Gavin Tudor Lyall (1932–2003) was a prolific and popular British spy and suspense novels writer. His hands-on experience as a pilot in the Royal Air Force informed his suspense yarns and tales of high adventure.
Born in Birmingham, England, he completed National Service 1951–53, serving as a pilot in the RAF before attending Cambridge University and pursuing journalism at Birmingham Gazette, Picture Post, the BBC, and The Sunday Times.
Lyall drew on his experience as a Royal Air Force pilot to write adventure stories that usually involved dangerous flying missions in exotic places by cynical young men of dubious morals. He found early success with The Wrong Side of the Sky (1961,) The Most Dangerous Game (1963,) Midnight Plus One (1965,) Shooting Script (1966,) and Venus with Pistol (1969.)
In the 1980s, Lyall featured the hero Maj. Harry Maxim, a British Special Forces officer, working on secret assignments for the prime minister’s office at 10 Downing Street. The Secret Servant (1980,) The Conduct of Major Maxim (1982,) The Crocus List (1985,) Uncle Target (1988) displayed expert knowledge of espionage and the government’s inner workings.
Towards the end of his career, Lyall produced novels about the pre-World War I early days of the British secret service: Spy’s Honour (1993,) Flight from Honour (1996,) and Honourable Intentions (1999.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Gavin Lyall
Opinionated writing is always the most difficult… simply because it involves retaining in the cold morning-after crystal of the printed word the burning flow of molten feeling.
—Gavin Lyall
Topics: Journalism
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