Alistair MacLean · 1969 · thriller

Alistair MacLean's 1969 thriller. Interpol narcotics agent Paul Sherman lands at Schiphol to break a heroin ring, and watches his contact shot dead before he clears the terminal - proof the smugglers know his every move. Through the canals of Amsterdam and out to the fishing island of Huyler, Sherman hunts a trade that kills everyone it touches.

1. 1
   Schiphol

   Paul Sherman of Interpol lands at Schiphol believing his arrival is secret - and watches his contact Jimmy Duclos shot dead on the concourse before he can speak, proof that the ring he hunts is ahead of him.

2. 2
   Amsterdam

   Along the canals and in the warehouses of old Amsterdam, Sherman works his way into a heroin trade run through churches, dolls and barrel organs - and finds crooked police and dead informers at every turn.

3. 3
   Huyler

   Out on the old fishing island of Huyler, where the women still wear the traditional dress for the tourists, the pretty picture hides the crux of the operation - and Sherman walks in knowing they are waiting for him.

4. 4
   Amsterdam harbour

   Back in the Amsterdam docks, among the cranes and the black water, Sherman closes his trap on the men at the top of the chain - a reckoning as brutal as the trade that has paid for it.