Rhodesia (Killmaster novel)

Rhodesia is the fortieth novel in the long-running Nick Carter-Killmaster series of spy novels.^[1] Carter is a US secret agent, code-named N-3, with the rank of Killmaster. He works for AXE – a secret arm of the US intelligence services.

Publishing history

The book was first published in 1968 by Award-Tandem Books (Number A409X) by Universal Publishing and Distributing Corporation (New York, USA) and Universal-Tandem Publishing Co. Ltd. (London, England). The novel was written by William L. Rohde.,^[2][3] Copyright was registered on 7 November 1968.^[4]

Tagline

In which: violence and intrigue explode across Africa, as Nick Carter smashes an organization of assassins, led by a fanatic Nazi

Plot summary

AXE sends Carter to investigate Rhodesian sanction-busting exports of gold to China and an organization of assassins possibly led by Carter’s arch-enemy, Judas (Martin Bormann). Carter goes undercover as tour guide Andrew Grant, taking a dozen female college students on a 30-day tour of Rhodesia. The tour is led by Gus Boyd. At the airport prior to departure Carter sees a man surreptitiously give tour group member, Booty Delong, a small package.

Upon arrival in Rhodesia, Carter and Boyd approach shady businessman Alan Wilson to discuss setting up a gold smuggling operation between Rhodesia and India in the hope it will draw out Judas' smuggling contacts. Wilson has no need for new contacts and warns Carter to stay away from THB (Taylor Hill-Boreman), a Rhodesian gold mining company, which Carter suggested he might contact. Wilson secretly photographs Carter and sends the pictures to Mike Bor (Martin Bormann) chairman of THB who recognizes Carter as his old enemy.

Carter follows Booty DeLong when she refuses to join the tour for the day. She heads to a farm in the Rhodesian countryside where she meets up again with the man at the airport. Carter observes her return the package to him. The package contains cash to support rebels fighting the Rhodesian army. The farm owner, Pieter van Prez, intends to detain Carter overnight. Carter releases a canister of knockout gas and escapes.

Carter visits the Rhodesia Railways office in Salisbury posing as a railway journalist. He probes about freight movements to and from the THB mine. He is followed from the railway office by Stash Foster, an assassin sent by Judas. Carter kills Stash in a vicious knife fight.

Carter flies to Wankie National Park and rejoins the tour group. On an afternoon safari his bus is attacked by Judas's men posing as park workers. After a prolonged chase across the park, Carter and the tour group meet Ross – a rebel leader.

Carter and Ross team up to devise a strategy to enter the vast THB mining enclosure and gather evidence. Carter sets out alone. When Ross returns to their base camp to escort the female tourists back to the main camp he finds they have been captured by THB scouts.

Carter readily discovers the extent of the gold smuggling activities of THB. He manages to get a message to his contact at the railway company to inform the Rhodesian police. Carter targets Judas at a villa inside the THB compound. The captured female tourists are also held there. Carter crashes a truck into the heavily defended villa. In the confusion Judas escapes. Ross and the Rhodesian police arrive in support. Carter sticks to his cover story and allows the police to take credit for the exposure of THB’s illegal activities.

Carter completes the rest of the tour in the company of the young women.

Main characters

• Nick Carter – agent N-3, AXE (posing as Andrew Grant, tour guide)
• David Hawk – head of AXE; Carter's boss
• Booty Delong – American heiress; rebel sympathizer; tourist
• Ross – rebel leader
• Mike Bor – chairman of Taylor Hill-Boreman mining company (aka Martin Bormann /Judas)
• John H Johnson – Malcolm X supporter; rebel sympathizer
• Alan Wilson – Rhodesian businessman and gold smuggler
• Martha Ryerson – AXE agent, P21, stationed in Rhodesia
• Stash Foster – Judas's henchman

Other information

• Timeline: the story is set in September – October 1967 based on the following: winter is coming in the US and ending in Rhodesia (Chapter 1) – the dry season in Rhodesia, equivalent to winter, runs from April to October;^[5] the price of gold is referenced as USD35/ounce. The price of gold was largely stable at this level until March 1968^[6]
• Carter stays at Meikles Hotel^[7] in Salisbury
• Gus Boyd misquotes Virgil: “Varia et mutabilis semper femina”, which should be: “Varium et mutabile semper femina” (Woman is ever fickle and changeable) (Chapter 6)
• Carter's exceptional memory was proved at a memory test at Duke University where he matched 67 strangers faces and names (Chapter 6)
• Carter refers to David P. Morgan's photographic contribution to Trains (Chapter 6)^[8]
• Footnote in Chapter 1 refers to recurring character, Si C’sian Kalgan from The Judas Spy (Nick Carter #33) also written by William L. Rohde
• Carter poses as a railway journalist and displays a detailed knowledge of trains reflecting the author's (William L. Rohde) previous published work and long-standing interests.,^[9][10]
• The front cover of the US 1st edition states “Over 7,000,000 Nick Carter books in print!”

Errors

• Timeline: Gus Boyd refers to Penn Central which was formed in February 1968; which is not consistent with the supposed timeline of September–October 1967; it is plausible that the story could be set in September–October 1968 – however, the price of gold stated in the text does not support this later date (see above)
• Carter states that the gold output of Rhodesia is 55x less than South Africa (Chapter 2). In 1967, the supposed date of the story, Rhodesian gold production was 60-fold lower than South Africa. The production data quoted in the text tally most closely with 1965 output.^[11]
• Lieutenant is spelled leftenant throughout the book

References

1. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/nick-carter/
2. Serial Vigilantes of Paperback Fiction: An Encyclopedia from Able Team to Z-Comm. Bradley Mengel. 2009. ISBN 978-0-7864-4165-5
3. http://www.spyguysandgals.com/sgShowAuthor.asp?ScanAuthor=Rohde_William_L
4. Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series: 1968: July–December. By Library of Congress. Copyright Office, p2473
5. https://www.safaribookings.com/zimbabwe/climate
6. http://www.numbersleuth.org/worlds-gold/
7. http://www.meikles.com/about/history
8. http://cs.trains.com/trn/b/fred-frailey/archive/2010/07/27/the-man-they-called-d-p-m.aspx
9. Border Line (Central Vermont Railway). William L. Rohde. Railroad Magazine 43(3):August 1947.
10. Canada Rolls Its Own. William L. Rohde. Railroad Magazine 44(3):December 1947.
11. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/ar/archive/pdf/ar1968.pdf (Table 25, p88)