Desmond Bagley · 1971 · thriller

Desmond Bagley's 1971 thriller. To smash the gang that springs convicts out of British jails, an intelligence man commits a real robbery and takes a real sentence - then lets himself be broken out alongside a Soviet traitor. Held in a house in the west of Ireland, he escapes and follows the trail by way of Gibraltar to Malta, where the whole thing is due to end.

1. 1
   London

   Brought to London from South Africa, the thief Rearden robs a postman of a packet of diamonds and is caught within hours - exactly as intended, because Rearden is really an intelligence officer, and prison is the job.

2. 2
   Connemara

   Sprung from jail by the Scarperers along with the traitor Slade, Stannard wakes drugged in a locked room in the west of Ireland, where the gang vet their merchandise - and begin to suspect what he really is.

3. 3
   Gibraltar

   Free but alone and disowned, Stannard traces the gang's paymaster to a private yacht, and follows her south to Gibraltar - close enough to watch her refuel, not close enough to get aboard before she sails again.

4. 4
   Malta

   In Malta the chase comes to its end in a night of gunfire around the harbour, as Stannard tries to take the yacht and the man behind it before Slade can be handed on and vanish east for good.