With the protagonist thus at his mercy, Quive-Smith intends to coerce a written confession, implicating the British government. Seizing the opportunity, Quive-Smith finds his quarry's underground hiding place and blocks the exit, leaving only a single hole for breathing. Reports that he has been sighted reach a man named Quive-Smith, the leader of his pursuers. Unable to go to the British authorities, who cannot condone assassination of a head of state, the protagonist decides to hide out in Dorset. He is forced to kill one by pushing him onto the live rail in the London Underground, after which the police launch a manhunt for him. Once there, he discovers that agents of the dictator have also arrived in London with orders to kill him. The man survives, and with civilian help manages to make his way to a port, where he stows away on a British ship bound for London. Caught while taking aim by officers of the dictator's secret police, he is tortured, thrown over a cliff, and left for dead. Supposedly interested only in the thrill of hunting a powerful man, he convinces himself that he does not intend to pull the trigger. The protagonist, an unnamed British sportsman and crack shot, sets out in the spring of 1938 to see if he can get an unnamed European dictator in the sights of his rifle. The book was reissued in 2007 with an introduction by Victoria Nelson.

Described by Household as a 'bastard offspring of Stevenson and Conrad,' the book is no less remarkable as an exploration of the lure of violence, the psychology of survivalism, and the call of the wild.Rogue Male, by Geoffrey Household, is a classic thriller novel, published in 1939. Geoffrey Household's Rogue Male is a classic thriller and a triumph of suspense.

The hunter must flee society, and he goes literaly underground, like a fox to its earth.

But that safety is delusive: his pursuers will not be diverted from their revenge by national borders the British government cannot protect him without seeming to endorse his deed. Imprisoned, tortured, doomed to a painful death, the hunter makes an extraordinary and harrowing escape, fleeing through enemy territory to the safety of his native England. He has the potential target in his sites and is wondering whether to pull the trigger when security catches up with him. The hunter wonders whether he can penetrate undetected into the dictator's private compound. 1930-something: a professional hunter is passing through an unnamed Central European country that is in the thrall of a vicious dictator.

Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household