193. Title & Author: Greenmantle by John Buchan (220 pages) Genre: Fiction—Classic Literature & Adventure Completed: 20 August 2011
Summary & Review:
The hero of The Thirty-Nine Steps, Richard Hannay, returns in this thrilling World War One adventure. After being summoned to the Foreign Office while on leave from the British army, Hanny is told of a plot to foment jihad among the Muslims subjects of the British empire by the Germans. Hannay and his small band of recruits covertly search throughout Germany and the Middle East for the mysterious Greenmantle, a supposed prophet of Islam who will call for all Muslims to revolt.
I read The Thirty-Nine Steps (#168) several months ago and upon finishing it, I immediately wanted to read the further adventures of Hannay. Buchan has a knack for writing adventure stories of a type that you just don’t find anymore. Today’s “thrillers”—note they’re called thrillers not adventures—are all so serious and dark. There doesn’t seem to be any fun in them. Buchan’s two novels that I have read, however, are filled with the fun and excitement a great adventure story should have. Buchan lived through some serious world events, but he understood that his stories could be a truly “thrilling” escape. I recommend both The Thrity-Nine Steps and Greenmantle.
Rating: 8.5
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