The Corners of the Globe
This is the second in Goddard’s The Wide World trilogy of thrillers set in the years immediately after the First World War, in wings of the Versailles Peace Conference where treachery, spying and sudden, violent death are rife. James ‘Max’ Maxted, air ace and gentleman spy in the best tradition of John Buchan, is back in action as he and his loyal sidekick, Sam Twentyman, set out to avenge the death of Max’s diplomat father and foil the dastardly aims of international spymaster, Lemmer.
There is much to enjoy in this novel. It displays an astute and thorough grasp of a very complex period of history, and is chock full of breathless derring-do – bloody knifings on the London to Edinburgh sleeper, breakneck chases over the roofs of Paris, encounters with sinister and mysterious beauties in Marseilles. It embraces and plays with all the clichés of the traditional spy novel and, in that respect, is tremendous fun.
In the end, however, I was disappointed because the book fails in one of the fundamental requirements of being one of a series. It cannot stand alone. I have not read the first in the series, and was always aware of being on the back foot as regards characters’ back stories. Even more disappointing, however, is the fact that the last third of the novel consists of nothing more than an escalating series of interrupted scenes and secrets withheld. There is no resolution of any kind, which left me more resentful than eager to read the sequel. Readers who shell out nearly £20 for the hardback may feel cheated.
