280:. Helm, a wartime agent for a secret agency that specialized in assassinating Nazis, is drawn back, after 15 years as a civilian, into a post-war world of espionage and assassination. He narrates his adventures in a brisk, matter-of-fact tone with occasional humor. He describes gunfights, knife fights, torture, and (off-stage) sexual conquests with a carefully maintained professional detachment, like a pathologist dictating an autopsy report or a police officer describing an investigation. During the course of the series, this detachment comes to define Helm's character. He is a professional doing a job; the job is killing people. Hamilton completed one more Matt Helm novel,
202:, Hamilton was a skilled outdoorsman and hunter who wrote non-fiction articles for outdoor magazines and published a book-length collection of them. For a number of years after leaving Santa Fe he lived on his own yacht, then relocated to Sweden, where he lived until his death in 2006. A number of his Matt Helm novels are situated in the Santa Fe area and American Southwest in general; as Hamilton developed an interest in boating, many of the books began to have a nautical component as well.
227:. After World War II, American publishers began to experiment with issuing original paperback fiction. Most of his early novels — published between 1954 and 1960 — were typical paperback originals of the era: fast-paced tales in paperbacks with lurid covers, whether suspense, spy, or western. The most interesting of them is, arguably,
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in 1969, and often praised thrillers of the time. According to Carr's biographer, "Carr found Donald
Hamilton's Matt Helm to be 'my favorite secret agent,'" although Hamilton's books had little in common with Carr's. "The explanation may lie in Carr's comment that in espionage novels he preferred
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with his mother and three sisters at the Port of
Gothenburg, Sweden; the ship arrived at the Port of New York on October 6, 1924. The family's destination was Boston, Massachusetts, where they joined his father, Doctor Hamilton.
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optioned the movie rights to
Hamilton's books in 2002 and began planning a more serious adaptation of the Matt Helm novels, but the project is currently in abeyance.
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series (1960-1993), which chronicles the adventures of an undercover counter-agent/assassin working for a secret
American government agency. The noted critic
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He was married to
Kathleen Hamilton (née Stick) from 1941 until her death in 1989. The couple had four children: Hugo, Elise, Gordon, and Victoria Hamilton.
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in the title role. These farcical movies are based only slightly upon
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Hamilton died while sleeping on
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877:, by Chris Steinbrunner and Otto Penzler, New York, 1976, page 195.
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during World War II as a chemist with the rank of
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133:(March 24, 1916 – November 20, 2006) was an American
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More substantial was the Matt Helm series, published by
237:), in which a mathematician working on the design for a
941:"Finding Aid for the Donald Hamilton papers, 1945-1995"
852:"Finding Aid for the Donald Hamilton papers, 1945-1995"
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in 1960 and comprised 27 books, ending in 1993 with
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611:Assignment: Murder / Assassins Have Starry Eyes
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308:. Carr never valued realism in fiction."
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253:, were adapted from his western novels (
175:Hamilton was born on March 24, 1916, in
155:. He is known best for his long-running
1019:. University of California, Los Angeles
947:. University of California, Los Angeles
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1729:Swedish emigrants to the United States
980:, by Douglas G. Greene, New York, 1995
286:in 2002, that has not been published.
19:For the New Zealand rugby player, see
1689:American non-fiction outdoors writers
984:Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection
917:Pierce, J. Kingston (April 2, 2007).
875:Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection
317:University of California, Los Angeles
7:
1032:Matt Helm: The Unofficial Home Page
1013:"Donald Hamilton papers, 1945-1995"
1744:20th-century American male writers
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1754:American male non-fiction writers
1709:Writers from Santa Fe, New Mexico
1042:Writer at Work: Donald Hamilton,
313:Charles E. Young Research Library
1714:20th-century American novelists
1037:Thriller writer Donald Hamilton
300:Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
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1759:United States Navy reservists
1044:A long article in two parts.
1734:University of Chicago alumni
1694:American spy fiction writers
1017:Online Archive of California
945:Online Archive of California
16:American novelist and writer
907:, New York, 1995, page 443.
