Dr David Audley Books In Order

Publication Order of Dr David Audley & Colonel Jack Butler Books

The Dr David Audley series is a famous novel series of espionage thriller novels written by the well known British novelist named Anthony Price. It is comprised of 19 books in total, which were released between the year 1970 and 1989. The series is also known by the name Dr David Audley and Colonel Jack Butler, based on the names of its two main characters. Each and every novel of this thriller series focuses on a working of a counterintelligence team of agents, who are part of an organization similar to MI5. The agents are shown as referring obscurely to their employer as the Defense Ministry. In the later parts of the series, it becomes absolutely clear that the specific department of the counter intelligence group is like MI5. It is also learned with the progress of the novel series that the budget of the secret agency is kept hidden under the tab of Research & Development. The first head of the agency is depicted as Sir Frederick Clinton, who is replaced midway of the suspense series by Col. Jack Butler. The agency has its best agent in the role of David Audley. He is a former historian and currently working as a spy. David is well known for making use of unorthodox tactics, his historical interests, and his liking for the quotes of Kipling. Each of the novels feature David Audley as the main lead. However, the author has not regarded him as the point of view characters for all the books. In the debut novel, David comes across his future wife and is seen as the central character. But, several other operatives get introduced in the later books and have a central plot of their own. They include Jack Butler, Hugh Roskill, Paul Mitchell, etc. Enmities and rivalries do exist within the agents of the department.

Author Price has gone one step ahead from the typical espionage thrillers by describing the stories through the viewpoint of the ones who dislike or oppose David Audley. The spy service described by Price appears to be belonging to the recent Britain, unlike the other spy thrillers. The stories also feature female agents in active roles. A couple of them include Elizabeth Loftus and Frances Fitzgibbon. The series also features repeated appearances from the Russian opponent of David Audley, named Professor Panin. The novels mostly traverse in real time. The characters are shown changing and evolving with each book. And between the debut novel and the last one, it is depicted that a period of 20 years has passed. Several titled are also shown cutting away from the timeline by depicting the exploits from the youths of Butler and Audley around the World War II. An important feature of all the plots is that all of them are connected with a few important historical military events somehow. Most of them typically contain strong elements of archaeology. A television series adapted from the first 3 books of the series was Broadcast on the British television in 1983. This series is called Chessgame, which was a 6 part television show. The TV series was shown again in 1986 in the form of 3 different TV movies. In the TV series, the characters of Roskill and Audley are given the main roles, while Butler’s character has been renamed and replaced to suit the plots of the television movies. The first and fifth books of the book series have been adapted as one-off dramas by the BBC Radio. Martin Jarvis starred in the lead role of Paul Mitchell in one of the dramas.

An initial book written in the series by author Price is entitled ‘Our Man in Camelot’. It was released by the Gollancz publication in the year 1975. At the start of the book, an Air Force aircraft of the United States is shown getting vanished mysteriously just after its take off from a Britain base. Following the disappearance, the CIA starts investigating and finds some odd information about the pilot. Then the search of the cottage of Major Davies reveals his strong interest in Kin Arthur literature. It is then found that the research of the Arthurian literature and a few important documents from Russian libraries have important links. Soon, a few rumors start making rounds that KGB is involved in investigating the Arthurian Badon Battle site. The investigating authorities begin wondering what concern did the secret police of the Soviet Union have with the 6th century battle site. Also, why did they feel the need to kill Major Davies. On top of that, the concern of the CIA for all this also seems suspicious. But, before David Audley could get the answers to all the questions, he realizes that he has been deeply involved. Later, he learns that he has been conned brilliantly. And as the novel reaches its conclusion, the readers come to know that they were deeply engrossed in the Arthurian legends in an exciting battle of intelligence and wits, involving sophisticated players.

Another exciting book published in the series is called ‘The ’44 Vintage’. The Mysterious Press released it in 1988. The primary characters described in this plot include Major O’Conor, Jack Butler, and David Audley. At the beginning of this book, the German army is shown retreating after the D-day, while the Americans and British on their pursuit. On the other hand, Major O’Conor is fighting a private war of his own. He is a former liason officer who was friends with Yugoslav Partisans. He heads a team of hand picked ruthless fighters behind the deep woods of the German boundary. It seems quite clear that Major O’Conor considers the agents of British Intelligence and the units of French Resistance as far dangerous than the German counterparts for his mission. And to his bad luck, the task force assigned against him includes a couple interpreters, Corporal Butler and Second Lieutenant David Audley. They are known to be the best in their work as they have already revealed the resourcefulness and cunning in their previous missions. The book turns out to be very intriguing as author Price did not reveal the startling objective of Major O’Conor until the last pages. Price has even kept a shattering surprise for the readers in the climax sequence. Similar to all the previous books of this mystery series, this book too was highly appreciated. The critics liked it for its likeable characters and interesting setup. The readers from all over the world enjoyed the book a lot and this helped it in becoming extremely successful. The success boosted the confidence of author Price and also motivated him to produce many more exciting books in the future.