Ted Allbeury


Theodore Edward le Bouthillier Allbeury was a British author of espionage fiction. He was an intelligence officer in the Special Operations Executive between 1940 and 1947, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. He is believed to be the only British secret agent to have parachuted into Nazi Germany during the war, remaining there until the Allied armies arrived. During the Cold War he was captured and tortured when running agents across the border between East and West Germany. After running his own advertising agency, he became managing director of the seafort-based pirate radio station Radio 390 in 1964, later moving to the ship-based Radio 355 until its closure in August 1967.
Allbeury's first novel, A Choice of Enemies, was published in 1972. He went on to publish over 40 novels, under the names Patrick Kelly, Richard Butler, and his own.

Early life

Allbeury was born in Stockport, Cheshire, and educated at King Edward VI Aston School, Birmingham.

Media adaptations

Allbeury's 1984 novel No Place to Hide was filmed as Hostage and starred Sam Neill, Talisa Soto and James Fox. The 1992 film Blue Ice starring Michael Caine is based on Allbeury characters.
BBC Radio 4 broadcast adaptions of The Other Side Of Silence, Pay Any Price, No Place To Hide, The Lonely Margins and Deep Purple.

Personal life

He was married to Grazyna, who died in 1999, and they had a son and three daughters.

Novels

A Choice of Enemies Snowball Palomino Blonde a.k.a. Omega-minusWhere All the Girls Are Sweeter a.k.a. Dangerous ArrivalsThe Special Collection a.k.a. The NetworksThe Only Good German a.k.a. Mission BerlinMoscow Quadrille a.k.a. Special ForcesItalian Assets a.k.a. Deadly DeparturesThe Man with the President's Mind The Lantern Network The Alpha List Consequence of Fear a.k.a. SmokescreenThe Reaper a.k.a. The Stalking AngelThe Twentieth Day of January a.k.a. Cold TacticsCodeword Cromwell The Lonely Margins The Other Side of Silence The Secret Whispers Shadow of Shadows All Our Tomorrows Pay Any Price The Judas Factor featuring Tad AndersThe Girl from Addis No Place to Hide a.k.a. HostageChildren of Tender Years The Choice The Seeds of Treason The Crossing a.k.a. Berlin ExchangeA Wilderness of Mirrors Deep Purple A Time Without Shadows a.k.a. Rules of the GameThe Dangerous Edge Show Me A Hero The Line-Crosser As Time Goes By Beyond the Silence a.k.a. The Spirit of LibertyThe Long Run Aid and Comfort Shadow of a Doubt The Reckoning Never Look Back The Assets a.k.a. Due Process

Short story collection

  • ''Other Kinds of Treason''

Radio plays

Long Ago and Far Away The Way We Live Time Spent in Reconnaissance – story later included in Other Kinds of TreasonMusic of a Small Life There's Always Tomorrow – story later included in Other Kinds of Treason as 'The Dandled Days'

Essays

  • "Memoirs of an Ex-Spy," in Murder Ink: The Mystery Reader's Companion, edited by Dilys Winn, pp. 164–168.
  • "It's the Real Thing," New Statesman : 27.