The Second Victory (novel)

The Second Victory is a 1958 novel by Morris West. It was also known as Backlash.

Premise
In post war Austria, Major Mark Hanlon, Occupation Commander of the alpine town of Bad Quellenberg, investigates the murder of his driver.

Reception
The Bulletin wrote "West is   concerned   here   more   with   the   nature  of   justice,   mercy   and   moral   responsibility   in   war   and   peace   than   with  thriller-writing;   which   is   a   pity,   because  his   very   plain   Catholicism,   though   impressively   sincere,   produces   very   little  original   insight   into   any   of   these   things."

Film Version
Universal Pictures bought the film rights and West wrote the script in the late 1950s. In November 1958 Henry Denker was hired to write the script, for producer Robert Arthur, by which time the title had changed to A Gathering of Eagles. However no movie resulted until 1987.