Group Captain Eugene Emile Vielle (E.E. Vielle) was born in London in 1913, the son of a naval officer. His career in the Royal Air Force ranged from being a fighter pilot to world-wide duties during Word War II. He ended the war commanding one of the largest RAF bases in England and in 1949 he was appointed Deputy Director of Operational Requirements at the Air Ministry in London. Quite an impressive career. Vielle celebrates his 100th birthday this year.

Vielle wrote two novels that were marketed as ‘With the Impact of Alistair MacLean’. While No Subway is now a somewhat dated – and justly forgotten – story about problems that could possibly occur during the construction of the Channel Tunnel, his The Shadow of Kuril is a still harrowing story that features HMS Thunderer, the latest of the navy’s nuclear submarines that disappears.

Does The Shadow of Kuril even now has the impact of Alistair MacLean? I dare you to buy and read the novel and I can assure you that it still delivers the same punch as it once did in 1971.

The Shadow of Kuril casts a long shadow. Read it and understand why the publisher thought this novel had (and still has) the impact of Alistair MacLean. The Master Storyteller himself would agree.