Pale by comparison

Press, 7 December 1985, Page 20

Pale by comparison

Juggernaut. By Desmond Bagley. Collins, 1985. 320 pp. $24.95.

There is something unseemly about issuing books written, or what is worse, only partly written, by authors who have passed over to the great word processor in the sky. It is particularly unseemly when the result is not as good as their earlier works. Desmond Bagley was, perhaps, the best adventure writer of his generation; books such as “The Freedom Trap”, “Flyaway”, and “The Enemy” were superb escapist romps that could hold the reader in complete thrall. By comparsion, “Juggernaut” is pale. The most interesting thing about “Juggernaut” is the 550-ton juggernaut itself. It has a fairly solid, unchanging character even though it is carrying a transformer. Nevertheless, as a character it outstrips those who are responsible for moving it through Nyala, a West African State.

As the group of American and British juggernaut-moving specialists make their slow, but inexorable progress, Nyala becomes caught up in civil " war, with its rich oil deposits beckoning everyone.

The juggernaut has slowly to keep changing direction and backtracking and eventually ends up as a moving hospital, festooned with doctors, nurses, the wounded and ill. But no matter what happens, since the juggernaut itself is either at rest or moving very slowly, it acts as a brake on the action.

Neil Mannix is in charge of this lot. He is a tough, middle-aged American who is equal to anything and has the perfect name for an adventure story. Eventually, he manages to work out everything more or less satisfactorily, but with plenty of twists, turns and scrapes along the way. All of which is the proper setting and material of adventure stories, but is does not work with the proper Bagley verve. It needed his hand, rather than his wife’s, to put on the finishing touches. However, it is not a bad read and in paperback would certainly be good enough value to complete the collection. Just don’t expect the gripping, compelling Desmond Bagley of old.—Ken Strongman.