Adam Hall; Elleston Trevor — Quiller Meridian

London, Headline, 1993. First edition. Cloth. The scarce first English edition of 'Elleston Trevor's Cold War thriller, seventeenth in the Quiller series. With illustrated dustwrapper designed by David Bull. The Quiller series focuses on a solitary, highly capable spy (named for Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch) who works (generally alone) for a government bureau that "doesn't exist" and narrates his own adventures. Quiller (not his real name) occupies a literary middle ground between James Bond and John le Carré. He is a skilled driver, pilot, diver, and linguist, but does not carry a gun. Quiller narrates his adventures in first person, addressing the reader in an informal tone. The series is very stylised, featuring intense depictions of spy tradecraft and professional relationships, surprising jump cuts between chapters, and deep, sometimes self-pitying interior monologues. The first of the Quiller novels, The Berlin Memorandum (1965) (re-titled The Quiller Memorandum in the US) won an Edgar Award, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Novel. Elleston Trevor (17 February 1920 – 21 July 1995) was a British novelist who wrote under several pseudonyms. Trevor worked in many genres, but is principally remembered for his 1964 adventure story The Flight of the Phoenix, written as Elleston Trevor, and for a series of Cold War thrillers featuring the British secret agent Quiller, written under the pseudonym Adam Hall. In a black cloth binding with gilt lettering to the spine, in original unclipped dustwrapper. Externally, smart. The book is excellent with minimal shelfwear, just one or two slight marks. Dustwrapper is very good and sound with just some shelfwear, a closed tear and slight chipping. Slight bumping to bottom edge of textblock. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean throughout. Very Good Indeed . Ill.: David Bull. Very Good Indeed/Very Good Indeed.