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Editor's Choice:
ADAM BAKER: JUGGERNAUT
Hodder & Stoughton PB
 Seven mercenaries journey deep into the desert in search of Saddam's gold. They
form an unlikely crew of battle-scarred privateers, killers and thieves,
veterans of a dozen war zones, each of them anxious to make one last score
before their luck runs out.
They will soon find themselves marooned among
ancient ruins, caught in a desperate battle for their lives, confronted by
greed, betrayal, and an army that won't stay dead... The CIA has a top secret project to locate and retrieve the Russian trans-orbital prototype, Spektr, which has fallen to Earth in the western desert of Iraq. Only the very highest levels have clearance to even know about it. Field Officer Koell, the project leader, has spent the last decade and countless resources, trying to reciver the shuttle and its contents, and now it is finally within his reach. Lucy and her team of mercenaries are on the hunt for gold. They have heard rumours of a hoard of Saddam's riches buried deep in the desert. Weary, tired, and getting too old for their lifestyle, this is their chance to finally make it big, to hang up their guns and retire. One last mission, in and out in a matter of hours. But all doesn't go according to plan, and they soon find thelmselves marooned in an ancient citadel in the middle of some of the world's most inhospitable landscape. And they aren't the only occupants of the valley; the team soon find themselves trapped in a deadly battle they had no idea they were part of... What I like about Adam's characters is that none of them is clear-cut - they all have pasts, some shady, some terrifyingly bad, and there's no clear distinction between them that allows you to identify goodies or baddies. Plenty of swaggering undead mutations battling against a similar group of mercenaries to those we encountered in OUTPOST - a sensational follow up that will enhance the writer's reputation of gritty, realistic, edge-of-the-seat action with a touch of mystery - and horror. Brilliant.
 DAVID LEVIEN: THE CONTRACT
Bantam Press PB
Troubled former cop Frank Behr is working for an exclusive Indianapolis investigation company, when he finds himself on a protection detail for Bernard "Bernie Cool" Kolodnik. Kolodnik is a hard driving business mogul on the verge of making a move into big-time politics. An attempt on Kolodnik's life is quickly buried by the police. But Behr wants the truth, and his hunt will put him a collision course with a dangerous sociopath . . . Writing for the screen sees Levien establishing the scene and the major players quickly and effectively. The story moves at lightning speed and you have to have your wits about you to keep up with the short, punchy chapters. Great stuff, a thrill a minute, just like in a movie.
 KEVIN BROPHY: THE BERLIN CROSSING
Headline Review PB
Brandenburg 1993: The Berlin Wall is down, the country is reunified and thirty-year-old school teacher Michael Ritter feels his life is falling apart. His wife has thrown him out, his new West German headmaster has fired him for being a socialist, former Party member and he is still clinging on to the wreckage of the state that shaped him. Disenfranchised and disenchanted, Michael heads home to care for his terminally ill mother. Before she dies, she urges him to seek out an evangelical priest, Pastor Bruck, who is the only one who knows the truth about his father. When Michael eventually tracks him down, he is taken on a journey of dark discoveries, one which will shatter his foundations, but ultimately bring him hope to rebuild them. A book of two halves, and the half dealing with events in the 1960s is, in my opinion, the better of the two. A good read, but not altogether original, and in some places you feel the author is showing his superior knowledge of Germany rather than concentrating on advancing the story. At times you may feel it was written by two different authors.
 M J TROW: MAXWELL'S CROSSING
Allison and Busby HB
At Leighford High, Peter Mad Max Maxwell is acting Head of History whilst Peter Moss partakes in an American exchange. His counterpart is Hector Gold, accompanied to Leighford by his eccentric family. In particular, Hector 's father-in-law, Jeff O Malley is quite a character, gate-crashing the local poker school, much to the dismay of its members. When events take a sinister turn and one of the poker school 's members, is found murdered, newly-promoted Inspector Jacquie Carpenter-Maxwell and Henry Hall investigate, with the assistance of Maxwell, of course. Something is crooked in this case and Maxwell is sure that it is more than meets the eye. The seventeenth Mad Max Maxwell book, and one of the very best I've ever read. Maxwell is on sparkling form in this hilarious romp with just a touch of danger for him and the family, when a family of Americans arrives on an exchange. Of course there are murders, and of course Max starts to try to solve them, only wife Jacquie is sworn to secrecy - she won't tell him anything - only she does, little by little, and he pieces the rest together for himself. Troy's characters live and breathe - we all know people like them, because we all go to school, and we all come into contact with the police at some point in our lives. The magic lies in the dialogue and the relationships. Everyone envies Maxwell for marrying the most beautiful copper in the town, and everyone envies them their precious child Nolan, who is precocious but lovable, and fast becoming a major character himself. This is a fine story - I guessed who the murderer was as soon as he cropped up, which is very near the end, by the way. Terrific fun, but when you think about it, it's finely crafted in a John Creasey kind of way, and a very fine detective fiction indeed. Kept me amused right through the Christmas period, unmissable.
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Crime and Thriller Book Reviews
