Seven Days To A Killing

''Seven Days to a Killing'' is a British

spy novel Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligenc ...

Clive Egleton Clive (Frederick William) Egleton (1927–2006) was a British author of spy novels. He enlisted in the Royal Armoured Corps in 1945 to train as a tank driver while still underage. He was subsequently commissioned into the South Staffordshire Regi ...

, published in 1973. It was adapted to film as ''

The Black Windmill ''The Black Windmill'' is a 1974 British spy thriller film directed by Don Siegel and starring Michael Caine, John Vernon, Janet Suzman and Donald Pleasence. It was produced by Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown. Plot Two schoolboys are playin ...

'' in 1974, with

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

as the lead. It concerns an

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

officer whose son is kidnapped, and a ransom of $500,000 demanded. 1973 British novels British novels adapted into films British spy novels Hodder & Stoughton books {{1970s-spy-novel-stub