A Plague of Sailors and its sequel A Frenzy of Merchantmen, along with A Web of Salvage and Spearfish, are straightforward present-day thrillers similar to the work of Desmond Bagley and Hammond Innes.
Desmond Bagley's 1973 thriller The Tightrope Men features a percussion-fired punt gun.
Desmond Child | William Desmond Taylor | Desmond Morris | Desmond Elliot | Mark Bagley | Desmond Hume | Dermot Desmond | Bagley, Minnesota | Bagley | Desmond Richardson | Desmond Norman | Desmond Guinness | Earl of Desmond | Desmond Howard | Desmond FitzGerald | Desmond Bagley | Sarah Bagley | Richard Desmond | Melville Sewell Bagley | Kingdom of Desmond | John Bagley (basketball) | John Bagley | George R. Bagley | Desmond Shawe-Taylor | Desmond McKenzie | Desmond Harrington | Desmond FitzGerald (politician) | Desmond Connell | Desmond Choo | Tom Bagley |
To do this Marsden looked to the authors he had read most avidly as a teenager, thriller writers such as Ian Fleming, Desmond Bagley, John Buchan, Hammond Innes and Alistair MacLean.