Close Call

June 16, 2014
A paucity of action mars former MI5 director Rimington’s disappointing eighth novel featuring British intelligence officer Liz Carlyle (after 2012’s The Geneva Trap). Carlyle and her MI5 colleagues closely monitor a shipment of guns and bombs from Yemen making its way across Europe, at one point arresting a former French intelligence officer who has gone rogue and become an arms dealer. With the aid of the CIA, Carlyle and company track the weapons to a warehouse outside Manchester, where terrorists appear to be planning a major attack at a soccer stadium. Administrative politics and investigative procedure dominate the tedious second half of the novel, which builds to an anticlimactic finale. Fans may be saddened by the loss of a key series character in this outing, but they will be more upset with its overall lack of urgency. Agent: Georgina Capel: Capel & Land (U.K.).

August 1, 2014
In her eighth world-class headache, Liz Carlyle and the rest of MI5 (The Geneva Trap, 2012, etc.) tangle with a ring that deals weapons to the worst kind of people. As you may have noticed from recent headlines, the Arab Spring didn't exactly square everything away in the Middle East-certainly not in Liz's corner of the world. Andy Bokus, head of the CIA in London, delivers the unhappy news that despite the arms embargo to Yemen, someone his agency has code named "Pigot" is smuggling arms there through England, ultimately placing them in the eager hands of jihadis. Even worse, the best intelligence identifies Pigot as Antoine Milraud, a disgraced French ex-intelligence officer whose sense of tradecraft and contacts around the world make him doubly dangerous. Andy's former deputy, Miles Brookhaven, is patiently extracting information from "Donation," Yemeni Trade Minister Jamaal Baakrime, but Donation's leads, slow to come under ideal conditions, grind to a halt when his son is killed. So the best hope for Liz and her French and American counterparts is to stay on Milraud's tail even though their elusive target is equally slow to incriminate himself or anyone else. Can it get any worse? Indeed it can. The longer Liz stays on the case, the more convinced she becomes that James McManus, Deputy Head of Special Branch in Greater Manchester, is in cahoots with unsavory club owner Lester Jackson, who's expanding his interests from drugs and prostitution to the arms trade. Liz's fling with James McManus, who befriended and bedded her when she was seconded long ago to the Merseyside Police, didn't end well, but she never imagined he'd cross this line. The concatenation of evil threatens not only the new world order, but Liz's nearest and dearest. Like most of Liz's adventures, this one is conscientious and unspectacular, with little suggestion of significant moral or psychological depths below the professionalism. Rimington's biggest talent lies in her uncanny knack for choosing the hot-button issues to hang her stories on.

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June 15, 2014

Rimington's eighth series entry (after The Geneva Trap) finds Liz Carlyle and her counterterrorism unit working with security agencies from France, Germany, and the United States to trace and stop the delivery of an arms shipment thought to be destined for use in a terrorist attack. The recent upheaval in the Middle East owing to the Arab Spring and events from Carlyle's early days in Britain's MI5 contribute to the complications that arise in this endeavor. Familiar characters from the previous books appear, including Martin Seurat, French security agent and Carlyle's lover, who is intent on capturing an agent who has betrayed him. Police corruption, human trafficking, and international politics all play a part in a story that might be pulled from today's headlines. VERDICT A complex plot, straightforward (if occasionally choppy) writing, and plenty of fast-paced action keep the pages of this international espionage thriller turning. It will appeal to fans of Charles Cumming and Daniel Silva. While this book may stand alone, readers of Rimington's previous work will appreciate the nuances of the interplay among recurring characters.--Terry Lucas, Rogers Memorial Lib., Southampton, NY

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