Donald Hamilton was a prolific author of spy and crime novels. The Big Country and The Violent Men were films adapted from his westerns. He introduced Matt Helm spy novels in the 1960's, a few of which I've reviewed here. Before the 60's, he wrote several great noir novels like The Steel Mirror (1948) and The Night Walker (1954), doused with authentic hard-realism.
I was lucky to find a Dell first edition paperback in perfect condition.
He met a stranger - She said she was his wife
David Young is a navy lieutenant hitchhiking back to base who gets picked up by a business man who rants on about his communist beliefs. He mainly ignores him, until the guy lunges at him with a tire iron! He wakes up in a hospital to hear he was pulled from a burning car wreck, his face in bandages, and everyone believing he is the owner of the car Larry Wilson - including his doctor and his wife Elizabeth! When they take him home to his large estate with its own dock on the bay, friends and relatives believe he is Wilson. Is he going mad?
He soon breaks Elizabeth into confession that it's a ruse to cover her earlier killing of Wilson and, aided by the doctor, dumping his chain-wrapped body in the bay. Despite this, David believes her story of his harassment towards her and they begin a relationship. They decide to leave the house one night, leave it all behind, but are interrupted by the husband returning at the front door with a gun!
With all this going on there is even more to the story - How is the husband alive, or, was it all a lie? Is Elizabeth just a twisted liar? What are the motives of the friends who all knew he was an impostor from the start?
The mystery unfolds to include Wilson's adulterous romance with beautiful redhead Bonita Decker and their secret rendezvous on her boat, his odd habit of recording the names of the boats in the bay, communist spies, stolen secrets, and a final surprise twist revelation of the true villain at the explosive finale, afloat in the bay.
I love a good amnesia story and The Night Walker delivered this plus a lot more. There was a great mix of tension and the unknown that was cleverly revealed at the proper time - it kept me guessing! I found both the spy angle and the mystery story well written, with equal amounts of realism and thriller. Hamilton's later spy style in the Matt Helm series was more gritty, and personally I prefer this post war unease and dread.
Great characters, fast moving, and great cover artwork to boot.
1954 / Paperback / 191 pages
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