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Lionel Davidson

This page lists novels by Lionel Davidson. The list includes three novels for young adults published using the pen name David Line.

Cover images are, where possible, of the first UK edition and a recent paperback or digital edition.

 

Lionel Davidson: Novels

The Night of Wenceslas

Lionel Davidson

Gollancz

1960

"Nicolas Whistler is young, bored and in debt. When an opportunity to make some money arises, he can't turn it down. He is sent to Prague to carry out a simple assignment, but he soon finds himself trapped between the secret police and the clutches of the mysterious Vlasta. Whether he likes it or not, Nicolas is now a spy."
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The Rose of Tibet

Lionel Davidson

Gollancz

1962

"A filmmaker is reported dead near Mount Everest. His brother, Charles Houston, is convinced he's alive and is determined to find him. It's a dangerous expedition. He travels from India to the forbidden land of Tibet. In the Yamdring monastery, he discovers an emerald treasure guarded by a woman with a deadly secret. But the Chinese army is coming."
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A Long Way to Shiloh

Lionel Davidson

Gollancz

1966

"Casper Laing, the young, fiery and brilliant Professor of Semitic Languages, is asked to decipher an ancient parchment found in Israel. Piecing together its mysterious fragments, his translation soon reveals directions to a shrouded location. Believed to be the secret hiding place of the True Menorah, an ancient and priceless Jewish candelabrum, the Jordanians and Israelis begin a frantic race to claim the prize. Surrounded by violent and treacherous rivals, Casper is enjoined on a deadly adventure deep into the burning Negev desert."
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Making Good Again

Lionel Davidson

Jonathan Cape

1968

"James Raison, is a lawyer. In Germany to deal with a claim for reparation he is plunged into the old conflict between Jew and Nazi. His trip becomes more dangerous as the legal aspects of the case become more complicated. At the same time he has to cope with his affair with Elke and his fascination for her fascist mother, Magda."
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Smith's Gazelle

Lionel Davidson

Jonathan Cape

1971

"Two deadly enemies - a young Arab rebel and a Jewish runaway - meet in a remote valley to begin a quest. Both have been taught since infancy to hate; to attack for self-defence. But something incredible is happening to them, something that not even the fierce shelling of the Six-Day War can intrude upon. For they are on a fantastic mission, a mission both believe has been set for them by God."
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The Sun Chemist

Lionel Davidson

Jonathan Cape

1976

"Chaim Weizmann was a great man, one of the founders of modern Israel. He was also a chemist of international repute. His work in the thirties led him to a cheap way of synthesising oil. But politics took over and it seemed Weizmann had died without passing on his revolutionary knowledge. In the oil-starved seventies, it falls to Igor Druyanov to reconstruct that magic formula. And the chase is on, for the news will overturn the Middle East."
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The Chelsea Murders

Lionel Davidson

Jonathan Cape

1978

"A terrifying and grotesque figure bursts into a young art student's room. Head covered with a clown's wig, face concealed by a smiling mask, it wears the rubber gloves of a surgeon. Seizing the girl, she is chloroformed, suffocated and - horrifyingly - beheaded. It's only the beginning of a series of murders terrorising London's fashionable bohemia. The police target three avant-garde filmmakers. One of them is mocking the other two - and openly taunting the police as well. Their film itself shows clues. Indeed the murderer even shows himself - in a mask. But which of them is behind it? That's the problem. Fast paced, terrifying and gripping, this is a page-turning thriller from a master of the genre."
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Under Plum Lake

Lionel Davidson

Jonathan Cape

1980

A novel for young adults.

"A young boy is ushered into a subterranean world where he encounters a civilization and kingdom unlike anything above ground."
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Kolymsky Heights

Lionel Davidson

Heinemann

1994

"Kolymsky Heights. A Siberian permafrost hell lost in endless night, the perfect setting for an underground Russian research station. It's a place so secret it doesn't officially exist; once there, the scientists are forbidden to leave. But one scientist is desperate to get a message to the outside world. So desperate, he sends a plea across the wildness to the West in order to summon the one man alive capable of achieving the impossible."
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Lionel Davidson novels published using the pen name David Line

Run for Your Life

David Line

Jonathan Cape

1965

"Szolda, - or Soldier, as his English friend Woolcott calls him - overhears a conversation between two men and is convinced the two of them are planning a murder. Soldier and Woolcott then become dangerously involved trying to probe their story."
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Mike and Me

David Line

Jonathan Cape

1974

"A story of two boys who become involved in a fight against a gang of thugs."
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Screaming High

David Line

Jonathan Cape

1985

"Encouraged by Nick, Ratbag tries out for the school band and even enters an international competition, but gets caught between the police and a crime syndicate."
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Last updated April 2018