Book Review: The Forbidden Territory by Dennis Wheatley

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Dennis Wheatley was a British author who wrote dozens of occult, science fiction and thriller authors from the thirties right through to the sixties. In his time, he was one of the best-selling writers in the world, but strangely he's hardly remembered now. The only reason he's remembered at all seems to be that Hammer Studios adapted three of his books into horror movies in the 1970s. It just goes to show how temporary fame can be. I've read a couple of Dennis Wheatley's novels in the past and really enjoyed them, so when a job lot of books came up on eBay at a reasonable price, I bought them. The first book out of this lot that I've read is also his first published novel. "The Forbidden Territory". First published in 1933, this is also the first of a long-running series featuring the Duke De Reichleau (this is the same character that was played by Christopher Lee in the Hammer adaptation of "The Devil Rides Out".). De Reichleau is a French aristocrat somewhere in his early to mid sixties. He lives in a comfortable flat in London, having been exiled from France about forty years earlier, as a result of his involvement in a subversive political plot. He's an experienced soldier, hunter and explorer, and keeps himself in good condition, despite his liking for fine food and cigars. He's very intelligent and a natural leader. He's also capable of killing a man without hesitation when necessary. The story begins with De Reichleau entertaining his younger friend Simon Aron at his flat. Simon is a successful financier of Jewish origin, and appears to be somewhere in his twenties. The fact that he's Jewish is relevant to the plot at one point, when the group seek help from a friendly Rabbi. Simon's a bit more relatable than De Reichleau, being intelligent, with a good heart, and unused to violence. He's also very loyal to his friends. De Reichleau has received a cryptic letter from another of his young friends, Rex Van Ryn, a large musclebound American, and the wealthy son of a banker. The language in this coded letter suggests that Rex has been locked up in prison somewhere in Russia - and that's all they know. Contacting Rex's father, De Reichleau learns that Rex visited Moscow some time earlier, but has not been heard from lately. Despite the obvious difficulty of looking for Rex in a country the size of Russia, Re Reichleau and Simon agree to travel there to try to rescue him. With his greater experience, and knowledge of Russia and its language, De Reichleau goes there first, with Simon agreeing to meet him in Moscow a week later. This also allows Simon to follow up on a possible lead in London that turns out to be a red herring. While Simon's waiting to depart for Moscow though, he attends a party where he briefly runs into another of his and De Reichleau's friends, Richard Eaton. Eaton's another rich young man, a sporty type with a flying licence. He becomes more closely involved in the story later on. At the same party, Simon meets the famous Russian actress Valeria Petrovna, and the two are immediately attracted to each other. Arriving in Moscow and joining up with De Reichleau, Simon also meets Valeria again, and they begin a passionate affair while Simon and the Duke carry on with their investigation. Thanks to a contact with a British secret agent based in Moscow, and information gained by Valeria (who is a loyal Bolshevik but wants to help Simon), Simon and the Duke eventually learned the Rex was caught in an area of Siberia that's off-limits to foreigners (the "Forbidden Territory" of the title) and locked up in a jail in the frozen North. Armed only with their wits, two smuggled pistols and enough cash to pay for railway tickets and the occasional bribe, the duo head off into the unknown to rescue their friend. As it turns out, once they've located Rex, getting him out of jail isn't too difficult. But now the party is faced with the problem of escaping from Russia, with the secret police after them, and no way to go except on foot further into the frozen wastes of Siberia. What follows is basically an episodic chase across Russia,, with occasional outbreaks of violence as the secret police - led by the vindictive Kommissar Leshkin - try to capture or kill our heroes, a brief diversion to look for some hidden Czarist treasure (Rex's original reason for being in Russia), and help from the beautiful French-speaking daughter of a deceased aristocrat. With shootouts, imprisonment, and even a the hijacking of a military aircraft, the story never slows down much. Out of the three Dennis Wheatley novels that I've read so far, I wouldn't say this is the best. Like a lot of first novels, it's episodic, and some of the characters are a bit cliched. But it is still entertaining, and the mixed gang of amateur heroes are a fairly likeable bunch. If you like period thrillers, this is one to read if you get the chance.