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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000010356132 | PR6069.E734 D46 2011 | Open Access Book | 1:CREATIVE_G | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
From the author of Harry's Game - A Sunday Times '100 best crime novels and thrillers since 1945' pick
Two men who hate each other are committed to working together on a job far more dangerous than they knew when they signed up.
These men are surveillance experts, lying in a mosquito-infested Iranian marsh for days, part of a huge international operation designed to kill a celebrated maker of the roadside bombs which kill so many British soldiers.
And if things to wrong, as far as Her Majesty's Government is concerned, their part in the plot is totally deniable.
Gerald Seymour expertly explores the moral compromises of the secret world upon which we rely for our everyday security - and the amazing reserves of courage which ordinary people can find in extraordinary circumstances.
Author Notes
Gerald Seymour was born on November 25, 1941 in Guilford, Surrey, England. He received a BA Honors degree in Modern History from University College London. He was a broadcast journalist who covered many overseas conflicts including the Vietnam War, the Munich Olympics massacre, and Palestinian militant groups.
His first book, Harry's Game, was published in 1975 and soon afterwards, he retired from journalism to become a full-time author. Many of his other books were adapted into television movies and Field of Blood was adapted as the feature film, The Informant, starring Timothy Dalton.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews 2
Publisher's Weekly Review
Veteran thriller writer Seymour's outstanding 26th novel chronicles a British "interdiction" mission in contemporary Iraq and Iran. MI6 agent Len Gibbons assembles a team charged with the "deniable" assassination of "the Engineer," an Iranian bomb maker whose handiwork ("improvised explosive devices" and "explosive force devices") is killing U.S. and British soldiers on the Iraqi border. That team includes covert operatives Joe "Foxy" Foulkes and Danny "Badger" Baxter, who undergo an excruciating ordeal in a covert hideout near the Engineer's home. Seymour (Harry's Game) is strong on the details of surveillance and spycraft, but on even surer ground with his characters as he focuses on Gibbons's stoic dedication, Badger's ruthless single-mindedness, and Foxy's prideful professionalism. Even the Engineer comes across as a human being, thanks to a complex subplot about getting his wife to the West for cancer treatment. Once the narrative gains momentum, it's hard to put this one down. Agent: Jason Bartholomew, Hodder & Stoughton. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
The Engineer, a brilliant Iranian bombmaker, may be responsible for 80 percent of the coalition casualties in the Iraq War. Tiny bits of intelligence DNA from a sneeze have given the British a tentative identification of the elusive terrorist. They want to take the bastard down, so they decide on covert surveillance that is, snipers without sniper weapons to confirm the identification. Mismatched men, both former policemen, are assigned to hide in a steamy, treeless marshland on the Iran-Iraq border to do that. If they succeed, an Israeli assassin will perform the kill a deniable death. But this is a Gerald Seymour novel (Timebomb, 2012), and no brief plot precis can adequately explain the author's metier. Each character noted above, as well as 10 others, must overcome their fears, flaws, and frailties to fulfill their various roles. Seymour's characteristically granular detail about bird life in the marshland, the tiny bits of information that compel the surveillance, the personalities of the characters is not only fascinating but also prolongs the suspense.--Gaughan, Thomas Copyright 2010 Booklist
