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THE THREE HOSTAGESFrom 1924, this was the fourth of John Buchan's Richard Hannay books, which are very important in the history of adventure stories and a big influence of everyone from Alfred Hitchcock to Ian Fleming. THE THREE HOSTAGES is not quite up to the best of the series. It doesn't have the tight briskness of THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS or the wide international sweep of the wartime GREENMANTLE, but it's still amazingly good.The strange thing here is that Buchan was usually considered a *literary* author, known for high class biographies and works of art worthy of being taken seriously by The Critics. When he wrote wild thrillers like the Hannay books, it was as if William Faulkner had turned out a Tarzan adventure, or if Kingsley Amis had written a James Bond story (well, actually, he did...) So we have here an over the top story about a sinister conspiracy which uses superhypnotism in its scheme to take over the world, and only one brave Scots secret agent has a chance to stop them. But it's written so deftly, with such a nice command of language and structure, that it's a unique experience.The hostages of the title are three innocents, a youth and girl and a little child, who have been kidnapped by some mysterious conspiracy. The fathers of the hostages are very important men to the British and American governments, and of course the hostages are being held to try to keep the fathers from interfering with the great scheme (whatever it is). Scotland Yard and the Government's best minds are getting nowhere, and in desperation, Richard Hannay is dragged into the case very much against his will. (Buchan's skill is in evidence here, as you completely believe Hannay wants to be left alone but is coerced in taking the assignment by playing on his emotions.)The pulpish element turns up early. The kidnappers are so arrogant and confident that they have actually had the nerve to provide a clue... an enigmatic little poem full of bits about midnight suns and blind spinners. (The Riddler is nothing new.) With only this obscure basis to go on, Hannay gets to work. He's no deductive genius or superman, but he is dogged and determined to succeed.One thing you have to bear in mind is that this was not meant to be a single issue of a monthly series, plotted to fit in 124 pages, with plenty of one-sentence paragraphs. This is a big solid no-fooling BOOK that weighs in at 350 pages of dense material. It does take a while to pick up steam, and it does drag quite a bit in spots (there were a few times where I felt like saying, "Get on with it"), but it builds up great suspense in the second half and finishes with a skillfully described duel in the mountains of Scotland that is completely engrossing.The main villain, Dominck Medina, is a masterful creation. On the surface, he is a handsome, charming, charismatic man who is obviously headed for the top in political circles; but actually, he is a vile nihilistic mastermind of the worst type, who has learned superhypnosis from an Eastern guru named Kharama. Medina is building a network of brainwashed slaves, some of whom have had their memories destroyed and rebuilt. This is the pulpish element which stands out from an otherwise realistic spy thriller. Ian Fleming's Hugo Drax in MOONRAKER owes a bit to Medina; he's also a robust, overwhelming national hero who is (on the surface) working to better the nation but who in reality is the bad guy. Even when he's in a desperate struggle against Medina, Hanny still has mixed feelings about the fellow.One fascinating detail is that the three hostages are not necessarily tied up in some cellar somewhere. Because of Medina's powers, they may very well be working at some job under a new name, with completely fake memories they themselves believe... making them very hard to find, indeed.Some of the regular supporting cast turns up again, including that breezy master of disguise, Sandy Arbuthnot. And Hannay's sweet demure wife Mary is determined and toughminded enough to come to London on her own and start working on the case, simply because she is so concerned about the little boy hostage. She's no amusing bungler who mucks things up either, but fully competent and completely deserving the complete faith Hannay has in her. In fact, in the darkest moments, she turns out to be the real hero of the book.Much of what makes this story interesting is the time and place in which it was written. 1924 is long enough ago that it seems almost like reading about the ancient world. Aside from the men's clubs with their leather chairs and cigars and ironed newspapers to the mention of a building dating back to the "American War" to the arrival of an assistant in a rented Sopwith (no, it's not Snoopy), Hannay also takes for granted that most people worth knowing have live-in servants and that there is still a concept called decency that is worth defending.There are also frequent digs against the Irish ("murderous hobledhoys") which suggest that Buchan himself had an active dislike against them. At one point, too, Hannay is annoyed at sitting through a jazz session ("a nigger band, looking like monkeys in uniform, pounded out some barbarous jingle"), so if you're offended by an occasional racist comment, be warned. The distasteful references are sparse though, and shouldn't be enough to deter a fan of adventure fiction from trying this book.
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