Colonel Butler's Wolf

1973



When my wife brought me home several boxes from the science fiction section of an out-of-business bookstore, there were quite a few novels that had clearly been overflowed from other sections. I found a good number of books in the spy-action-mystery genre, written in the seventies through the nineties. I figured that when I had read them I would pass them along to my father, who is more interested in espionage and intrigue. That was over ten years ago, and this is one of the only book's I've gotten to so far.

A stand alone story which is part of a larger series, I was disappointed by the choppy flow of this book as well as having a hard time following the lingo and culture of early seventies Brits. Interesting main characters gave the book some color and interest, but rare and clipped bits of action were eclipsed by meetings among the characters that dragged on over the course of several chapters. I wanted to like this book, and wouldn't rule out giving Price another try, but can't say this was a good novel by any standards.

Photo Copyright © 2011 Rachel Day.
My favorite part of the book is a throwaway scene in which one of the main characters (Col. Butler, perhaps! I don't remember.) is snooping through a closed building at night and encounters a bad guy who has somehow gone and caught himself on fire. The flaming baddie charges the Colonel and his reaction is to be understandably startled and afraid. While his super-spy brain understands that he is being rushed by a man on fire, he still has a primal reaction of fear at the strange visage. The point is that he compares the man on fire to a demon from James Blish's novel Black Easter. Having just read Black Easter I was very tickled at understanding the arcane reference, and perhaps felt a bit self-congratulatory about my timeline reading clusters.

Anyway, I gave this book to my dad on his last visit to Colorado, and am still awaiting his review.

ADDENDUM: For a much more educated and in-depth review and interview of Anthony Price and his work, please see the blog from which I snagged the pic of the author here.