Running Blind (Bagley novel)
 First edition | |
| Author | Desmond Bagley |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Thriller novel |
| Publisher | Collins |
| Publication date | 1970 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 254 pp |
| ISBN | 0-00-616534-6 |
| OCLC | 15017582 |
| Preceded by | The Spoilers |
| Followed by | The Freedom Trap |
Running Blind is a first person narrative espionage thriller novel by English author Desmond Bagley, first published in 1970 with a cover by Norman Weaver.
Plot
Ex-MI-6 spy Alan Stewart is coerced by his former masters into undertaking a very simple final mission: to deliver a small parcel to a man in Iceland. The mission should be simple for Stewart, as he happens to be fluent in Icelandic and has an Icelandic girlfriend.
However, things go very wrong, very quickly. Soon after his arrival in Iceland he is forced to kill a KGB agent who tries to take the package from him. Then, when Stewart tries to deliver the parcel he realises that he has been doublecrossed and that his former boss is now a double agent. Stewart sets off on a desperate race across some of the world's most rugged, desolate and dramatic scenery, pursued by the KGB, the CIA and his own people, who now think that he has become a traitor. The secret lies in the mysterious parcel and his opponents are more than willing to kill him to prevent him from discovering what that secret is.
Screen adaptations
Geoffrey Reeve was interested in producing a film adaptation and after optioning the rights hired radio dramatist Ian Rodger to write a first draft of a screenplay. However, with Reeves devoting more and more time to the action film Caravan to Vaccarès, the project was shelved.[1]
In 1979 the BBC broadcast a three-part series based on the novel, starring Stuart Wilson, Ragnheiður Steindórsdóttir, George Sewell and Vladek Sheybal, and also featuring Ian McCulloch, Richard Hurndall, Ed Bishop, Joe Praml and Flosi Ólafsson.[2] It was made by BBC Scotland and largely filmed on location in Iceland.[3][4]
External links
References
- ↑ Eastwood, Philip (22 May 2026). "Caravan to Vaccarès: Nemesis of a Running Blind movie adaptation". The Bagley Brief. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
- ↑ "Theiapolis.com". Retrieved 4 December 2012.
As an actress, Ragnheiður Steindórsdóttir has been seen in movies such as "Útlaginn", released in 1981, and "Fálkar"(2002).
- ↑ "Running Blind". IMDB. Retrieved 3 August 2026.
- ↑ "Running Blind". BFI. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 17 December 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2026.