Alistair MacLean · 1970 · road

Alistair MacLean's 1970 thriller. Each year the gypsy caravans of Europe stream into the Camargue, the wild marshland of southern France, for their great pilgrimage to the sea. Among them travels a deadly secret: a plot to seize the mind of a brilliant defector. The drifter Neil Bowman follows the trail through Arles and the lagoons to the pilgrim town of Les Saintes-Maries.

1. 1
   Arles

   At Arles, gypsy caravans from across Europe gather for their pilgrimage - and the drifter Neil Bowman watches as the first violent deaths begin among them.

2. 2
   The Camargue

   The trail winds south into the Camargue, a country of marsh and lagoon around the Etang de Vaccares, where Bowman uncovers a plot among the pilgrims - to snare a defecting scientist.

3. 3
   Les Saintes-Maries

   As the caravans reach the sea at Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer for the climax of the pilgrimage, Bowman closes with his quarry amid the festival crowds - a final reckoning played out among the gypsies and the churning surf.