"The Eiger Sanction"

(Reviewed by Judi Clark May 30, 1998)

This is a classically good spy novel.  As the name indicates, it takes place on Eiger mountain which is an interesting enough setting with or without the action. Dr. Jonathan Hemlock is hired to sanction an unidentified target.  All that he is told is that the target is about to climb the Eiger and it is up to Hemlock to figure out the target and, of course, perform the execution. The imagery and dialogue are great.  The Loo Sanction is the sequel featuring Dr. Hemlock once again.

Trevanian claims he wrote these as a spoof on this genre. Funny thing is, it reads just as well if not better than the real thing.

• Amazon reader rating: from 13 reviews

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Bibliography: (with links to Amazon.com)

• The Eiger Sanction (1972)
• The Loo Sanction (1973)
• The Main (1976)
• Shibumi (1979)
• The Summer of Katya (1983)
• Incident at Twenty-Mile (1998)
• Hot Night in the City (June 2000)
• The Crazyladies of Pearl Street (June 2005)

Movies from books:

• The Eiger Sanction (1975)

 

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Book Marks:

• Mostly Fiction's review of Incident at Twenty-Mile

 

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About the Author:

Trevanian is the pseudonym used to protect a very private person who has managed to successfully sell 5 million books without making a single promotional appearance. However, rumor has it that his real identity is Rodney Whitaker since it is believed that author was teaching at University of Texas when The Eiger Sanction was submitted, and Rodney Whitaker is in the credits of that same film. Moreover, a Rodney Whitaker is quoted by Johnathan Hemlock in The Loo Sanction. If he is Rodney Whitaker, then he was born in 1931 in Granville, New York and holds a Ph.D. in Communications. Regardless of his true identity, his books have been translated into more than fourteen languages.

He now lives in the French Basque Mountains.