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1971 novel by Desmond Bagley
The Freedom Trap
is a
novel
written by
English
author
Desmond Bagley
, and was first published in
1971
with a cover by
Norman Weaver
. It was loosely based on the escape of
George Blake
from prison five years before. In 1973 it was made into a film entitled
The Mackintosh Man
, starring
Paul Newman
.
Plot introduction
[
edit
]
Joseph Rearden is a better-than-average crook from
South Africa
with a jail conviction on his record. In London, he meets an agent of the British Government called Mackintosh, who recruits him for a new and deadly assignment - to snare The Scarperers (a notorious gang of criminals who organise gaol-breaking for long-term prisoners) and Slade, a notorious Russian
double agent
whom they have recently liberated. Rearden is asked to rob a postman with a package of uncut diamonds, for which he will be caught and sent to jail in the hope that this will attract the attention of the Scarperers. Thinking that this will be an easy score, Rearden accepts. He is successful, but finds that he has been freed by the Scarperers to help fulfil their own evil political agenda. The trail goes to
Malta
, where Rearden must outwit the Scarperers in order to save his own life.
Bagley carried over the Slade character from
Running Blind
.
External links
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edit
]