1968, Universal Publishing.
It's been a while since we last saw what sort of trouble our favorite sleazy spy, Nick Carter could get himself into, so I figured it was high time we caught up with the man. Since I have an impending trip to Florida come this winter, I went with one of Nick's Florida-based adventures, Operation Moon Rocket, in which Agent N3, Killmaster for AXE, must foil a dastardly plot to derail America's Apollo space program through the judicious use of blackmail and sabotage. All clues point to agents of Communist China as the villains behind the string of harrowing accidents that have plagued the program, but Carter soon learns that there's something much more sinister going on than the mere meddling of Red China.

I'm a sucker for anything involving spying and the space program, and then also a sucker for anything involving spying and guys running around 1960s Florida. It delighted me when Matt Helm spent some time in one of my old home states, and I figured on being doubly delighted by Carter engaging in shenanigans involving Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach, and various tacky Florida locations. For the most part, the book does not disappoint. It's yet another fast-paced story that can be finished in a single sitting -- or trips in to work on the B train for me. There's also a remarkable level of restraint shown through much of the book. Though our first glimpse of Carter finds him reclining on the beach with a tan Florida cutie, he doesn't actually get laid until halfway through the book, which must be some sort of a record for a series of espionage novels where, most of the time, the lead character can't seem to go half a dozen pages without finding himself in between some willing young woman's thighs. And it's always been a source of amusement for Nick Carter fans to see how long it takes before we find him in such a situation. Some books even open that way on page one.

Operation Moon Rocket is, however, decidedly unsleazy, at least as compared to some of the other Carter adventures. There are only two sex "scenes," and although the author (yet another nameless, faceless contributor to the ongoing series) lingers on some "as graphic as you could get at the time" passages, the fact that he only indulges twice is remarkable. Remember, once again, this is a series of adventures in which a female agent in one book is captured and tortured with an electric-dildo-orgasmo machine by a lascivious Communist Chinese mad scientist.

But what really sets Operation Moon Rocket apart from some of the lesser entries in the series is that it's a well-written and snappy book. Nick Carter adventures don't exist so the anonymous authors can indulge in flowing prose and feats of literary genius. They exist to provide readers with maximum thrills and action in an easy-to-digest format, with very little fat to get in the way of a lean, A-to-B thriller. And while Operation Moon Rocket doesn't boast poetic tough-guy prose on the level of a Chandler or Hammett, it's still solidly written, even when it sticks close to the formula authors were required to follow to crank these things in a timely fashion.

Not everything is nice and breezy, though. The finale falters in a major way, made all the more disappointing by the fact that the rest of the story is so enjoyable. Nick gets caught and tied up about ninety thousand times in this story, but his final captures end sup with him alone, tied up in a control room while the villain taunts him from a remote location and trots out the hoary old, "I haven't killed you yet because I want you to witness the fruition of my evil genius plan!" And of course, not only has he tied Nick Carter up and left him alone, but he then leaves him in a room that happens to have a radio linked directly to some NASA security guys who can help Nick stop the fateful countdown that, if completed, will send an Apollo rocket spiraling out control and straight into the heart of Miami. I don't mind the application of the old "countdown" routine, but the "only you can appreciate the genius of my scheme" cop-out for having Nick be alive and in a position to save the day was almost too much to swallow, especially again, since the author, whoever he may have been (I hope some day one of these guys will emerge and reveal himself to me after stumbling upon one of these reviews), proved himself a very capable writer throughout the rest of the book. I'm sure he could have come up with something much more plausible and much less irritating than the "monologuing villain leaves the hero alone" routine.

Luckily, the rest of the book is enjoyable enough to make that bitter pill go down. The supporting cast of characters is decently developed. The background of the main villain (his eventual uncovering as the main villain isn't exactly a surprise) is especially believable and even, dare I say, almost complex. Well, OK, maybe not complex, but as far as espionage potboilers go, it's a pretty well developed background. And Dr. Joy Sun, despite the introduction of an embarrassing naughty photo of her, is one of the closest things to an innocent and decent woman that the series has ever introduced.

But honestly, the most important aspect of any of these books is the adventure, and Operation Moon Rocket has plenty to go around, including a zero-G knife fight in space suits, exploding rockets, remote controlled helicopters, violent poker games, cigar chomping, and lots of sneaking around and punching guys in the face. Carter gets captured a lot, as is par for the course, but he doesn't really behave as stupidly or carelessly as he has in many past books. Everything moves at a brisk clip, and the action rarely lets up. Operation Moon Rocket is a delight, all the way around, even with the idiotic "now I shall leave you alone to contemplate my evil genius" finale.

Labels: Espionage, Scifi, Series: Nick Carter