The Republic of Night [Hardcover]

Dominic Martell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 23, 2002 | Series: Otto Penzler Books

Pascual Rose, elite counterterrorist turned deep-cover informant, is back in this turbulent new international thriller. The pace is compelling and suspense breathtaking in this masterly neo-noir sequel to Lying Crying Dying. From the outset, when an over-friendly Frenchman—and total stranger—accosts the down-and-out Pascual in an empty church, deep menace lurks behind apparent danger. Nonetheless, $100,000 and the threat of deadly exposure lure Pascual from portside Barcelona, where he has been hiding from his counterterrorist past, to the banking precincts of Paris, where he again confronts it. Hired by French intelligence to finger a onetime comrade and now entrepreneur in global terrorism, Pascual finds himself hurled into Algerian factional warfare, and worse—the machinations of a faceless cadre that acknowledges no borders, or bounds.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Retired counterterrorist Pascual March (known to readers of Martell's first thriller, Lying Crying Dying, as Pascual Rose) is hiding in Barcelona, somewhat the worse for wear, when he is reluctantly coaxed back into action by a French intelligence agency that makes him an offer he can't refuse. They will deposit a big check in a bank account for him-and generously allow him to live. In turn, he needs to help them capture international terrorist Daoud Najjar. March is the only person capable of even recognizing Najjar, since others in the intelligence community who knew the criminal mastermind are dead of mostly unnatural causes. Najjar is one of an ethnically mixed Russian-based group called Mirakl, which has bought control of a Parisian bank and is using it for money laundering, drug and weapons dealing, and prostitution. The group is scheduled to meet soon at the bank's headquarters. Together with Djemila Yacine, an Algerian newswoman in pursuit of a nefarious Algerian general who's part of Mirakl, Pascual hatches a scheme to plant a transmitter on Najjar. The scheme backfires, and Najjar recognizes Pascual and Djemila, putting their lives in immediate danger. The action flies from one European transportation hub to another as bodies pile up. No one is trustworthy except the author, who skillfully whips up a satisfying thriller in spite of a few predictable turns. Pascual's quiet dignity and savoir faire continue to charm.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* In this sequel to Lying Crying Dying, former terrorist-turned-defector Pascual March is reluctantly back in the game. While lying low in Barcelona, changing his surname and avoiding those on both sides of the law eager to find him, he's become valuable to French intelligence as the only person still alive able to identify Syrian terrorist Daoud Najjar. Offered $100,000 or threatened with exposure, Pascual agrees to finger Najjar at the Russian-owned Mirakl Bankin Paris. But things go awry, and Pascual is soon on a potentially fatal course to Zurich and back, trusting only in haunting journalist Djemila, whose interests intersect with his, and finally turning to Mossad. Although Pascual's fate may never be in serious question--for the sake of keeping a potential series going--he suffers physical and emotional losses, and nearly all of the characters die, sometimes graphically, at each other's hands. Dark and bloody as it is, this is spy fiction of the highest order, with atmospheric backgrounds for a plot that ratchets up suspense with each twist and turn and a splendidly complex protagonist, who takes great risks and bluffs his way to the end in what may be a quest for atonement. Michele Leber
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf; 1st Carroll & Graf Ed edition (December 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078671123X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786711239
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 6.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,494,380 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dominic Martell was raised in small Midwestern towns but has lived in the Chicago area for most of his life. He has also lived in Europe and traveled widely in Latin America and the Middle East. He has worked as a translator and a teacher. As Sam Reaves he has written seven crime novels set in Chicago. He is married and has a son and a daughter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A different type of thriller, November 15, 2010

By 

steve b (Dudley England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Republic of Night (Hardcover)

Pascual March is an unlikely hero, a Catalan who joined and later betrayed the PLO, he now lives in semi poverty in Barcelona hiding from his former allies. He is contacted by French intelligence with an offer he cannot refuse, come to Paris and identify a former terrorist and earn $100,000 or we will tell the PLO where you are. The result is complex and bloody tale involving the Russian secret service and the various factions of the Algerian civil war.

Different, well plotted and written Mr Martell has written two other novels featuring March, we can only hope he will get round to writing a few more.

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping!! If you like the television series "24", you'll like this!, July 2, 2006

By 

Gabrielle Gates "Gabby" (Chicago IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Republic of Night (Hardcover)

From the very first pagragraphs, a heart-breaking prologue detailing the horrifying ugliness of Algeria's recent battles between government forces and Islamists, the reader is drawn into a tense story of moves and counter-moves as ex-terrorist Pascual tries to outwit Mirakl,a murky Russian-mafia-backed company whose nefarious involvement in the Algerian struggle has provoked the interest of French and Swiss secret police. Moving across Europe at a pace that will leave your daily life forgotten, Pascual's attempts at revealing the extent of Mirakl's corruption leads him to confront one of his first terrorist cohorts - who is now his deadliest enemy.

"Republic of Night" reads like a primer for terrorism funding and arming - one wonders what more Martell knows, and how he knows it. The subject matter's gravity makes it a sobering read, yet it is impossible to put down. The writing brings us immediately into Pascual's dark world, and we long for him to catch a break just as we long for the hero of "24" to get some rest: not happening.