The Devastators

Matt Helm, Book 9

By: Donald Hamilton

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

The Devastators is the ninth installment in Donald Hamilton's iconic and thrilling Matt Helm series, which has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.

On a bleak and lonely heath in Northern Scotland, the body of an agent sent to complete a tricky mission is recovered. He had died of bubonic plague. It's up to Matt Helm to take it from there. Somewhere among the desolate Scottish moors is a half-crazed scientific genius who could devastate entire populations with one hideous, raging plague. It is Helm's job to get him...with the help of a beautiful American operative who is supposed to be his wife and a beautiful Russian operative who makes it clear she is his deadly enemy.

©1965, 2014 Donald Hamilton (P)2015 Skyboat Media, Inc.

cold war at it's coldest

with the loss of the thresher and the scorpion nuclear subs, (did the Russians sink them? modern findings and under water photos say not),it's no wonder LBJ was reading Matt Helm!we had the big bangs with atom\hydrogen bombs,so the next weapon of mass death ,germ warfare! anyone with abrain had to be seriously concerned about this, especially since the children crossing the border from communist Vietnam were riddled with malaria, typhoid, and other life threatening illnesses,(LBJ Miller center phone calls recorded in real time make perfectly clear), nothing against people, but is open border policy really good and safe, for us, for the "immigrants" ,at least Johnson could give medical care to HUMAN BEINGS, instead of "undocumented immigrants "!! but now, no worries, give America to communist china, and for a profit!! Roosevelt wanted these people shot for economic sedition, but that's simply not profitable!!! i 💘 vadya and am so glad she returns, im sure she somehow escapes what's going to happen to her,and Helm made a mistake!!! she's his soul mate!! as usual am proud that the wrecking crew (Bloom, Rudnicki etc...)have done an outstanding job, yet again!! pip, pip, cheerio, old chap!!(quite contagious, don't you know?)

Best in series so far - interesting 2022 connections for mid sixties plot

It’s an interesting and weirdly modernly relevant plot now in 2022 for this late sixties novel.

Like the rest in this series it’s jam packed with weird misogyny and sexist stripes and comments.

So reading it requires something like putting on mental rubber gloves and sifting through the screwy perspectives of what it took to sell a popular hit man series 60-70 years ago.

The authors writing skills have improved and the sexist main character does grow and evolve in many areas even if he cannot grow to accept a woman wearing (sin of all sins) pants or worse tennis shoes instead of pumps when not on a tennis court.

At this point I am enjoying learning a bit about the growth in the writer’s craft even if the sexism is excessive.

This book adds in racism as well subjectively in the context of western powers fighting Russian Communists and Chinese Communist and in so doing does not ignore the racism in the west that the other two groups use to highlight hypocrisy.

All in all, it’s like an archaeology dig to read this and peaking back the onion find an average but realistic and modern plot with great ways of revealing that plot.

Words have changed meaning

Really enjoy the series, but the word rape have changed a lot in meaning since then, any way it can be replaced with something suitable to our time, like ravage?

Kinda the same, limited depth but kinda fun

Like most of the novels in this series, they are all the same and the main character is always landing on his feed with several girls in love with him lol

Compulsory copulation!

Helm is to enjoy an undercover marriage once again, on their honeymoon, under his real name. His blushing bride Claire, aka Winifred Helm (who picked that name?) is being shipped over from the Far East. Helm is taking over the mission of British agent Paul Buchanan, who was found dead on the shore near a small town called Ullapool in the north Highlands of Scotland. British reports say he died of “natural causes”. Helm is to make contact with a man which will then alert the enemy team(s) to his presence. Discovering the base of operations first, the leader named McGrow, second. Helm is to identify the target and Claire is to eliminate the target. The British are interested in this operation as well as the Russians. So much for the setup of the story. To continue the espionage in a normal manner, Winifred was kidnapped. A female enemy agent from prior dealings named Vadia showed up at the hotel bar. Madame Ling, of the Chinese Red variety, and an accomplice named Basil, are additional agents of note. Colonel Stark, of the British police, is another player. All coincidental no doubt. Dead bodies are left in Helm’s wake. Vadia and Helm head for Scotland. Everything revolves around the Black Death.

can't wait to read more

can't wait to read more The story goes on and hope this character and the author does a great job

Good just not as enthralling as some of the others

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

yes but i would suggest starting from the first book, This one is alot better if you "know" Matt.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

How unforgiving the situations are in these books. There's really no place for heart here. I loved it.

Which character – as performed by Stefan Rudnicki – was your favorite?

Matt. Always Matt. He's perfect.

Was The Devastators worth the listening time?

Absolutely. Its fast enough to keep you interested and get away from any dull parts quickly .

Any additional comments?

Not quite as captivating on the whole as some of the other stories but, it has some really amazing moments. It shines in its idiosyncrasies .

Matt Helm is

The Matt Helm character is an awful agent, and rude person. His only plans are to be caught, hoping not to be killed, and he’s full of BS with very little action.