14 APRIL 1961, Page 28

Road Block. By Hillary Waugh. (Gollancz, 13s. 6d.) One of

those meticulously plotted grab- and-getaway jobs that the Americans do so well in novels and the French in films; with murder arising inevitably out of it; the cops closing in; and the weaker crooks cracking. It's been done before, but seldom better.