The Island of Sheep

The last of John Buchan’s thrillers and the final appearance of Richard Hannay, now in retirement reverie deep in the comfortable Cotswolds.

However, he and Sandy [Lord Clanroyden] are roused to action once more to help the son of a recently deceased treasure hunter, called Haraldsen. The heir is receiving threats from Lancelot Troth, a man who believes himself ill treated financially by Haraldsen’s father and seeks revenge and reparation. The mission is complicated when the villain is aided by accomplices prepared to use extortion and child kidnap to achieve their aims.

The action moves from Norfolk to the Scottish Borders and on to the Norlands where the conspirators are finally confronted in a thrilling climax with Hannay’s son and Haraldsen’s daughter involved in the resolution.

Beautiful descriptive passages written by a man obviously at home in the natural world and some philosophic reflections about finding personal peace and contentment make this a fitting end to both Buchan’s important contribution to the genre and the history of Brigadier General Richard Hannay-a man of his time but with an everlasting popularity.

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