The Ravagers is the eighth novel in the 27-book strong Matt Helm espionage series. It was first published in 1964. It is probably the best espionage series ever written and decidedly unlike most other spy series. There’s no secret warehouse filled with scientists inventing ever cleverer gadgets, few fancy sportscars, no orbiting satellites, or secret teams of deadly industrialists with armies of henchmen. When Hamilton wrote this series, he strived for realism and authenticity. He got it.

The Ravagers is a carefully crafted story about Helm trying to fulfill his duty and ensure that false documents make their way into the enemy’s hands. His mission is important and he is told that he is to use any means necessary to carry it out and not to cooperate with other agencies who may not be privy to what his mission is.

The book begins with Helm walking into a hotel room and seeing the results of an acid job on the man he has been called in to replace. The story carefully and cautiously takes Helm step by step on his mission through the high plains and the Canadian woods, playing cat and mouse with other agents and his quarry, with him never letting slip what his real mission is.

Some of the wittiest scenes in the book are his verbal parrying with his quarry who is convinced that he must be some government agent and that the escaped convicts he beat the crap out of are other spies sent in to stage a scene with him.

What is great about this novel and the series as a whole is Hamilton’s close attention to minor details such as how uncomfortable Volkswagens are, how fifteen year-olds in braces and curlers look like aliens, how women should dress (and undress). The tone of the story is witty, ascerbic, and, although great gun battles and hordes of paratroopers don’t spring into action every time he runs into trouble, the story moves along swiftly.
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An excellent murder mystery. Helm is sent to Canada to check on an agent who has failed to call in. He finds him dead & must take over his mission. As usual, no one knows the full story & Helm is told to complete his mission, no matter who gets hurt. Just who are the good/bad guys is up for grabs until the very end.

The characters are very believable as is all the action. Helm is good, but no superman. He makes mistakes; sometimes just human blunders, other times because he doesn't know everything that's going on. Occasionally, he even gets a bit soft-hearted, always a remedy for disaster. There are plenty of twists & turns to keep you guessing on a first read. Even later reads are fun.

One of the things I love is that Helm doesn't appear on the scene in a fancy car with fancy gadgets. His department is underfunded & unliked. They get the dirty jobs when all other options have been exhausted. In this book, he drives 500 miles in a VW bug & arrives tired, just like a normal person.

On to the next! One of the best things about this series is how well it all strings together. Helm is still a WWII veteran. It's not until much later in the series that his character becomes ageless. I'd guess the time is about 1963 (published 1964), although I'm not positive. He'd be in his mid-forties, I think, & he acts like it. ( )

Another detailed and suspenseful spy thriller in the Helm series. It is rather interesting how Hamilton has so many female secondary characters who play significant roles considering it's a typical 60's novel. Of course, the roles are typical female ones, but the female characters are slightly more developed than one would expect given the sexism of the genre and era. ( )

This may be the most consistently dark Helm I have read yet. This time, Helm is in pursuit of a scientist's wife who has made off with some secret papers and is on her way to rendezvous with a foreign agent. Helm's mission, as he chases her across Canada, is to make sure she succeeds! Of course, no one has told any of the other agencies pursuing her that fact! This is a very claustrophobic narrative with very little convincing background details, just Helm's cold internal calculations of what he must do to achieve his mission -- and who may live and die as a consequence. Very very dark and very very well done. ( )