Innes, Michael - Operation Pax / The Paper Thunderbolt (1951)

Review by Nick Fuller

2/5

The object of Operation Pax is to sap the will-power and reduce populations to comatose vegetables, which is exactly the effect it has on the reader. After the bizarre but effective opening, involving the utterly contemptible conman Routh, it runs out of vim. The Oxford scenes are long-winded and singularly unamusing, populated by stereotypical dons and ghastly children of the sort that ought to be strangled at birth. When the action “shifts gear” into a more thrillerish line, the book becomes merely dull. Chases and abductions are inadequate compensation for an absence of detective interest and the irrelevance of Appleby. At the end, a rather surprising villain is revealed, surprising only because the book relies, as it should never do, on a single clue.

A combination of chase novel, spy thriller, and academic mystery (all author specialities). Wonderful backdrop provided by the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The chapter epigraphs are all from Milton, appropriately, as the villainous conspiracy is based in the village of Milton Porcorum and is Satanic in many senses. Nice involvement of parallel plots and coteries of characters: the sleazy but sympathetic little crook Routh, who starts this thing off, Appleby, his sister, middle European refugees, some eccentric dons (e.g., Dr Bultitude), and a troop of schoolboys; a really nasty villain called Squire, ubiquitous pursuers, and a very high-level scientific conspiracy against the human race. Like most of the author's stories, the events occur in a very short time frame. This is one of Innes's best books.

PS: Appleby has a much younger sister, Jane, who is an Oxford undergraduate -- first we ever heard of this! -- and plays a prominent role in this book. Note: Barzun and Taylor didn't like this book but to hell with them.

Wyatt James