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Red File For Callan

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Mitchell's stories fall somewhere between the thrillers of Len Deighton and Ian Fleming. Mitchell's government assassins are often flawed men--Callan is a former agent with morality concerns about his assignments. When he's called out of retirement , he meets the man he's to kill and becomes friends with him. All the while, he's under surveillance by his people who wonder why he's not completing the mission. Callan is desperately trying to find out why his victim has been targetted. This is a thrilling espionage story with unusual twists and turns. Dig this one up and savor it.

For those who know the old British TV series of Callan, about a government secret service assassin, this book will be well worth your while to read. Even for those who don't know, this is an intricately-plotted gritty thriller which would interest anyone who likes a bit of backstabbing, murder and politics.
This is the book of the first episode, A Magnum for Schneider, which was also re-tooled into the Callan movie. This book is also sometimes simply called Callan.
This starts with Callan working in a menial, dreary job for a horrible man. Callan is called in by Hunter, his old boss in the secret intelligence service section which handles all the dirty stuff - assassinations, black mail, etc. Hunter offers him his job back if he can prove he is up to the task of killing Schneider - an inoffensive chap who works in the same building as Callan. Callan soon finds himself friends with Schneider, a fellow war game player, but before his conscience gets the better of him Callan has more pressure put on him from Hunter. As Callan's old rival Meres becomes involved, Callan starts to smell a double cross and wonders if the real target of the mission is not Schneider's death but Callan's imprisonment for murder.
As with all Callan novels there are twists and turns in the interweaving plot which keep you wondering who are the good guys and what are the characters true intentions. Another fine Callan novel.