The Sorcerers by David St John

Fawcett Crest 1969

Cover art: Jeff Jones

David St John is one of the many pseudonyms of E Howard Hunt. Others are; Robert Dietrich, Gordon Davis, and P.S. Donoghue. Hunt was a CIA operative from 1949 to 1970. In World War 2 he was in China as a spy working for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) which was basically the CIA before it existed. He was involved in various questionable scandals including the Bay of Pigs, the Watergate scandal (which he did prison time for), the 1954 Guatemalan coup d’etat and for all you conspiracy fans out there, he was part of the CIA’s Domestic Operations Division which would manipulate US news and publishing organizations. And since we’ve already thrown the conspiracy word in there lets also mention he may have had a hand in the JFK and Martin Luther King assignations. Normally I wouldn’t throw in rumors but this guy’s whole being was misinformation so it’s hard to actually know the truth. But when it comes to him being behind all of these tumultuous historical occurrences well, I want to believe.

The Sorcerers is part of the Peter Ward series that had nine entries from 1965 to 1972. The Sorcerers was entry no 8. Supposedly, the Peter Ward character was created as an American reaction to James Bond at the request of deputy chief of intelligence of the CIA, John A McCone. And if all of them read like this one they are essentially American propaganda for democracy. But honestly, most US spy books are or at least throw it in there to cater to that audience. This one is just a little less subtle about it.

The basic premise: CIA agent Peter Ward has been contacted by his Canadian counterpart to investigate a possible connection between Canadian embassy and NATO affairs man Waring and the Russians. Waring has been talking but it’s because the Russians have kidnapped is twenty-year-old daughter. Ward must find out if this is true and if it is, bring the girl back home. The trail leads to a black magic cult. Ward goes undercover and as he gets deeper things aren’t all what they seem.

So many things to say. First off, the first half of this was very conspiracy episode X-Files in tone and mood. What. A. Treat. I’ve watched every X-Files episode multiple times. I love that show. Unfortunately, unlike the X-Files where the supernatural is real, the black magic in Sorcerers is not. Or is it?

Fun fact: The Cigarette Smoking Man was partly inspired by E Howard Hunt.

In my eyes, the book is split into two parts. The first portion is the investigation into the missing girl. Along the trail he uncovers the black magic cult. It was idealized spy fiction with occult overtones. Lots of conspiracy misdirection from people who may or may not have something to do with the kidnapping. Lots of secret meetings with informants at night, including a romantically perfect one at midnight at the Eiffel tower shrouded in shadow. Mystery shots from the darkness. Mission Impossible type undercover work. Hypnotic serum. Microfilm. Defector spies living undercover divulging intel. Note clues pulled out of dead informant’s pockets. The Russians. The ladies. Georgetown, Geneva, Paris, and a mysterious African island. The first section of this book was everything I’ve ever wanted in a spy book. It is simultaneously grounded in reality while loosely swiveling on the ball joint of extraordinary exploitative fiction.

The second portion takes place in Africa. There has already been a conclusion to the initial mystery but now Ward is undercover…in blackface….to infiltrate and dismantle the cult. The latter portion of this book seemed rushed and tacked on to fill out the word count. It could have easily been wrapped up with the kidnapping. And even though it has a lot of action, somehow the pacing feels slower than the front half but that might have something to do with how involved the reader is at this point.

Also, the reasoning as to why the cult exists is ridiculously unbelievable. We’re talking total Alex Jones type conspiracy here. This is where the propaganda that I mentioned comes into play. The whole plot line here seems like something dreamed up to keep the more paranoid population of US citizens in fear. The Russians are converting black people to communism using anti-Christian ideals!! It’s nuts. As the cherry on top the cult is constantly smoking weed. This was written in 1969. Who else in 1969 was constantly smoking weed? You do the math. But Hunt was a master of subterfuge and misinformation with a gift of entertaining writing. And though I hate this type of stuff in the real world, if he had written it well, if it had fit seamlessly into the plot, it would have been fine, even enjoyable in its obviousness. But it wasn’t. It had zero depth. Situations and characters were thrown in recklessly. It just felt like the book was already over.

It does take the path back to the fun of the beginning for a final conclusion involving two ladies and Mr. Ward lounging around poolside drinking gooey blender drinks and getting their freak on so that was nice.

The tacky second half aside, and it’s actually only about a quarter of the back half, this book was incredibly enjoyable. I’ve stated many times, I think Hunt is evil but a great storyteller. It’s always action packed. The mystery is never obvious. The man traveled the world over, hell he was a real spy, so he knows the cultures, languages, and locations to give everything authenticity. When I reviewed the French spy Al Glenne book, I complained that there wasn’t enough Frenchness in it. The Sorcerers has so much Frenchness I was choking on my baguette. Everywhere Peter Ward goes, Hunt has been there and just nails it. After reading it you feel like you’ve been there. I loved this book and can’t wait to read the others in the series.