The Finger of Saturn

Victor Canning was a well-regarded British thriller writer who began with stereotyped adventures in exotic locales. Around 1971, however, with the publication of "Firecrest", his books took on a grimmer, John LeCarre-like tone, and although Canning now wrote about Establishment types and agencies, most of his works were driven by anti-Establishment disgust. His critical reputation also soared. "The Finger of Saturn", was typical of the new, noir Canning. The grim book is listed here because its main character discovers that the woman he is in love with is actually descended from a ship-load of cast-away aliens, possibly from Saturn, who are indistinguishable from true humans except for an extra finger on each hand.

Canning wrote many well-received thrillers. This book, which ends tragically, is structurally much like his other highly literate novels but has a key (and unexpected) science-fiction element in it: the existence on Earth of a small colony of alien beings nearly identical to human beings. How they came to be there, and what their origin is, however, is never clearly explained "Originally published at £2.10" on back flap of 1974 Book Club Associates edition seen in ebay.com photo.