Destination Unknown audiobook

I am surprised at the lower rating of this book. Is this from Christie fans who expected a Poirot or a Marple and didn't get one? I can't find a flaw here. It's a one-off thriller, very fifties in concept and style. (Well, duh, written at that time.) I think it holds up well. Scientists are disappearing from western countries. The cold war is in full swing, and British intelligence is trying to figure out where and how they go, focusing on the latest disappearance. It's a clever thriller with good action and suspense, but most importantly, with Christie's expert sub-plots and plot twists, including a spectacular double twist at the end. I didn't think: it's seventy years out of date, I thought: it's a perfect period piece, capturing the world as it was then. (France has African colonies, commercial airlines use propeller-driven planes, and communist spies are suspected everywhere.) Christie wrote this novel shortly after the Cambridge spy ring (Burgess, MacLean, Philby) were exposed (Soviet agents high in British Intelligence.) Possibly the scandal prompted her to write the story.

One of the best Christie novels. A fast paced spy thriller, it has all elements of international espionage and intrigue. And in true Christie fashion there is a twisted end. The story line is so gripping that you would want to finish it in one go. Superb reading

A delightful meaningless romp.The queen of mystery took a break from Poirot and Marple to produce a post-war action/adventure thriller story about the mysterious disappearance of scientists all over the world and the unlikely spy who cracks the case. Always moving (to a destination unknown), along the way there is murder, adventure, mistaken identity, and even love, all with that Agatha Christie tongue-in-cheek humor and charm in a decidedly more Hitchcockian vein.Destination Unknown is Tommy & Tuppence meet “The Lady on the Train.” Good clean fun. I’m surprised it’s never been turned into at least a made-for-tv movie. Recommended for a palate cleaning reading break or a rainy afternoon.

Destination Unknown, first published in 1954, is a standalone by Christie that falls firmly into her thriller category, in fact even more so than some of her other thrillers I have read/reread recently as we have no murder mystery at the start (as for instance, in The Man in the Brown Suit, They Came to Baghdad or The Secret at Chimneys), but more of a spy plot. I read this as the November pick for my Goodreads group challenge reading lesser known Christies this year.The book opens with a couple of secret agents Wharton and Jessop who are dealing with the problem of top scientists going missing, having possibly ‘crossed the Iron curtain’. Thomas Betterton, a scientist who has worked on some important technology, has like these others, recently disappeared. His wife, Olive, claims she knows nothing about his disappearance and looks suitably worried, but the agents are convinced she knows more than she is letting on. Parallelly, we meet Hilary Craven, a woman whose marriage has broken up (her husband has remarried), and who has lost her only child to an illness. Heart-broken and in deep despair, she tries first to escape her past by travelling to Morocco, and when she realises this will cure nothing, by attempting suicide. But also in Morocco, is agent Jessop who is on the trail of Olive Betterton. When Olive dies in an accident, Jessop convinces Hilary who is a lot like Olive in appearance to take her place and help them track down the missing scientists.Hilary agrees and so begins her adventure where at first, she must travel to different destinations in Morocco following Olive Betterton’s itinerary; here she meets other British and American travellers, and waits to see what happens. She almost begins to believe it a pointless exercise, but then, she is contacted by someone, and with that begins another journey, which takes her not quite to the place she was expecting to be taken, and where she finds things very different from what she had thought, as well.As I always write when I review Christie’s thrillers, these are no where near the same level as her traditional mysteries but if one suspends disbelief a little (in some cases anyway), they can be a fair bit of fun for she does have likeable characters (and mostly very spunky heroines) and builds up the suspense very well; and of course, there is always a twist one doesn’t see coming.So was the case with this one. Destination Unknown has in fact surprised me each time I read it—this was the third or may be even fourth time I read it. When I had read it previously, I had forgotten whodunit and was in for a good surprise while on this read, I remembered who but what exactly was done I couldn’t quite remember, so once again I had fun reading it. While in the initial parts of the story one is involved in Hilary’s story and the sorrow she has had to bear, once the adventure, and her journey as Olive begins, one really begins to get pulled into that thread wondering just where we are going, and what we will find there. Like many of the other heroines in Christie’s thrillers, Hilary too, is spirited and doesn’t let anything faze her. The missing or rather defecting scientist plot is something I think was a valid concern at the time the book was written (the Wikipedia entry for the book mentions scientists from Los Alamos who vanished), and something that has been explored by other authors as well, including if I remember right, Enid Blyton, in one of the Famous Five books. The plot touches on issues of politics (at least the characters different political beliefs), science and scientists’ need for freedom to do their work, and also the related moral considerations. Alongside we have another plot that is moving along, and another mystery, which is revealed only towards the end, but to which we realise we have been given clues all through, and which I certainly didn’t see coming the first time around.We also have a romance thread, more than one character with secrets or hidden identities, and some local colour which we encounter during Hilary’s travels in Morocco.All in all, this made for a fun revisit. 3.75 stars

