No matter how wearied you may be of the run of spies, the exploits of Boysie, England's less than adroit agent, must be excepted. He is as uninhibited … [in Understrike] as he was in his debut, The Liquidator. How he travels to San Diego to observe a weapons test, and what logically ensues from Boysie on the scene, is more hackle-raising and infinitely more entertaining than any adventure of Bond, Solo, Drake, or whatever your favorite. John Gardner is here to stay.

Dorothy B. Hughes, "Delivering Us from Bondage," in Book Week—The Washington Post, August 8, 1965, p. 19.∗