Tuesday, March 27, 2012

#12: Assignment Moon Girl by Edward S. Aarons

A female cosmonaut of Chinese and Russian heritage disappears and then surfaces in Teheran, sending multiple factions after her--including American agent Sam Durrell--in Edward S. Aarons' Assignment Moon Girl

I have read quite a few of these sturdy spy novels since I began keeping this blog list and find it to be a greatly underrated series that ran for several decades.  This one, from 1967, features a more cosmopolitan Iran than we know today and focuses a lot on the space race (as does Assignment Mara Tirana) as well as being the first appearance of reoccurring villain Madame Hung.

This entry also seems heavier on action than some, and certainly features more torture, as Durrell gets thrown into a pit with a lion, is captured and beaten multiple times, and endures brainwashing with psychedelic drugs.  Thankfully, he has enough left in the tank at the end to head out on a worldwide tour of vacation spots with a rescued companion named Lotus.

I have heard a bit about this one on the web, but a copy eluded me until I found it on a goodbye shelf at a used bookstore in Muncie, Indiana.  A good entry in the series.

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