The hero of the Malko series is His Serene Highness Prince Malko Ligne, Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Knight of the Black Eagle, Knight of the Order of Landgrave Seraphim of Kletgaus, Knight of the Order of Malta. He needs money to maintain his castle, and his women. He is not on the C.I.A. payroll but he does jobs for them, jobs too awkward for the C.I.A. to handle directly. Malko is a loyal employee although he regards the C.I.A. with a certain amount of distaste. He is an aristocrat and a gentleman. His ethical standards are flexible but unlike the C.I.A. he does have some morals.
The first thing to bear in mind is that when the novel was written in 1971 Afghanistan was still a kingdom, trying to maintain friendly relations with both sides in the Cold War.
An Australian freelance spy has some important information he wants to sell to the C.I.A. but he is killed trying to cross the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. His information does reach the C.I.A. and causes great excitement. An aircraft en route from China crash-landed in a very remote spot. There was something (or someone) aboard that aircraft that the Americans, the Chinese and the Russians all want very much. The Afghans want it too. They could exchange it with any of those powers in return for important diplomatic advantages.
The Americans want that person but they cannot act officially. They employ Malko to get it for them.
His plan is fairly simple although it will involve a great deal of mayhem.
Malko’s assignments always bring him into contact with beautiful, morally ambiguous, fascinating and dangerous women. This case is no exception. There’s a gorgeous Afghan girl. She’s dangerous because her uncle runs the Afghan security service, and her cousin will kill any man who tries to persuade her into bed. That’s awkward because Malko would very much like to bed her.
Of course there are attempted double-crosses. With four players in the game (the Americans, the Russians, the Chinese and the Afghans) there’s plenty of potential for really complicated double-crosses. Especially when it’s not clear that all four players are have totally different objectives.
What makes the Malko books so interesting is that they are written by a Frenchman who views the Cold War from a neutral outsiders’ perspective. You cannot assume that the author thinks of the Americans as the good guys or the Russians and Chinese as the bad guys. Espionage is a grubby vicious game whoever plays it and all sides play dirty. There’s no morality at all in the world of espionage.
Malko himself views the Cold War from an outsider’s perspective. He works for the C.I.A. because they pay well and he needs the money. He has no ideological agenda. He regards all sides with aristocratic disdain. He is often sickened by the things he finds himself doing. Malko is mercenary and he’s loyal to his employer but he dislikes his work. He has a taste for danger and adventure but he would have been more at home in an earlier era when a gentleman could indulge such tastes without compromising his sense of honour.
In this book Malko is appalled by the C.I.A.’s casual use of torture.
The cynicism of de Villiers goes beyond anything you will find in British or American spy writers such as Len Deighton. Malko cannot console himself with the thought that our side might do bad things but the other side is worse. He cannot console himself with the thought that he is doing bad things for a good cause. He knows that he is doing bad things for money. He is a kind of anti-hero. He is determined not to abandon his sense of honour completely but in his heart he knows he has morally compromised himself. He feels dirty.
And in Malko’s world nice people get hurt very very badly. In this novel a very nice people suffers an appalling fate.
This is intelligent provocative spy fiction. Very highly recommended.
I’ve also reviewed the slightly earlier Malko: West of Jerusalem and also Malko 5: Angel of Vengence.
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