John Lymington

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John Richard Newton Chance

Pseudonym: John Lymington,
John Drummond,
David C. Newton,
Jonathan Chance
Born: 1911
Streatham Hill, London
Died: August 3, 1983
Occupation: Novelist, writer, RAF pilot and instructor, publican
Nationality: British
Genres: Mystery fiction,
science fiction,
children's literature

John Lymington (1911-1983) was born John Richard Newton Chance in London. He was a prolific writer of short stories, children's literature, mystery and science fiction novels. An obituary in Ansible Link [1] credits Lymington with writing over 150 novels, 'including 20+ SF potboilers', adding that he 'made a steady income by delivering thrillers to Robert Hale (the publisher) at a chapter a week'.

Lymington's first book, Wheels in the Forest, was written in 1935. He also wrote Night of the Big Heat in 1959. Several of his short stories were collected in The Night Spiders in 1964. Pseudonyms used by Lymington throughout his career included John Drummond, David C. Newton, Desmond Reid (see 'Sexton Blake') and Jonathan Chance.

During his career with the RAF he became a flying instructor at South Cerney and Bibury airfields in the Cotswolds in the mid-war years. He wrote about this time in his autobiography, Yellow Belly, published by Robert Hale in 1959.

Contents

[edit] Bibliography

Whilst certain of his adult novels enjoyed wide success and translation, he is also fondly remembered for the 'Bunst' children's series, starring eccentric inventor Audacious Cotterell and his youthful sidekick, Bunst (a contraction of his nickname, Bunstuffer).

[edit] The 'Bunst' books

Certain bibliographies include only the latter four of these as 'Bunst' books; however, all six involve the same principal characters.

  1. The Black Ghost (1947) (writing as David C Newton)
  2. The Dangerous Road (1948)
  3. Bunst and the Brown Voice (1950) (writing as John Newton Chance)
  4. Bunst the Bold (1950)
  5. Bunst and the Secret Six (1951)
  6. Bunst and the Flying Eye (1953)

[edit] Sci-fi/Fantasy

  1. Night of the Big Heat (1959)
  2. The Giant Stumbles (1960)
  3. The Grey Ones (1960)
  4. The Coming of Strangers (1961)
  5. A Sword Above the Night (1962)
  6. The Screaming Face (1963)
  7. The Sleep Eaters (1963)
  8. Froomb! (1964)
  9. The Star Witches (1965)
  10. The Green Drift (1965)
  11. The Waking of the Stone (1967)
  12. Ten Million Years to Friday (1967)
  13. The Light Benders (1968) (writing as Jonathan Chance)
  14. The nowhere place (1969)
  15. Give Daddy the Knife, Darling (1969)
  16. The Year Dot (1972)
  17. The Hole in the World (1974)
  18. A Spider in the Bath (1975)
  19. The Laxham Haunting (1976)
  20. Starseed on Eye Moor (1977)
  21. A Caller from Overspace (1979)
  22. Voyage of the Eighth Mind (1980)
  23. The Power Ball (1981)
  24. The Terror Version (1982)
  25. The Vale of Sad Banana (1984)

[edit] Wartime

Writing as John Drummond, in The Thriller Library (Amalgamated Press), a "short-lived title from the mid-1930s, running only 24 issues between July 1934 and June 1935". [2]

  1. Eight Came Back [Red Sword], (May 18 1940)
  2. Gestapo Spy Trap [Red Sword], (Mar 9 1940)
  3. One Man Air Raid [Red Sword], (Apr 6 1940)
  4. The Prisoner Dies at Dawn [Red Sword], (Mar 23 1940)
  5. Scourge of the Nazis [Red Sword], (Apr 20 1940)
  6. Spy Bait [Red Sword], (May 4 1940)

[edit] Sexton Blake

As John Drummond, he wrote a number of additions to the Sexton Blake series: [3]. Note that 'Desmond Reid' appears to have been used as a catch-all pseudonym for this series, so it is possible that certain pieces credited to this name actually originated with him. This list includes only those pieces credited to John Drummond.

  1. The Essex Road Crime (May 1944), 3rd Series, Issue 71 (illustrated by Eric Parker)
  2. The Manor House Menace (Jul 1944), 3rd series, Issue 75 (illustrated by Eric Parker)
  3. The Tragic Case of the Station-Master's Legacy (Sep 1944), 3rd series, Issue 80 (illustrator unknown)
  4. The Riddle of the Leather Bottle (Oct 1944), 3rd series, Issue 82 (illustrator unknown)
  5. The Painted Dagger (Dec 1944), 3rd series, Issue 86 (illustrated by Eric Parker)
  6. The House on the Hill (Mar 1945), 3rd series, Issue 91 (illustrated by Eric Parker)
  7. At Sixty Miles per Hour (Apr 1945), 3rd series, Issue 94 (illustrator unknown)
  8. The Riddle of the Mummy Case (Jul 1945), 3rd series, Issue 100 (illustrated by Eric Parker)

[edit] Crime/Thriller

An incomplete list of these follows.

As John Newton Chance:

  1. The Psychic Trap
  2. The Death Importer
  3. Involvement in Austria
  4. Motive for a Kill
  5. The mask of pursuit (1967)
  6. The Dead Tale-Tellers
  7. The Love-hate Relation
  8. Bad Dream of Death
  9. Death Under Desolate
  10. Canterbury Killgrims
  11. Dead Men's Shoes
  12. Case of the Fear Makers
  13. Death Stalks the Cobbled Square
  14. The Bad Circle
  15. Twopenny Box
  16. Eye in Darkness
  17. Terror Train
  18. Spy on Spider
  19. The Man with Two Heads
  20. The Double Death
  21. The Monstrous Regiment
  22. The Cat Watchers
  23. The Hit Man
  24. Death Importer
  25. Death of the Wild Bird
  26. Death Watch Ladies
  27. End of an Iron Man
  28. The Hunting of Mr. Exe
  29. A Wreath of Bones
  30. The Running of the Spies
  31. The Farm Villains
  32. The Shadow Before
  33. The Black Widow
  34. Looking for Samson
  35. The Shadow in Pursuit
  36. The Hiller Weapon

[edit] TV/Radio/Film adaptations

'Night of the Big Heat' was adapted twice. The first, a 1960 TV adaptation set on Salisbury Plain, was directed by Cyril Coke and adapted from the book by Giles Cooper. The second, Night of the Big Heat (1967 film), was a 94-minute UK feature film set on a remote Scottish island, directed by Terence Fisher and starring Christopher Lee, Patrick Allen and Peter Cushing.

[edit] External link

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