According to the dedication, John Buchan wrote this book whilst ill one winter when he had exhausted his supply of what he described as 'shocker' novels - 'the romance where the incidents defy the probabilities and march just inside the borders of the possible'. As a result he decided to write a 'shocker' novel himself and the result is one of the finest thriller/spy stories I've read.

Published in 1915 the outlook of the colonial Richard Hannay can seem quaint and somewhat dated (and occasionally a little racist) but despite this The Thirty Nine Steps runs rings around most modern novels in this genre.

Highly recommended. ( )

The plot of this book is laughable, and is just there you provide a means to move from one set piece to another. But the set pieces themselves are good fun. ( )

There isn’t much to say about this that wasn’t said years ago. ‘The Thirty-Nine Steps’ is John Buchan’s slim, fast-paced thriller, one of the original “spy” novels that later inspired the birth of more familiar heroes like James Bond. Some of the attitudes and references date the book rather noticeably, but anyone who has watched Indiana Jones will recognize and sympathize with the British-German conflict (though this is the earlier, WWI version). It’s a quick read, but a must for anyone who enjoys today’s bulkier thrillers – you should always know who to thank for the things you love.

A rollicking little adventure involving cloak-and-dagger pursuit through the Scottish highlands, involving a bored engineer at a loose end (he has spend a few decades in Rhodesia) and amazingly omniscient and creepy German spies. The language and attitudes are charmingly quaint, if you are prepared to enter into the Edwardian minset. If you're not prepared to do a little imaginative work (as it seems some reviewers here are not), then you shouldn't bother reading any book not set in your time and place.

The plot is certainly contrived, and you will need to suspend belief. There are few women, no sex, and little psychological insight. Stiff upper lip and all. But it was a fun, if not profound, read, and an interesting insight into the mindset of respectable Edwardian Britons.

Classic. One of the first crime novels I can recall reading and one I thoroughly enjoyed. ( )