The Cry of the Halidon contains all the requisite elements of the genre made famous by the 007 books and films. The exotic locale is Jamaica, as is the first Bond film, Dr. No. There is the obligatory Secret Service agent equipped with a license to kill and electronic gadgetry, an ego-maniacal malefactor bent on dominating the world, a powerful and evil organization of which he is Number One, and victims who get eliminated while trying to expose the latter's evil schemes.

There is the single, unmarried, and charismatic hero who, like Bond, is an improviser, frequently in contravenience of routine methods and 'proper' channels of the law, as well as the inevitable damsel in distress who succumbs to his charms.

There are also car chases, gun and fist fights, and spectacularly contrived assassinations; and, at the end, the climactic race against the clock to free the...