The Chinese Visitor by James Eastwood

This is the first in a series that lasted for three books about female British spy Anna Zordan written by James Eastwood. Who, by all that I found online, is still alive at age 105?? That can’t be right. If it is, I hope this review isn’t the last thing he sees before his lights go out cause it’s not flattering.

We start in London, in a graveyard. A Chinese ambassador is in town to try and create better relations between his country and the UK. This was written deep in Cold War era, so we get heavy East versus West vibes. But our Chinese Ambassador is a moderate. Yeah, he loves Communism and his country but doesn’t see why we can’t all just get along. Good guy! He’s visiting the cemetery where Karl Marx is buried. Shot rings out. He’s dead and all hell has broken loose.

Just kicking around the cemetery is Anna. She gets arrested in the shenanigans, gets mouthy with a judge, does a couple days, and is released.

Back in her apartment is stone cold killer Russian spy. He’s looking for some papers of her deceased father. She doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He tells her that her parents were spies and he was the one who killed them and now he is going to kill her. She somehow turns the tables and shoots the man with his own gun. An experienced spy of 20+ years. She’s obviously crafty.

She calls an in-case-of-emergency number her father left her. The man who answers is the top spy recruiter in the UK. He invites her to come join. She doesn’t really have anything going on so she’s like, sure, why not?

Cut to the narrative of bad-guy spy; A rich fat American and his wife. He collects destitute people from poor countries and rehomes them in well-to-do countries as spies. He works for China who wants to start a war between the US and Russia so that they will kill each other, and China can take over the world. They were the ones who killed their own man in the London graveyard. He was a moderate after all so no tears were shed.

Anna goes through her spy training and is bad ass.

Out into the field she goes to get in good with American gone bad spy guy to foil his pro-China attempts. Not that he cares who the hell comes out on top as long as he gets rich.

This was pretty tame. It literally felt like someone’s first day on the job and they don’t have much responsibility. The danger was there at times but nothing spectacular. The political stuff was bland. It wasn’t sexy or intriguing though they try.

It was also very Thunderball. They even have the meeting with the spy delegates from all the countries and a faceless “man behind the curtain” leading the group. The climax was one of the biggest let downs of any book I’ve ever read. Like, really?! That’s how you’re going to end it??

There are plenty of great or at least good-bad spy books from this era and unfortunately this one didn’t land in either of the enjoyable groups. It was the iceberg lettuce of 60’s spy fiction.

Dell 1967

Review by Nick Anderson