Three months after the imprint’s launch, Ostara Publishing has issued four more titles in their print-on-demand Top Notch Thrillers series which “aims to revive great British thrillers which do not deserve to be forgotten.”
The new titles, originally published in Britain between 1962 and 1970, were selected by crime writer and critic Mike Ripley, who acts as Series Editor for Top Notch Thrillers. "When first published," he said, "these titles were all best-sellers and their authors are among the most respected names in thriller fiction. Many readers will welcome these novels back almost as old friends and hopefully a new generation of readers will discover them for the first time."
At present, these books do not seem to be available in the US but may be ordered directly from the publisher or from Amazon.co.uk.
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The Ninth Directive by Adam Hall
Originally published in 1966, 2nd in series
"At this time, when the whole of the South-east Asian picture is confused and threatening, Her Majesty's Government consider it highly desirable that a goodwill mission is undertaken by someone who is neither a statesman nor a diplomat but who commands international respect and admiration, particularly in Thailand. Thus in three weeks' time a representative of the Queen is to visit Bangkok on a goodwill tour." With careful precision he said: "During the visit we want you to arrange for his assassination."
Quiller, the meticulous, ice-cold, taut-as-a-spring super agent is in Thailand planning an assassination - in order to prevent one. He knows his opponent is as ruthlessly professional as he is and he also knows to trust no one.
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The Tale of the Lazy Dog by Alan Williams
Originally published in 1970, Non-series
With friends like these ...
Murray cut him short: "All right, I’ll take your word for it. But for a moment you had me worried. I thought it was you who’d killed Finalyson." Pol sat back with his champagne and chuckled playfully. "Oh but it was, my dear Murray. Or rather, I had him killed. It was the only way." Murray closed his eyes. It was not easy to lose one’s temper with a man while you drank his champagne. Especially when he also had a gun.
The Tale of the Lazy Dog assembles a pirate's crew of rogues, mercenaries and undercover agents, throws them into the world's hottest hot spot -- South East Asia during the Vietnam War -- and then tempts them to pull off the heist of the century.
The prize: one and a half billion dollars in US currency.
What could possibly go wrong?
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A Flock of Ships by Brian Callison
Originally published in 1970, Author's first book, Non-series
1941: As part of a small Allied convoy, the British freighter M.V. Cyclops races through the South Atlantic with a cargo of secrets. One of the convoy is torpedoed and sunk ... a mysterious distress call is received from another ship ... the Radio Officer disappears ... and then Cyclops seems to open fire on her sister ship.
Gradually the convoy is pushed westward, further and further away from its South African destination – and safety. Could it be that something is actually shepherding this tiny flock of ships towards the waiting U-boats?
The Devil doesn’t really exist – not in the South Atlantic. Does he?
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Time Is an Ambush by Francis Clifford
Originally published in 1962, Non-series
In a quiet Spanish town near Barcelona, the innocent Englishman abroad Stephen Tyler is trying to pursue his career as a novelist and scriptwriter when he stumbles into a relationship with visiting German couple, Erich and Ilsa Scheele. Tyler’s growing attraction towards Scheele’s wife, though, soon proves dangerous, especially when the German’s body is washed up on the beach, for this is Franco’s Spain in the early 1960s, where suspicion runs deep but the scars of the Civil War are even deeper.
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