAST, a rougher, uncompromising version of M, if you like. There’s a great early scene where he bets Baron £1000 on the cut of a card, the forfeit for Baron being he must willingly become Lorenz slave for a month.
There’s a sense of wicked purpose to Lorenz as he tries to discover the man beneath the skin of Hugo Baron. Equally, Baron wants to uncover the myth behind the man. Baron, naturally wins, but as I said, its luck.

The bad guy is a hulking French Communist Roche and he finally materializes in time to deliver a suspenseful final quarter.

DIECAST is a fun novel. It’s short, takes a while to get going and has some good moments of dialogue. The action, until the end, is a bit shallow, but there’s plenty of London atmosphere and a fair stab at humour. It’ll never trouble the literary elite, but I rather liked it.

Thanks for the review! Sounds very interesting. I'd never heard of this series. Here's some more information about it on a really good literary spy website:
http://www.spyguysan...Name=Baron_Hugo

[chrisno1]

A PLAGUE OF DRAGONS
1965

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The second Hugo Baron novel takes him into the more exotic climes of Cairo and Kenya. Not that this is a recipe for anything other than the prerequisite blood and gore. A PLAGUE OF DRAGONS is much more violent than DIECAST but the author seems to have forgotten his plot and the action exists solely to give Hugo Baron a hard time.

Paul Lorenz, head of Diecast, that strange international espionage outfit introduced in the first novel, sends his new top agent on a foray to Egypt. Baron is to investigate a Chinese Trade Delegation, who Lorenz believes are perpetrating some world threatening business involving rats and the code word ‘nyr’. Sure enough, it turns out the Chinese are developing a serum that will over time ensure all ethnic strains are wiped out. Quite how this helps Communist China gain a commercial and political foothold in Africa or anywhere else, I failed to garner. The plot is the most unlikely thing about this novel.

More pleasing is the very sexy heroine, Mei Lee, who is also the story’s sacrificial lamb, and a pot-bellied accomplice called Peterson who provides some much needed humour amongst all the serious stuff of which there is plenty.

The bad guy is called Dr Kwang. Not a great name, but he’s a dab hand at psychological torture, which when coupled to his impotence and sado-masochistic leanings, makes Dr Kwang a worthy adversary. His torture of Baron in the basement of the Chinese Embassy is the novel’s highlight. Sadly it comes very early in the proceedings. Later events shift to Kenya and here the story follows more traditional lines as Baron drives around the bush in pursuit of or running away from Dr Kwang and his goons. A couple of fights, some gun battles and some energetic sex make this a fairly rewarding adventure.

There are negatives: first, the will-they- won’t-they flirtation between Baron and his boss’ predator wife Lydia, a tiresome ménages which the book can do without; and second, the undercurrent of racism which permeates throughout. Not only are the Chinese perfecting their version of the Nazi’s ethnic breeding campaign, the Lebensborn, but Baron offers a rather simplistic view of foreign cultures. His assertion that there are only three races, white, black and Mongol, isn’t the sort of writing you could get away with in the present day. Peterson is dismissive of the Chinese and there’s even a reference to the corruptibility of the Dutch.

Set beside the equally outdated politicking one can only interpret A PLAGUE OF DRAGONS as a novel of its time. The action is good enough, but it can’t mask the distasteful nature of the main plot, which rather claws at the throat. Great title though.

[chrisno1]

A CARGO OF SPENT EVIL
1966

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Another great title, but, boy, is this book a mess. John Michael Brett’s final installment of three adventures featuring Hugo Baron sees the danger lover off to Germany to investigate a group of Neo-Nazis, called the Hintermanner.

Brett sets the early tempo really well. Uncertain of the group’s aims, Hugo Baron has to bluff his way through a dinner party at Schloss Witzenburg held by Karl Knopfer, millionaire pimp and collector of human skin. I kid you not. Knopfer’s collection even has a precious leather bound file containing the tattooed dermis of concentration camp victims.

Sadly Brett doesn’t really explore this angle much, despite Baron recognizing a specific tattoo, an identification number which has significance to his past. The author is much more concerned with the turgid plot, which has Baron escorting three Nazi fugitives from South America to Cairo via Ireland, while still finding time to fall for Knopfer’s mistress, the beautiful nymphomaniac whore Ilse.

A CARGO OF SPENT EVIL is over talky and lacks a cohesive structure. The narrative isn’t helped by having an interlude in England where Paul Lorenz, the head of Diecast and Baron’s boss, reveals he has been secretly funding the Hintermanner in an attempt to uncover their Nazi sympathies. Baron is now in the perfect position to do just that – all for increased newspaper sales, naturally.

Lorenz’s wife is absent for this one and instead his niece Paulette reappears. She has clearly been taking lessons from her stepmother on the art of flirting. Her character is less the prudent teenager and much more the spoilt bitch. So affecting is her behaviour that Baron takes an instant dislike to her boyfriend, an enmity which eventually jeopardises the mission.

None-the-less among the improbabilities are a few tantalising scenes to keep the reader hooked. Chief among them is a chilling torture scene in the castle dungeon which sets the hair crawling. There’s also an extended tension builder as Baron learns he has been shackled to an explosive wrist watch, primed to detonate if he betrays the Nazis. I also enjoyed a sexy seduction scene which takes place in a bathroom.

But these moments of skillful storytelling can’t make up for the dire plotting which is absent of even a worthy climax. The novel peters out badly and is resolved over a couple of brandies in Lorenz’s office. The author has lost all interest in his hero, his heroine and his villain – the more interesting Knopfer is sidelined in favour of the dullard Blatt – and subsequently there is little to hold the reader’s attention

So Hugo Baron’s adventures come to a premature end. I don’t know why the series finished, but judging from A CARGO OF SPENT EVIL, John Michael Brett (a pseudonym for war veteran and author Michael Tipps) had rather tired of his central protagonist, who here resembles an upper class misogynistic prodigal as opposed to the educated, sophisticated but daring barrister of DIECAST. That can’t be good for a long series of novels. Here and in the other two novels are some great scenarios, but there is not quite enough to sustain a dedicated readership. Hugo Baron’s adventures are fun, but slight.

Edited by chrisno1, 11 June 2011 - 07:54 PM.

[MkB]

Thanks for the reviews! This is totally new to me.