Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Return to Adventure | 1943 | John Creasey | Buy |
| 2 | Gateway to Escape | 1944 | John Creasey | Buy |
| 3 | Come Home to Crime | 1973 | John Creasey | Buy |
The Liberator is one of John Creasey’s shortest series — just three books. Return to Adventure and Gateway to Escape appeared in 1943 and 1944, then the series went dormant for nearly thirty years before Come Home to Crime in 1973. The long gap makes the final entry something of a curiosity in Creasey’s catalog, a character revisited after decades away.
The wartime entries reflect their era. Return to Adventure (1943) and Gateway to Escape (1944) were written during World War II and carry the urgency of that period. Come Home to Crime (1973) brought the character back into a very different world, updating the adventure formula for the 1970s.
Creasey was one of the most prolific authors in British crime fiction, writing over 600 novels under various pen names. The Liberator series barely registers in that enormous output, but it has its own appeal for completists. Collectors of mid-century British adventure fiction will find the original editions worth tracking down.