Product Description

A story of flying, drug smuggling and murder in the 1920s. Pilot Philip Stenning crashes his aircraft while flying from London to Devon. He is rescued by escaped prisoner Denis Compton, who claims he was sent to prison for embezzlement after being framed by his half-brother, Italian baron Rodrigo Mattani. Owing Compton his life, Stenning agrees to investigate Mattani's illegal activities.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #373336 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 246 pages

About the Author
Nevil Shute Norway worked as an aeronautical engineer at Vickers before setting up his own airship company. He served in both world wars and was a commander in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in World War II, working on secret projects. He flew his own aircraft to Australia to research On the Beach, before settling there permanently. His books are based on his own wartime and aircraft industry experiences.

Customer Reviews

Shute's first published novel
This was the first of Shute's books to be published - in 1926. The hero is called Philip Stenning and flies for the Rawdon Air Taxi Service, run by a chap called Morris. You'd be forgiven to mix up the earlier Shute novels, as they seem to have a limited number of names going round in various permutations!
It is clear this is an early work. It lacks the beautiful craftsmanship of the later works, where not a word seems out of place and the story can drag your heart along effortlessly. It is a combined flying and detective story, with a minimum of romance; it is faintly reminiscent of a good Eric Ambler, in the gradual fleshing out of the individual by his actions, and his way of talking; but it is totally Shute in its humanity, its occasional glimpse of a sense of decency, and its language and conveying emotions with a short sparse sentence. He uses the tiny details so well, to fill out the personality, to give the feel of emotions with the barest touch. He is an artist, and a thoroughly English writer (I mean this as a compliment, of course!). There is a glimpse of the darkness of young men coming out of the war and feeling at a loss: Stenning in the beginning is well on the way to being an alcoholic. "Dawn.... the hour when one sees things as they really are. I don't count myself as a coward, but I have always been afraid of the dawn." But Stenning finds a purpose, and thereby the story hangs.
It may be an early work, but it is a very satisfying book. Don't start with this one, if you don't know Shute at all (you might start with 'Town like Alice', or 'Round the bend'); but if you know and like Shute, don't overlook these early books. They repay the effort!

Marazan
This book writes about a world that no longer exists. Nevertheless it's very interesting, well written - especially when one considers that it was Nevil Shute's first book

Nevil Shute's first published book
This was the first of Shute's books to be published - in 1926. The hero is called Philip Stenning and flies for the Rawdon Air Taxi Service, run by a chap called Morris. You'd be forgiven to mix up the earlier Shute novels, as they seem to have a limited number of names going round in various permutations!
It is clear this is an early work. It lacks the beautiful craftsmanship of the later works, where not a word seems out of place and the story can drag your heart along effortlessly. It is a combined flying and detective story, with a minimum of romance; it is faintly reminiscent of a good Eric Ambler, in the gradual fleshing out of the individual by his actions, and his way of talking; but it is totally Shute in its humanity, its occasional glimpse of a sense of decency, and its language and conveying emotions with a short sparse sentence. He uses the tiny details so well, to fill out the personality, to give the feel of emotions with the barest touch. He is an artist, and a thoroughly English writer (I mean this as a compliment, of course!). There is a glimpse of the darkness of young men coming out of the war and feeling at a loss: Stenning in the beginning is well on the way to being an alcoholic. "Dawn.... the hour when one sees things as they really are. I don't count myself as a coward, but I have always been afraid of the dawn." But Stenning finds a purpose, and thereby the story hangs.
It may be an early work, but it is a very satisfying book. Don't start with this one, if you don't know Shute at all (you might start with 'Town like Alice', or 'Round the bend'); but if you know and like Shute, don't overlook these early books. They repay the effort!