John Buchan

The Island Of Sheep John Buchan

In this, his final adventure, Buchan's hero Richard Hannay becomes embroiled in one of the most hazardous escapades of his life. Two men are honour bound to help the tormented Valdemar Haraldsen, and a third decides to mastermind the whole affair out of a sheer love of adventure and a dislike of villains. A long-forgotten promise made by Richard Hannay finds him honor-bound to resolve a violent vendetta in which the lives of a young father and his daughter are in danger from unscrupulous and desperate men. Hannay sets out on a high-octane chase from the rural tranquility of his English manor to the Scottish Borders and, ultimately, to Scandinavia. On the remote Island of Sheep, a final confrontation takes place and everything is decided-once and for all. This, the last of the Hannay adventures-and the last of Buchan's novels to be published during his lifetime-is a rare gem of high drama interwoven with Buchan's personal beliefs about the problems of a post-war world. I have never believed, as some people do, in omens and forewarnings, for the dramatic things in my life have generally come upon me as suddenly as a tropical thunderstorm. But I have observed that in a queer way I have been sometimes prepared for them by my mind drifting into an unexpected mood.