The Thirty-Nine Steps

I enjoyed both the 1935 and 1959 film adaptations, so figured it was time to finally read this classic from 1915! The Thirty-Nine Steps follows Richard Hannay who is bored with life, and soon finds himself framed for murder and involved in a complex assassination plot. He goes on the run and seems to......more

Scotsman John Buchan’s fabulous The Thirty-Nine Steps is rightly considered a seminal classic in the Adventure/Spy genre, and it is for good reason it was on The Guardian’s Best 100 English Novels list at #42. This exciting tale of espionage defined the man-on-the-run tale in breathless fashion, and......more

What Hitchcock does with this novel is what Italy did for ground meat by inventing lasagna. The meat is here - a race against time and up to Scotland and back - but it might, if you love the Robert Donat film, think it needs . . . something. Salt? Pepper? A blonde? Perhaps a scene where the hero han......more

Run-of-the-mill outmoded thriller. With conventions that pile on & on like wretched clichés, "The 39 Steps" is somewhat thrilling, somewhat entertaining. A sure predecessor to "The Fugitive," it has our main man running from the law while hiding and acting the parts of the British "lower" classes. T......more

The classic (and I believe first) 'a secret society is after me and no one will believe me' story line - reminded me of a kind of proto-James Bond novel. You are really invested in the situation; if things continue on the way they are going there will be a war...a war that will 'ripple' out and cove......more