Wed 19 Oct 2022
An Archived Spy Fiction Review: JOHN MURPHY – Pay on the Way Out.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[2] Comments
JOHN MURPHY – Pay on the Way Out. Scribner, hardcover, 1975. Ballantine, paperback, 1976.
As if the CIA didn’t have enough trouble after Watergate. Young trainee James Hagen is assigned to investigate the strange assassination of a bullfighter in Spain, and all his clues lead straight to a plot inside the Agency, and worse, by his immediate superiors.
Good detective work early on, but both it and Hagen are caught up in the wheels of intrigue as they grind slowly but surely down. His choice is to run for cover until he can make a stand. A tale put nicely together, but the twists take it away subtly from the reader, who feels nearly as helpless as Hagen does, before the dawn.
Rating: B
UPDATE. John Murphy was the pen name of R. C. Grady, Jr. As Murphy he was the author of three other titles in Hubin, all of which also appear to be thrillers of one form or another.
October 20th, 2022 at 5:57 pm
These things often seem intuitive to write compared to many mystery novels, but they can go awry just as easily if the writer mistakes twists and complications as enough to keep the reader turning pages alone.
October 20th, 2022 at 6:21 pm
I know what you mean, and I think it was what I was hinting at. And yet I gave this one a B, which surprised me a little when I got to the end of the review.
I don’t remember the book at all, but apparently, in spite of my not being all that sure about it, Murphy had his story under control all the way.