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268:company, which began with
235:Assassins Have Starry Eyes
193:United States Navy Reserve
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1575:Iron Men and Silver Stars
735:Iron Men and Silver Stars
214:The Saturday Evening Post
131:Donald Bengtsson Hamilton
39:Donald Bengtsson Hamilton
1656:The Big Country (comics)
1532:The Man From Santa Clara
198:A long-time resident of
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635:(features two stories:
21:Donald Cameron Hamilton
1648:Comic book adaptations
919:"Donald Hamilton Dies"
809:Murderers' Row (novel)
779:, 1958; adaptation of
765:, 1957; adaptation of
751:, 1955; adaptation of
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720:Cruises with Kathleen
189:University of Chicago
99:Sweden, United States
762:Five Steps to Danger
233:, (alternate title:
200:Santa Fe, New Mexico
187:Donald attended the
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1594:On Guns and Hunting
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712:On Guns and Hunting
217:. His first novel,
1548:The Mona Intercept
1516:Assignment: Murder
1444:Date with Darkness
1101:Death of a Citizen
994:, New York, 1976,
988:Chris Steinbrunner
618:The Mona Intercept
579:Date With Darkness
571:Other crime novels
347:Death of a Citizen
271:Death of a Citizen
230:Assignment: Murder
220:Date With Darkness
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1567:Murder Twice Told
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1109:The Wrecking Crew
965:table of contents
905:Douglas G. Greene
888:"Donald Hamilton"
825:The Wrecking Crew
742:Movie adaptations
632:Murder Twice Told
355:The Wrecking Crew
306:Cloud cuckoo land
295:John Dickson Carr
293:" mystery writer
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61:November 20, 2006
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1117:The Removers
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1021:. Retrieved
1016:
992:Otto Penzler
983:
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63:(2006-11-20)
1684:2006 deaths
1679:1916 births
1586:Non-fiction
1540:Texas Fever
793:Dean Martin
704:Non-fiction
688:Texas Fever
289:The noted "
141:, but also
139:spy fiction
121:Creator of
112:non-fiction
108:Spy fiction
96:Citizenship
88:Nationality
1673:Categories
1084:series by
861:2021-12-26
833:DreamWorks
291:Golden Age
266:Gold Medal
149:, such as
72:Occupation
44:1916-03-24
1508:Mad River
1428:Matt Helm
1379:Matt Helm
1082:Matt Helm
664:Mad River
338:Matt Helm
181:Stockholm
157:Matt Helm
123:Matt Helm
1468:Deadfall
648:Westerns
637:Deadfall
225:Rinehart
147:westerns
80:Language
53:, Sweden
1023:May 13,
972:Sources
951:May 13,
925:May 27,
335:Series
315:at the
177:Uppsala
83:English
51:Uppsala
1659:(1958)
1640:(1958)
1632:(1957)
1624:(1955)
1605:(1980)
1597:(1970)
1578:(1967)
1570:(1950)
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1471:(1949)
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1455:(1947)
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1430:series
1382:(1975)
1363:(1969)
1355:(1967)
1347:(1966)
1339:(1966)
1312:(1993)
1304:(1992)
1296:(1989)
1288:(1987)
1280:(1986)
1272:(1985)
1264:(1984)
1256:(1983)
1248:(1982)
1240:(1977)
1232:(1976)
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1208:(1972)
1200:(1971)
1192:(1969)
1184:(1968)
1176:(1966)
1168:(1965)
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1136:(1962)
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1120:(1961)
1112:(1960)
1104:(1960)
1093:Novels
998:
828:, 1969
820:, 1967
812:, 1966
804:, 1966
727:Editor
1328:Films
986:, by
903:, by
839:Notes
732:1967
717:1980
709:1970
693:1955
685:1960
677:1960
669:1958
661:1956
653:1954
629:1947
616:1980
608:1956
600:1955
592:1954
584:1948
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560:2002
552:1993
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536:1989
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360:1961
352:1960
344:1960
331:Works
104:Genre
1080:The
1025:2015
996:ISBN
990:and
953:2015
927:2014
639:and
257:and
247:and
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171:Life
145:and
58:Died
36:Born
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