Nick Allard, S.M.A.S.H.* - Printer’s Devil - by Bill Barclay

Nick Allard, S.M.A.S.H.* - Printer’s Devil - by Bill Barclay

English
Spy thriller
Vintage 1966
S.M.A.S.H.* = the Sick Man’s Antidote to Spy Heroics

Nick Allard is the top agent in Cell Six of British Security. Or, at least, that’s how his boss, and the ‘enemy’ secret services see him. In reality he is SMASH, the Sick Man’s Antidote to Spy Heroics; i.e. he’s a coward, lazy, prone to skive off and submit made up vague reports, and simply wait for the miscreants to give themselves away. Successful, so far.
But now he has to take over from Thorpe, one of his co-spies, who’s got ritually murdered. He was on the trail of a mole, a leak, someone who gives secrets to the Russians. When he dies, Thorpe held a copy of ‘Whoomf!’, a comic magazine, with the ‘Devil Rider’ as its main character, and Moody, Allard’s boss, suspects that the comic is part of the mystery.
Queue reluctant spy heroics (of some accidental kind), adultery (that’s where Allard is really good), and mystery, as the Devil Rider comes alive! And never mind the Lady in black…


Title: Nick Allard – The Printer’s Devil
Subtitle: SMASH – The Sick Man’s Antidote to Spy Heroics
Author: Bill Barclay (Michael Moorcock)
Publisher: Compact Books
Publication Date: 1966
Pages: 158
Format: Paperback
Topic: Spy Thriller
Topic: Humor