Bagley, Desmond

(British, 1923–83)

Born in Kendal, Bagley began working in the printing industry at the age of 14. He was a journalist before becoming a prolific writer of thrillers in the early 1960s. Begin with a treasure quest through the Mexican rainforest in The Vivero Letter (1968), typical of much of his work in its tautly crafted narrative of adventure in wild natural surroundings. Bahama Crisis (1980) is set amid the affluence of luxury hotels, whose business is threatened by violent sabotage. The hunt for a missing industrialist leads through the arctic forests of Scandinavia in The Enemy (1977), which centres on rivalries over genetic engineering secrets. Juggernaut (1985) follows the progress of a huge transporter-wagon as it bears its cargo of electrical equipment through an African state undergoing civil war.

  Jack Higgins, Hammond Innes  DH