O poveste mult prea scuta, un mister bine pus la punct, cu un final pe masura.Chiar si in lipsa lui Poirot sau Marple, misterul este la el acasa. 😃

f you open up an Agatha Christie novel looking forward to a nicely arranged corpse in front of a roaring fire, and Hercule Poirot standing over them – then this one might disappoint – though it shouldn’t. There are no corpses – and no Poirot or Marple – not even a brace of Beresfords.This is one of Christie’s thrillers – and it is excellent in a similar way to the They Came to Baghdad was. Like so many Christie’s novels set in the places she travelled to – there is a great sense of place, and she always portrays that peculiar species – the Brit abroad – so well too. In place of bodies, poison, blackmail and detectives, we have British Intelligence, disappearing scientists, a shadowy organisation proposing a new world order, and a wonderfully plucky woman.“Why do you decry the world we live in? There are good people in it. Isn’t muddle a better breeding ground for kindliness and individuality than a world order that’s imposed, a world order that may be right today and wrong tomorrow? I would rather have a world of kindly, faulty, human beings, than a world of superior robots who’ve said goodbye to pity and understanding and sympathy.”A famous British scientist Thomas Betterton has gone missing – and with conflicting reports of sightings, British intelligence are getting twitchy. For Betterton is the inventor of ZE Fusion, and it is well known that there are those who would like to get their hands on it. Other scientists have also disappeared. A man called Jessop invites Betterton’s wife in for a little chat – no one is quite sure if she knows where her husband of six months has gone or not. Olive Betterton is exhausted from the press speculation and worry – and asks permission to go abroad to get away from it all – she was thinking about Morocco.Permission granted Olive Betterton sets off, a carefully orchestrated tail in close pursuit. However, Olive’s plane to Casablanca crashes, and Olive lies insensible in hospital, one of just a few survivors, the doctors predict she won’t live long.Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2018/...

Now this is the type of Mystery book that makes me love to read! I love reading Agatha Christie the best...in her books there are no cursing, violence, etc. They make you have to use your mind. This book is not a "serial" from what I can gather...there is no Tommy & Tuppence, Miss Marple or M. Hercules Peirot to solve the crime. I actually did not get all the story till the end. There were more than one tale woven into this story.

Danger! Disguises! Spies! The Iron Curtain!This book would fit much better under the class of thriller than mystery. It features a great female protagonist who has been dealt a really harsh hand (cheating husband, death of a child), and is stopped from committing suicide with an offer to dip her toes in the pool of espionage.It was written during a time when everyone was giving Russia/communism an extremely intense side eye, so the general fear of those and other related things aren't necessarily as applicable to today. Don't let that dissuade you though, because that's not really what the book is about anyway.Like I said, although there's the bare premise of a mystery (what on earth is happening to all of these smart people?) it's just not that kind of book. That's not to say it isn't a fun and worthwhile read, I just don't want anyone to come into it with the wrong expectations. I'm not the biggest fan of the ending, it's a little anti-climactic.If you enjoy Christie and want to experience something a little different from her norm, I suggest picking up this book or one of the other suspense thrillers she wrote.

Destination Unknown is the book of the month for July’s reading challenge. I was pleasantly surprised that Agatha Christie (AC) had ventured into something unique and away from her comfort zone. Her hesitation to take up bold moves in the story does show but this was, nonetheless, a satisfying read to say the least.Here’s a quick summary for you before getting to the review.SummaryWhen a number of scientists begin to disappear, the intelligence community is concerned. Their only hope is Mrs Olive Betterton, wife of one of the missing scientists. Meanwhile, Hilary Craven is just about to commit suicide when a knock on the door shocks her and disrupts all her plans. But she is even more shocked to find a man on the other side, offering her a more exciting way to die.What I LikedNow, this isn’t a popular Agatha Christie book by people’s choice. The reason being, it isn’t your regular who-dun-it that is expected from the author. Destination Unknown has a unique story line, very different from what AC usually brings us.Honesty, I loved it! No, I’m not being partial to AC here, I just simply loved that she tried something so different from her regular plots and which was also updated of its time. I personally feel that she succeeded. I enjoyed the book.The story has some strong female characters, very gutsy. I must point out that the plot caught me unaware, pleasantly though. It reminded me of the James Bond movies of the 70s.What I Did Not LikeSpy stories are not AC’s forte but the book isn’t something I would steer away from.Other DetailsDestination Unknown is one of those books that do not feature any of the AC detectives. A standalone and adventurous tale.Would I Recommend It?Yes! If you’re looking for something different from AC, then do give this a go.