Helen MacInnes's new novel [Agent in Place] opens with the theft, by Chuck Kelso, a foolish and idealistic young American, of a top-secret Nato memorandum. Part of this is leaked to the press; the far more important second half, however, falls into the hands of a Soviet agent, and the rest of the novel concerns the efforts of English, French and American intelligence departments, with some amateur assistance, to repair the huge breach that has been blown in their security. The motive behind Chuck's action is his belief that there is a need to know, a "moral obligation to publish and jolt the American people into the realities of today".

Some writers might have used the clash between two moral obligations as the theme of their novel; Helen MacInnes's scheme of values, however, as Chuck finds to his cost, is as black and white as the shadow and...