Alistair MacLean · 1961 · thriller

Alistair MacLean's 1961 thriller (as Ian Stuart). Top scientists keep vanishing after answering the same job advert. Agent John Bentall and his partner Marie pose as the next couple to take the bait - and are kidnapped and flown across the world to a remote island in the South Pacific, where a ruthless plot to seize a secret missile is reaching its climax.

1. 1
   London

   When a string of rocket scientists disappear after answering the same job advertisement, agent John Bentall and his colleague Marie Hopeman pose as the next couple, and offer themselves as bait.

2. 2
   Sydney

   The trail of the vanished scientists leads to Australia, where they were last seen - and Bentall and Marie follow it down under, playing their parts as they are drawn deeper into the trap.

3. 3
   Suva

   From Suva in the Fijis they are seized and carried off to a hidden atoll, where Bentall finds the missing scientists forced to serve a scheme to steal a secret missile - and must break it before the countdown runs out.