Horse Under Water: Len Deighton

I have admitted in the past that I did not enjoy The Ipcress File when I read it. It was the first book by Len Deighton that I read, and I was disappointed. I also felt like I was alone in this, since I had read so many favorable reviews. It is on the list of top 100 mysteries for both the CWA in the UK and the MWA in the US.

When I read The Ipcress File, I got lost and had no idea what was going on in the first half. Now that I have experienced more of Deighton's work, I think I should return to that book someday. Shortly after that, I read Berlin Game, the first Bernard Samson novel, and I loved it. I became an immediate Len Deighton fan.

Horse Under Water is the second in the Nameless Spy series, which began with The Ipcress File. I am happy to say that I enjoyed reading it. If you have heard this series referred to as the Harry Palmer novels, that name was given to Deighton’s hero (played by Michael Caine) in the film adaptations; in the books the hero is not named.

In 2009, Jeremy Duns, author of another series of spy novels, wrote a very complimentary article in The Guardian on Deighton's spy novels. At one point, he notes that the complexity in the novels may be what keeps Deighton's books from being widely read today.

Deighton's novels usually contain enough elements for several books. Horse Under Water, for instance, featured a wrecked submarine, forged currency, heroin, ice-melting technology and British Nazis. 

The story is set primarily in Portugal, with some scenes in London. The wrecked submarine is off the coast of a small fishing village in Portugal, and our hero and his crew are diving in search of forged British and American currency. As in most spy novels, things (and people) are not always what they seem.

The nameless spy is more of a common, everyday person than the James Bond type of spy; sure, he visits exotic locales, and he deals with dangerous situations and dangerous people, but he is just a working-class guy, doing a job, and has a girlfriend from the office. (To be honest, I have not read the James Bond novels recently and I am using the image of James Bond that we have from the movies in this comparison.)

In Deighton's introduction to this book, he talks about how he gathered research from the War Museum in Lambeth, using books, films and documents stored there:

In the final year of the war, there had been tremendous scientific advances in undersea warfare and I pursued these reports — British, American and German — with particular zeal. The War Museum’s librarian asked me to help by categorizing the material I examined, so that I became an unofficial member of the Museum staff. At the time, I had no idea that the notes I made would be used for anything other than my interest in history. It was during my stay in Portugal, when I was asking local people about German activity there during the war, that I recalled all that underwater warfare material. The book’s plot fell into place and I started writing.

I also found his comments on the movies starring Michael Caine very interesting:

The indomitable Harry Saltzman, who had co-produced the James Bond films and was making The Ipcress File, solved everything with the sort of unhesitating practical move for which he was renowned. Michael Caine was cast to play the hero of that film and Michael was a Londoner, as I was. He was named Harry Palmer. It was the right decision. Michael and the man of whom I’d written fused perfectly. I am indebted to Michael for the dimensions his skill and talent provided to my character.

For me, the introductions to the reissues of Deighton's book make them worth the price.

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Publisher:  Reissued 2011 by Sterling (first published 1963)
Length:   242 pages
Format:   trade paperback
Series:    Nameless Spy
Setting:   Portugal and the UK
Genre:    espionage fiction