SPIES AND OTHERWISE
Ssssh! Don't look now, but you're being spied on. You don't know it, but you are. Who's doing it? It's not a who, it's a what. See that big, dark eye in the corner staring at you? See how it seems to watch your movements without ever blinking, no matter where you are in the room? That's what's spying on you.
Oh, it's just your television set? Well–maybe. But did it ever occur to you that when you're not looking at it, it's looking at you? Who's to say that all those characters you watch night after night don't watch you when the set is off? The idea is a little unsettling, isn't it? Maybe you'll want to be more careful about what you do when the TV set is looking at you.
To turn to a more serious note, we live in an age of espionage. Life today is so complicated and new developments take place so fast that it is vital for many nations to know what other nations are doing or planning.
So the international spy has multiplied a thousandfold. Scientists or street sweepers may act as spies, for money, for patriotism or adventure. Women, with their eye for detail and their acting ability, make excellent spies.
But though the work of spies is deadly serious, their adventures can be suspenseful entertainment. In this volume I have assembled for you some stories-fiction, all of them-of spying and counter-spying, of espionage and danger. I hope you will enjoy them for what they are tales of excitement and adventure. They cover the whole period from World War I right up to the day after the day after tomorrow. Have fun with them!
ALFRED HITCHCOCK
P.S. I didn't really mean it about your TV set watching you. It isn't–at least, not yet.
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