The Doomsday Men (A Novel)

On the eve of World War II, three unlikely heroes join forces in the Mojave Desert to thwart atomic doomsday—a rollicking tale of adventure from one of the twentieth century's great, underappreciated masters.

Young Englishman Malcom Darbyshire falls in love with his mysterious American tennis partner at a tournament on the French Riviera; when she vanishes without so much as telling him her real last name, he knows he must do whatever he can to find her again. Meanwhile, American physicist George Glenway Hooker finds himself in London, on the trail of a brilliant colleague who disappeared just as he seemed on the verge of a breakthrough. And Jimmy Edlin, globetrotting entrepreneur, is called back to Los Angeles to help investigate the death of his brother, a reporter whose latest story may have gotten him killed. Ordinary men, all—until their separate quests bring them face to face with a plot to end the world.

Malcom, George, and Jimmy’s paths converge in the Mojave Desert, where, under the bright California sun, they must untangle the schemes of the secretive MacMichael family before it’s too late. As they dodge shadowy pursuers, don disguises, infiltrate a wacky LA doomsday cult, break into an impenetrable desert bunker, and embark on feats of aviation bravado, they must make new allies, rely on one another, and hold tight to their faith in humankind to save the day.

First published in 1938, and written against the backdrop of the rise of Hitler and Mussolini in Europe, J. B. Priestley’s prescient tale of attempted world destruction is both highly entertaining and resonant for our nuclear age.