{"product_id":"understrike-john-gardner-1st-edition","title":"Understrike, John Gardner — 1st Edition","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublication:\u003c\/b\u003e London, Frederick Muller Limited, 1965\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormatting:\u003c\/b\u003e 8vo, pp. [x], 198.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Report:\u003c\/b\u003e Very Good. The publisher's original red cloth boards remain vibrant, with the silver-stamped titling to the spine bright and completely unrubbed. The binding is firm and square, presenting with negligible shelf-wear to the extremities. The text block edges show typical, age-associated browning, though the interior leaves are generally crisp and clean. The unclipped dust jacket (retaining the 18\/- net price) remains visually striking but exhibits some edge-rubbing, minor creasing, and shallow chipping. The jacket's inner flaps correspondingly bear significant adhesive staining from old tape repairs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCatalogue Note:\u003c\/b\u003e First Edition, first impression. A highly representative example of 1960s British Cold War espionage fiction, this volume constitutes John Gardner's second novel featuring the cowardly and reluctant secret agent, Boysie Oakes. The book is presented in its striking original dust jacket, designed by Mayne Butler, which perfectly captures the era's saturated, hyper-masculine spy aesthetic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile Gardner achieved substantial later acclaim as the official continuation author for the James Bond literary franchise, his original mid-century creations remain a distinct focal point for genre collectors. Standard reading copies of this edition are reasonably common on the secondary market; however, examples retaining their original dust jackets are increasingly desirable.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFollowing his unlikely survival in \u003ci\u003eThe Liquidator\u003c\/i\u003e, the lethargic, blundering, and perpetually terrified British Special Security agent Boysie Oakes is back. When a routine assignment to the United States wildly unravels, Boysie finds himself unwittingly thrust into the centre of 'Operation Understrike,' the high-stakes test-firing of the devastating TREPHOLITE missile from a state-of-the-art sub-aqua craft, the USS \u003ci\u003ePlayboy\u003c\/i\u003e. Dragged on a frantic, cross-country chase from New York to San Diego with his bibulous Chief pushing from behind, Boysie must evade the lethal Soviet operative Vladimir Solev, navigate the romantic entanglements of the beautiful Chicory Triplehouse, and somehow survive an assignment he never wanted in the first place. A classic, tongue-in-cheek send-up of the 1960s super-spy phenomenon.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Broadhursts Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54482728812883,"sku":"4017","price":38.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0960\/1469\/6787\/files\/20260729_154006.jpg?v=1785841884","url":"https:\/\/broadhurstsbooks.com\/products\/understrike-john-gardner-1st-edition","provider":"Broadhursts Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}