RING OF TERROR

Luke Pagan, an ambitious young police officer who speaks Russian, and his unorthodox partner, Joe Narrabone, set out to break up a ring of Russian anarchists on a reign of terror, murder, arson, torture, and blackmail throughout Edwardian London.

Set more along the lines of a lean spy novel than a police procedural, veteran Gilbert's latest (after Roller-Coaster, etc.) propels young Luke Pagan and Joe Narrabone of the Metropolitan Police into a web of complex geopolitics one year before the outbreak of WWI. As trouble-making Russian immigrants spread terror throughout Edwardian London, Pagan's knowledge of Russian puts him on the case, and he and his wily partner Narrabone find themselves working with?and maybe against?the English ruling class (including a young Home Secretary by the name of Winston Churchill). As the two coppers track three suspected Russian revolutionaries, the Home Office seems to put politics over police work, even when the naked corpse of an immigrant bearing the notice "Let Authority beware" is found hanging in Victoria Park. But are the three Russian suspects really the terrorists? Are they even revolutionaries? Or is the Czarist secret police staging the attacks as a way of turning English public opinion toward deporting Russian emigres? Leave it to Gilbert to keep readers hooked while making his tale reverberate with all kinds of historical chords, including the invention of dynamite and the beginning of the modern intelligence agency.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Luke Pagan, a gamekeeper's son in pre^-World War I England, shows a talent for languages and struggles to master Russian. A squabble with the landowners, however, forces him to abandon his dreams of higher education and become a London policeman. Eventually, he has an opportunity to prove his mettle when London's Russian community gets restless. The leftist Russians want England to take a stand against the czar. As the bolsheviks and anarchists begin to foment trouble, Luke uses his language skills to insinuate himself into the radical community and discover its ringleaders. As usual in Gilbert's always entertaining period mysteries, the atmosphere is palpable, the protagonist is admirable if just a bit naive, and the plot moves quickly and logically. Toss in a bit of sly humor, and one has a thoroughly enjoyable, intelligent crime novel. The conclusion lends itself to the hope of further Luke Pagan adventures. Wes Lukowsky