''Spy Castle'' is the 12th

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

in the long-running

Nick Carter-Killmaster ''Nick Carter-Killmaster'' is a series of spy adventures published from 1964 until 1990, first by Award Books, then by Ace Books, and finally by Jove Books. At least 261 novels were published. The character is an update of a pulp fiction priva ...

series of spy novels. Carter is a US secret agent, code-named N-3, with the rank of Killmaster. He works for AXE – a secret arm of the US intelligence services.

Publishing history

The book was first published in January 1966 (Number A166F) by Award Books part of the Beacon-Signal division of Universal Publishing and Distributing Corporation (New York, United States), part of the

Conde Nast Publications Conde is the Ibero-Romance form of "count" (Latin ''comitatus''). It may refer to: * Counts in Iberia *List of countships in Portugal Places United States * Conde, South Dakota, a city France * Condé-sur-l'Escaut (or simply 'Condé'), a com ...

Inc. The novel was written by Manning Lee Stokes.

Plot summary

The story is set in November 1965. A 50 megaton nuclear missile is launched from

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and detonates over the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

. A terrorist named Pendragon delivers an ultimatum to heads of state in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

. Russia and United States are excluded. The British secret service contacts AXE for assistance. The missile launch is traced to Blackscape – an island in the

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

archipelago controlled by Lord Hardesty – the richest man in the world. His objective is to provoke the destruction of Russia. Carter heads to the north coast of Scotland to begin his investigation. He meets Gwen Leith one of two British

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

agents assigned to the mission and under his command. They wait for orders in a cottage and discover that fellow agent, James Stockes, has been captured. Carter and Leith attend a ceremony on a nearby moor organized by the Militant Druids – a neo-Fascist group supported by Lord Hardesty. Posing as Druids, Carter and Leith infiltrate the ceremony. The highlight is a sexually charged black mass presided over by figure in a devil costume during which agent James Stockes is tied to a cross and burned alive. As an act of mercy, Carter shoots Stockes in the head. The ceremony breaks up in chaos and Carter and Leith attempt to escape across the moor. Leith trips and sprains her ankle; she orders Carter to flee without her. Carter evades capture and boards the

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

overnight mail train. On board he meets Lady Hardesty. She is accompanied by four henchmen employed by her husband to watch over her. She attempts to recruit Carter as her lover, murder her husband and live with her in luxury. Carter overpowers the guards and escapes from the train. Stranded in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

he eventually makes his way to London. He meets up with Ian Travers from

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

who arranges for him to be arrested and taken to

Dartmoor Prison HM Prison Dartmoor is a Prison security categories in the United Kingdom, Category C men's prison, located in Princetown, England, Princetown, high on Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. Its high granite walls dominate this area of the mo ...

with Alfie McTurk, one of Pendragon's henchmen. Carter and McTurk escape from the prison van (with Travers' intervention) en route to Dartmoor and hike across the moor. They stop at an isolated house. McTurk calls his Druid contacts and arranges for a light plane to pick them up. As they wait, McTurk rapes and murders the woman of the house. Carter beats McTurk to death. The plane lands and takes Carter to Blackscape Island. Lady Hardesty has been imprisoned on the island by her husband. She summons Carter and repeats her plan to have him kill Lord Hardesty so that they can rule the world together. To buy time Carter agrees. As a test of loyalty Carter feigns executing Gwen Leith who has also been held captive on the island. Carter overpowers Lady Hardesty and releases Gwen Leith. Together they successfully destroy the three remaining

Titan I The Martin Marietta SM-68A/HGM-25A Titan I was the United States' first multistage intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), in use from 1959 until 1962. Though the SM-68A was operational for only three years, it spawned numerous follow-on mode ...

missiles hidden in silos on Blackscape Island. Lady Hardesty attempts to flee from Blackscape via a small boat. Gwen Leith attacks her and beats her to death with a rock. Carter and Leith use the small boat to escape the island and are picked by a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

submarine. Carter is debriefed by Travers at Scotland Yard. Carter recalls that Lord Hardesty owns a disused movie lot on the outskirts of London and heads there. Lord Hardesty is there alone and asks Carter to kill him rather than bring him to trial. After a scuffle Carter kills him with Hugo – his stiletto. Carter and Leith recuperate from their injuries and take a holiday together in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

Main characters

*Nick Carter (agent N-3, AXE; posing as James Ward-Simmons, Major Ralph Camberwell, Sean Mitchell) *Mr Hawk (Carter's boss, head of AXE) *Pendragon (Cecil Graves, Lord Hardesty; Carter's foe) * Lady Brett Hardesty (wife of Lord Hardesty, Carter's foe) *Ian Travers (

, Carter's ally) *Gwen Leith (

; Colonel in M5A; Double O agent; Carter's ally) *Alfie McTurk (Pendragon's henchman) *James Stockes (

; Double O agent) *Della Stokes (Hawk's private secretary)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spy Castle 1966 novels Nick Carter-Killmaster novels Novels set in Orkney Novels set in the 1960s