Clarence Budington Kelland

Spy and Counterspy Clarence Budington Kelland

"An exciting adventure in homicide and an inside picture of a fabulous scientific operation... The rocket-testing grounds of White Sands, New Mexico, are the setting for this Kelland thriller. The author was especially authorized by the Defense Department to explore the closely-guarded confines of White Sands. Thus, with all his accustomed skill and humor, he presents an inside story of fantastic happenings at this vital research center. The result is a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of scientists and security and espionage. And, last but not least, a rocket-paced and colorful novel in the finest Kelland tradition." -Yesterday's Muse "The greatest mystery story of the year and a tantalizing spy story. ... Which of the two lovely women is the spy?" -Indianapolis News More pixilated dialogue, delightfully eccentric characters, and midcentury zeitgeist in bestselling romantic suspense author Clarence Budington Kelland's enthralling peek into the period's most top-secret program. The goings-on at the U. S. rocket testing grounds at White Sands, New Mexico, and the development of guided missiles, were some the nation's most closely guarded secrets-secrets the "Reds" would kill for. Dr. Thomas Alva Edison Gimp-one of Kelland's quintessential geek heroes-had been brought there as a leader in the development of the electronic brains needed to guide these missiles. His problems began on the train out, where he first encountered a very alluring and flirtatious woman, then a much-too-friendly professor of art history, and then-murder. His trip didn't get any easier when he arrived at White Sands and met Miss Brown, a woman from his own past, whose job seemed to be anything she wanted it to be and her taste in acquaintances was...questionable. And it all seemed to come to a climax when he met William George Thomas, a man of enormous girth and intellect, whose first encounter with Dr. Gimp may not have been as accidental as it seemed. "Gives the reader a peep through the barbed wire at White Sands Proving Ground. The government allowed the author to visit White Sands to pick up background for his book, and he incorporated a good deal of perfectly sound elementary information about missiles in it. There are also four murders, romance and plenty of the kind of excitement that would turn a security officer's hair white if it were ever actually to occur." -Sayre, PA Evening Times "[Kelland is] a writer of distinction." -The Detroit News