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ASSASSINATION DAY by Clive Egleton St Martin's Minotaur, August 2004 384 pages $24.95 ISBN: 0312326378 Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Egleton's latest thriller is the 11th in the series involving secret intelligence officer [SIS] Peter Ashton. Along for the ride is also his protégé Will Landon. ASSASSINATION DAY revolves around the mysterious murder of London literary agent Ventris by two assassins who claim to be Special Branch detectives.

Prior to his death the agent was in discussion with Holsinger, an American book editor, about a manuscript belonging to a now deceased former British agent. Moreover the New York bookseller who originally found the manuscript has also been killed.

In this latest novel Ashton does to a certain extent take a back seat to his protégé. As it is he appears to be making the move into assuming a less operational role. As to whether this is going to be a good move on the author's part one will just have to wait and see.

However even Ashton's limited involvement brings an extra dimension to the matter as he suspects that there is much more going on than is first realised. Soon it becomes evident that this is the case and that there is a link between the two deaths and the manuscript. Compounding his enquiries that are taking place is the fact it appears that a friend and former SIS director may somehow be involved as well.

ASSASSINATION DAY is a thriller which continues to show the evolution from the cold war to more current problems such as the war on terror and it does so in a most convincing style. With a good take on all aspects of politics it also does not stint on the graphic violence.

As espionage thrillers go this is a first-rate novel, which doesn't go off track. The characters are not wooden and come complete with all their warts and flaws, but combined with the indispensable plot twists and distractions then the result is a novel to be savoured. This is certainly a book for those who enjoy reading this type of novel. While the tone is evocative of early Len Deighton and John Le Carré this is also a tightly-plotted book with the author's apparent knowledge shining through vividly taking the reader into a world that certainly keeps one on their toes.

Reviewed by Ayo Onatade, August 2004

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)

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