The Golden Keel / The Vivero Letter

Double action thrillers by the classic adventure writer set in Italy and South America.

THE GOLDEN KEEL

When the Allies invaded southern Italy in 1943, Mussolini's personal treasure was moved north to safety under heavily armed guard. It was never seen again. Now, an expedition plans to unearth the treasure and smuggle it out of Italy. But their reckless mission is being followed – by enemies who are as powerful and ruthless as they are deadly…

THE VIVERO LETTER

Jeremy Wheale's well-ordered life is blasted apart when his brother is murdered. The killer was after a family heirloom – an antique gold tray – which sets Wheale on a trail from Devon to the tropical rainforest of Yucatan. There he joins the hunt for a lost Mayan city. But in the dense cover of the jungle a band of vicious convict mercenaries are waiting to strike…

Includes a unique bonus – Desmond Bagley's rare introduction to these books.

Reviews

'As long as meticulous craftsmanship and honest entertainment are valued, and as long as action, authenticity, and expertise still make up the strong framework of the good adventure/thriller, Desmond Bagley's books will surely be read.' REGINALD HILL, Twentieth Century Crime and Mystery Writers

'Bagley is a master storyteller.' DAILY MIRROR

'Mr Bagley has no equal at this sort of thing.' SUNDAY MIRROR

'One of the best adventure stories I have read for years.' DAILY MIRROR

About the author

Desmond Bagley wrote 16 novels, becoming one of the world's top-selling authors, with his books translated into more than 30 languages. He was born in 1923 in Kendal and brought up in Blackpool, beginning his working life, aged 14, in the printing industry. After working in an aircraft factory during the Second World War, he decided to travel, working his way through Europe and southern Africa, and in 1951 joined the gold mining industry before becoming a freelance journalist in Johannesburg, where he wrote his first novel, The Golden Keel, in 1962. In 1964 he returned to England, finally settling in Guernsey with his wife, where he died in 1983.