Safari for Spies (Killmaster novel)
Encyclopedia
Safari for Spies is the fourth novel
in the long-running Nick Carter-Killmaster
series.
Inc. The novel was written by Valerie Moolman. Copyright
was registered in the US on 25 August 1964.
- international crossroads of sex and espionage - and a death trap for Nick Carter!
, in neighboring Senegal
. Carter travels to Dakar and investigates the Hop Club a sleazy nightclub that supplies heroin and discovers it is a front for Chinese agents. At the recommendation of Rufus Makombe, the President's brother, Carter also visits the Kilimanjaro nightclub in Dakar and has a liaison with the club's singer, Mirella. She lures Carter to a remote house in the countryside where an attempt is made on his life. Mirella falls into a spear-filled pit and is killed instead. Carter escapes and returns to Nyanga to find that Liz Ashton has been kidnapped. Carter, reinforced by the Nyanga police and army, discover her location and arrive just in time to save her. Rufus Makombe, supported by communist Chinese aid, has planned the assassination of his brother, the overthrow of the government, and the establishment of a communist Chinese foothold in Africa. Carter defeats Rufus in hand-to-hand combat and Rufus's supporters are arrested. Finally, Ten Wong, the Chinese paymaster of the entire operation is tracked down to Casablanca
, Morocco
. Carter breaks into Wong's fortified house and is nearly killed by triffid
-like plants that guard the compound. Ten Wong is lured outside and killed by his own plants.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
in the long-running Nick Carter-Killmaster
Nick Carter-Killmaster
Nick Carter-Killmaster is a series of spy adventures published from 1964 until the late 1990s, first by Award Books, then by Ace Books, and finally by Jove Books. At least 261 novels were published....
series.
Publishing history
The book was first published in August 1964 (Number A114F) by Award Books part of the Beacon-Signal division of Universal Publishing and Distributing Corporation (New York, USA), part of the Conde Nast PublicationsCondé Nast Publications
Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a magazine publisher. In the U.S., it produces 18 consumer magazines, including Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps...
Inc. The novel was written by Valerie Moolman. Copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
was registered in the US on 25 August 1964.
Tagline
CasablancaCasablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
- international crossroads of sex and espionage - and a death trap for Nick Carter!
Plot summary
The story takes place in March 1964. The newly independent west African country of the Republic of Nyanga is on the verge of civil war. The country is closely allied to the USSR. The USSR embassy in Nyanga has been bombed and its foreign nationals are being harassed on the streets. The USSR blames the USA for orchestrating the bombing and harassment despite the fact that the US embassy itself has been bombed. Nick Carter is sent to Nyanga posing as a special US ambassador to investigate the true source of the destabilization efforts against Nyanga and its allies. Carter gets to work with the assistance of Liz Ashton, Second Secretary at the US Embassy. Immediately upon arrival he is shadowed by the mysterious Laszlo. The destabilization efforts continue as Julian Makombe, the President of Nyanga, is shot and badly wounded. The chief of police immediately makes a series of arrests and discovers that some of the suspects are drug addicts from DakarDakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
, in neighboring Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
. Carter travels to Dakar and investigates the Hop Club a sleazy nightclub that supplies heroin and discovers it is a front for Chinese agents. At the recommendation of Rufus Makombe, the President's brother, Carter also visits the Kilimanjaro nightclub in Dakar and has a liaison with the club's singer, Mirella. She lures Carter to a remote house in the countryside where an attempt is made on his life. Mirella falls into a spear-filled pit and is killed instead. Carter escapes and returns to Nyanga to find that Liz Ashton has been kidnapped. Carter, reinforced by the Nyanga police and army, discover her location and arrive just in time to save her. Rufus Makombe, supported by communist Chinese aid, has planned the assassination of his brother, the overthrow of the government, and the establishment of a communist Chinese foothold in Africa. Carter defeats Rufus in hand-to-hand combat and Rufus's supporters are arrested. Finally, Ten Wong, the Chinese paymaster of the entire operation is tracked down to Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. Carter breaks into Wong's fortified house and is nearly killed by triffid
Triffid
The triffid is a tall, mobile, carnivorous, prolific and highly venomous fictional plant species—the titular antagonist in John Wyndham's 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids and Simon Clark's 2001 sequel The Night of the Triffids....
-like plants that guard the compound. Ten Wong is lured outside and killed by his own plants.
Main characters
- Nick Carter (agent N-3, AXE)
- Mr Hawk (Carter’s boss, head of AXE)
- Liz Ashton (Second Secretary, US Embassy, Republic of Nyanga)
- Mirella (nightclub singer in Dakar, Senegal)
- Abe Jefferson (Chief of Police, Abimako, Nyanga)
- Julian Makombe (President, Republic of Nyanga)
- Rufus Makombe (brother of Julian Makombe, Carter's adversary)
- Laszlo (henchman of Rufus Makombe/Ten Wong, Carter's adversary)
- Ten Wong (organiser of the plot against Nyanga, Carter's adversary)
Trivia
- Carter poses as a US special ambassador using his own name - Nicholas J Huntington Carter.
- The story makes passing references to CLAW - the organisation mentioned in the second novel in the series The China DollThe China Doll (Killmaster novel)The China Doll is the second novel in the long-running Nick Carter-Killmaster series.-Publishing history:The book was first published in April 1964 by Award Books part of the Beacon-Signal division of Universal Publishing and Distributing Corporation , part of the Conde Nast Publications Inc. The...
. - Despite the claim in the tagline, only the last chapter of the book is set entirely in Casablanca. The rest of the book is set in Nyanga.
- In the novel, reference is made to Carter's basic skills in spoken Arabic, he also speaks French and Swahili; in previous novels Carter speaks fluent Russian, Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua), and Portuguese.
- As in earlier novels, other AXE agents are referred to by their code numbers. Agent P-4 is a mole in the KremlinKremlinA kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...
. - Nyanga is a fictitious country in west Africa adjacent to Senegal. It is unclear if it neighbors Senegal like Guinea-BissauGuinea-BissauThe Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....
or whether it is completely enclosed like The GambiaThe GambiaThe Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
. In the novel, international visitors have to land at Dakar airport in Senegal in order to transit to Abimako - the capital city of Nyanga. Nyanga is also the name of a province in GabonGabonGabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
, west central Africa. - Carter recalls Mirella's death in the spear-filled pit in SaigonSaigon (Killmaster novel)Saigon is the sixth novel in the in the long-running Nick Carter-Killmaster series of spy novels. Carter is a US secret agent, code-named N-3, with the rank of Killmaster...
when he saves his ally from a similar fate.