Written with the usual Nevil Shute pace, which is oddly compelling. But I can tell it's one of his early books. Moran, the main character, is an agent on an estate. One stormy night he happens upon Lenden, a flyer he knew in the war. He takes the guy in and helps him, even after he found out the guy was working to gather espionage for the Russians. (The book is set between the World Wars.) He tracks down the Lenden's estranged wife and somehow she and Moran convince the guy that what he was doing was wrong. But two Russian agents break into Moran's cottage and steal the photo plates Lenden had taken. Lenden takes off to Italy after them, and Moran follows in Lenden's repaired plane. Lenden is captured by Russians in Italy. Moran crashes his plane and is injured. But then Sheila, Moran's fiancee, shows up with some random guy who patches up Moran's injuries, convinces to local Facists to attack the Russians, and leads the attack. The Russians are captured, the plates are destroyed, but Lenden is killed. Moran heads back to England and marries Sheila. And so Moran wasn't really the hero. The book was just about Lenden, this shiftless guy who was willing to spy on his own country for money but then got a bit of a conscience when it was almost too late and got himself killed.