Merlin's Web.

Corgi explodes a bomb in a Tywyn, Wales school, Welsh nationalists kidnap the five-year-old future Prince of Wales, and later Corgi meets with a group of men, including a British cabinet minister, to discuss the uncrowned prince's future

Two themes mesh uneasily in this debut thriller by Canadian journalist Mayse: Welsh nationalism and the kidnapping of the heir to the British throne. Mayse tries to suggest the atmosphere of a police state, but the narrative lacks emotion and suffers from clumsy points of view, though it improves greatly toward the end. A spider's web of international intrigue is buried by didactic passages on the endangered Celtic culture. We are told more about the terrorists' motivations than we are shown, and they remain two-dimensional, awkwardly manipulated. They are led by fanatical Gwyn Davies, with help from an IRA Provo and a PLO "ambassador." Hot on the story is Peter Holt, a BBC reporter who is sucked into working with MI5 as a negotiator, at odds with the SAS who intend a bloody rescue of their prince. After the kidnapping goes awry, Gwyn finds support from the Welsh, but real help comes only from the wealthy American Welshman, Madog Nilssen, former Army captain in Vietnam. Madog highlights another of the novel's problems: the futuristic background during the reign of King Charles and Queen "Di" clashes disconcertingly with its otherwise contemporary feel. Mayes has yet to learn how to weave "cause" and craft into a seamless unit.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A motley and inexperienced band of Welsh nationalists, aided by more professional associates, snatch the young Prince of Wales to achieve their political demands. The plan quickly goes wrong, and desperate improvisation leads to conflict and panic. Peter Holt, a minor BBC Wales reporter, finds himself torn between sympathy for the cause and a hatred of violence. Shifting among various characters, the novel gives each a position relative to the situation: the devoted nanny, the crazed extremist, the partisan Welsh folk, the gung-ho military, the professional negotiator, sinister opportunists, etc. This kaleidoscopic approach allows characters to carry plot as well as personal interests, but makes for loose ends and tends to disperse the tension. But overall the novel gives a view of variant forms of terrorism and of the Welsh nationalist movement. Ann Donovan, Central Washington Univ. Lib., Ellensburg
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.