Man in the Cage, The-Jack Vance novel, book review

Man in the Cage, The-Jack Vance novel

The Man in the Cage is an excellent, exciting, intriguing, suspenseful,198 page, mystery novel written by Jack Vance under the name of Ellery Queen.  It was probably written in 1958. I’ve read all 14 of Vance’s mystery novels several times and this is my favorite. It is extremely well written, and I savored reading many of the highly descriptive sentences and passages.  Vance provides outstanding physical and psychological descriptions of many colorful characters along with a picturesque portrait of the exotic life in Morocco during the time of the Algerian civil war.  At times his prose was so vivid and visual that I felt like I was watching a movie instead of reading a book.  In 1961 Vance was given the Edgar mystery book award for Best First Novel for The Man in the Cage.  It was also made into an episode of the "Thriller" TV series, season 1, episode 18.

Vance is justly famous for his ability to describe unusual planets, societies and cultures but usually these are fantasy locations.  Here he describes Morocco, especially Tangier and the ancient city of Fez, along with many of their eccentric and often venturesome inhabitants.  As usual, there is also great Vancian dialog and plenty of action.

One of the main characters, Noel Hutson, is involved with gun smuggling during the Algerian war for independence.  When he gets into a difficult situation during a smuggling trip, he sends a letter requesting assistance to his brother and father who live in the U.S. and then disappears.  His brother, Darrell Hutson, flies to Morocco to locate and assist Noel and encounters a strange underworld culture of smuggling, crime and intrigue where secrets and hidden motivations are common.  Darrell does not know who to believe or trust because deceit and self interest are the norm while scams, cons and dangerous behaviors abound.  While searching for his brother, Darrell is assisted by Ellen with whom he becomes infatuated. Some readers might find some of Ellen's behavior to be somewhat improbable.  I did find the relationship between Darrell and Ellen to be rather stylized, but was not distracted by this.  Overall, I really enjoy reading this novel, which I’ve read three times so far, and rated it a 5 out of 5.