River of Darkness - Hardcover

The secret war in Laos, the Kurds, the cold war, the drug war, Watergate, and Iran-contra are among the submerged stumps and sand bars here through which paddle sundry good and evil employees of the American intelligence industry. Former Jack Anderson staffer Grady's previous thrillers include Steeltown (1989) and Hard Bargains (1985). Boozy renegade intelligence operative Jud Stuart has just enough wit left to realize that he has been shadowed to his low- rent, hard drinkers' bar in L.A., just enough strength left to flip his shadower and break the man's neck. Stuart knows it's time to start running again, but before he leaves town he calls a number in Washington, leaves his old code name, and sets a good many wheels in motion at the CIA, where they have often wondered what became of him. Wes Chandler, a straight-arrow Marine major and lawyer, is drafted to be the secret, off-the-books investigator with one charge--to find Stuart. Conducting a separate search is Stuart's old chum Nick Kelley, a writer who used to work for Washington's leading muckraker. The fleeing Stuart spends considerable time reviewing--at great and occasionally confusing length--his past adventures in order to figure out who is after him and why. Major Chandler, who has no memories to guide him, has to rely on good detective work and friends in useful places. Much blood is spilled, many CIA sins pop up, Richard Nixon haunts the halls, and the inevitable right-wing general lurks in the wings. A brooding, ambitious, and rather long wrap-up of everything awful in the American spy business. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

The author of Six Days of the Condor ( LJ 6/1/74) and Shadow of the Condor ( LJ 9/1/75) returns to spy fiction with a timeworn scenario. Former CIA secret agent Jud Stuart has abandoned the agency, disgusted by the deceit and bloodshed that marked his service in some of its most dangerous off-the-record operations. When the agency unofficially retaliates by sending a dedicated naval officer to hunt him down, Jud turns for help to an investigative reporter turned novelist whose research uncovers the reason for Jud's flight and endangers his own life as well. Although the novel gets off to a fast start, it soon bogs down in flashbacks and an overload of background information. The pace intensifies at the conclusion, but too late to save a work marred by banal dialog, clumsy prose, poorly developed characters, and predictable plot. Not recommended, but expect some demand from Condor enthusiasts. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/91.--Ed.
- Sister M. Anna Falbo CSSF, Villa Maria Coll. Lib., Buffalo, N.Y.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.