The Head: A Johnny Fedora Espionage Assignment

 The Head: A Johnny Fedora Espionage Assignment, Desmond Cory, 2022

 

Johnny Fedora is a resourceful secret agent for British Intelligence. This was back in the days when all that an agent could rely on was their own brain.

 

Part of a series, this novel has Johnny in a small village in Spain. One of the world's greatest sculptors has just finished a large stone statue. Broken into pieces, the statue is to be carried (by donkey) to the top of a local mountain, where it is to be re-assembled in time for a local religious festival. We're not talking Mt. Everest; the snow-covered mountain is about three thousand feet high.

 

The trek attracts an assorted group of helpers, including the village priest and mayor, a female Spanish film star and a London newspaperman. Johnny also goes along "just for the ride." It turns into a fiasco. The snow and extreme fog are constant. The groups get separated from each other. Getting lost on the mountain is easy. They have come all this way; do they continue to the top, or give up, and head back down the mountain? This turns into a story of survival, even for someone as experienced as Johnny. Does the statue get installed properly? Does everyone make it off the mountain alive?

 

Here is a really good story. It's also a really "quiet" story; there is no sex or violence. There is lots of good storytelling, and it is very much worth reading.

Height of Day

Height of Day, Desmond Cory, Amazon Digital Services, 2018

Set in 1950's Central Africa, Johnny Fedora is part of British Intelligence. He has hired a boat to search for a near-mythical white ape. He runs into an archaeological expedition looking for some specific ruins. They are going in the same general direction, so they hitch a ride on Johnny's boat.

As the days go on, it becomes clear that the expedition is not looking for ruins. Johnny is not really looking for a white ape, either. The words "Fourth Reich" are used. Johnny's real mission is to recover a mysterious object, wanted by the Nazis and British Intelligence, regardless of the cost.

Things get interesting when members of the expedition start dying. Can Johnny discover the real purpose of the expedition, and keep himself from becoming the next victim?

This book hearkens back to the days, before technology, when an intelligence agent used his wits to survive. It is very easy to read, has plenty of blood, and is very much recommended for all fans of spy novels.