Roger Merton, a young naval lieutenant from the volunteer reserves, is on a balloon reconnaissance mission with an officer when their balloon loses its moorings and drifts into the fog. Blown to they know not where, Merton’s colleague bails, while Merton waits until he’s more certain of being over land.

When he does parachute to safety, Merton finds that he’s not in enemy territory, but rather in one of the islands in the North Sea off the Scottish coast. Still uncertain as to who inhabits it, he begins to suspect there may be treachery afoot. But where could German spies be hiding on such a barren island?

The Man from the Clouds is another early spy thriller, like J. Storer Clouston’s better known The Spy in Black , both published during World War I.