t is autumn in the little Somerset town of Glastonbury. Lance Bradley is just beginning to feel that he is idling away his life there as usual when he receives a call for help from the eccentric sister of his old friend Rupert Alder. Inexplicably, Rupe has stopped sending the money that his dysfunctional siblings depend on. Reluctantly, Lance goes to London to learn what he can, only to find that his friend has vanished. Rupe's employers, the Eurybia Shipping Company, want him tried for fraud. A Japanese businessman called ...
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t is autumn in the little Somerset town of Glastonbury. Lance Bradley is just beginning to feel that he is idling away his life there as usual when he receives a call for help from the eccentric sister of his old friend Rupert Alder. Inexplicably, Rupe has stopped sending the money that his dysfunctional siblings depend on. Reluctantly, Lance goes to London to learn what he can, only to find that his friend has vanished. Rupe's employers, the Eurybia Shipping Company, want him tried for fraud. A Japanese businessman called Hashimoto claims he has stolen a document of huge importance. And a private detective is demanding money for trying to trace on Rupe's behalf an American called Townley, who was involved in a mysterious death at Wilderness Farm, near Glastonbury, back in 1963, that year of so many momentous events which just happens also to be the year of Lance's birth. No sooner has Lance decided that whatever Rupe was up to is too risky for him to get involved in than he finds that he already is involved, and the only way out is to get in deeper still. Where is Rupe? What is the document he has stolen? Who is Townley? And what happened at Wilderness Farm in the summer o
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Seller's Description:
Good. All pages and cover are intact. Possible slightly loose binding, minor highlighting and marginalia, cocked spine or torn dust jacket. Maybe an ex-library copy and not include the accompanying CDs, access codes or other supplemental materials.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. All pages and cover are intact. Possible slightly loose binding, minor highlighting and marginalia, cocked spine or torn dust jacket. Maybe an ex-library copy and not include the accompanying CDs, access codes or other supplemental materials.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. All pages and cover are intact. Possible slightly loose binding, minor highlighting and marginalia, cocked spine or torn dust jacket. Maybe an ex-library copy and not include the accompanying CDs, access codes or other supplemental materials.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. All pages and cover are intact. Possible slightly loose binding, minor highlighting and marginalia, cocked spine or torn dust jacket. Maybe an ex-library copy and not include the accompanying CDs, access codes or other supplemental materials.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good. Spine creasing, edge wear; ex-library with usual markings; It is autumn in the Somerset town of Glastonbury. Lance Bradley is idling away his life there as usual when he receives a call for help from the eccentric sister of his old friend Rupert Alder. Inexplicably, Rupe has stopped sending the money that his dysfunctional siblings depend on. Reluctantly, Lance goes to London to learn what he can, only to find that his friend has vanished. His employers, a shipping company, believe he is guilty of a major fraud. A Japanese businessman called Hashimoto claims he has stolen a document of life and death importance. And a private detective who has been trying to trace on Rupert's behalf an American called Townley has been warned off by unnamed but immensely powerful interests. Townley, it seems, was involved in a mysterious death at Wilderness Farm, near Glastonbury, back in 1963, that year of so many shattering events which just happens also to be the year of Lance's birth. No sooner has Lance decided that whatever Rupert was up to is too risky for him to get involved in than he finds that he already is involved, and the only way out is to get in deeper still. Where is Rupert? What is the document he has stolen? Who is Townley? And what happened in the summer of 1963 that holds the key to a secret more devastating than Lance Bradley could ever have imagined?
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Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972. Used books may not include companion materials, some shelf wear, may contain highlighting/notes, and may not include cd-rom or access codes. Customer service is our top priority!
This is the story of Lance Bradley, a young British man who is asked to look for Rupe, his childhood friend, who has gone missing for about three months. Lance, a bit of a wastrel with little or no direction in his life, undertakes this search which takes him to three continents in the course of a couple of weeks. There doesn't seem to be any reason why Rupe would just disappear although Goddard introduces a number of possibilities.
I have long been a great fan of Robert Goddard but this book just didn't do it for me. By the end, I didn't care what had happened to Rupe or even why he was nowhere to be found. I somehow got the impression that Goddard felt the same way.
There are hordes of good guys, villians and those who fall somewhere in the middle. The descriptions of all the cities Lance visits during his whirlwind two-week round the world trip was rather interesting though.
What was lacking from this book was what I always refer to as the "whiplash" effect that I have come to expect from a Goddard book. Just when you are complacent and think you have all the players analyzed, he throws you a curveball. Alas, mighty Goddard struck out.
