From Publishers Weekly
Taylor's debut Shadow Tiger won the National Writer's Club award; his second thriller is another bonanza for adventure buffs. Thronged with incident and diverse characters, the story begins in 1971 when plans for an American rapprochement with China are under way. The success of the mission demands a covert operation in Tibet teaming CIA operative Jeffrey Thorne and British agents Elena Maltby, an Anglo-Indian widow, and Brady, an ex-sergeant in the Irish army. Carrying a small nuclear bomb, the three climb to a mountain site to seek "Deadfall," an annihilating weapon invented and hidden by Maltby's father before Chinese soldiers killed him and his wife. These murders precede horrors so numerous that their effect is almost dulled, even when Thorne's partners betray him and leave him for dead. Thorne--who beggars the word "intrepid"--is rescued through a series of improbable but suspenseful coincidences. When he gets back to America, tension mounts as he heads into a final confrontation with the hitherto secret perpetrators of the Deadfall plot. Despite his tale's excesses, Taylor builds an irresistible thriller.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
YA-- A plane crashes in Tibet, and a cylinder that contains deadly bacteria is lost. Years later, three people are sent on a mission to recover the cylinder. Taylor presents not only an exciting adventure but also excellent character studies that allow readers to get inside the minds of the people searching for the mysterious object. As the book proceeds, the characters change, and their real motives are gradually revealed. This spy thriller, which involves the CIA and Britain's M15, has short, easy-to-read chapters and a fast-paced plot guaranteed to hold the interest of YA readers. --Roberta Lisker, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
