cover image Eye of the Archangel: A Mallory and Morse Novel of Espionage

Eye of the Archangel: A Mallory and Morse Novel of Espionage

Forrest Devoe, Jr.. HarperCollins, $24.95 (296pp) ISBN 978-0-06-072380-4

In this sprightly early '60s spy thriller from Shamus-winner Max Phillips under his DeVoe pseudonym, the sequel to Into the Volcano , repressed sexual tension between Jack Mallory, who works for the Consultancy, a freelance firm that acquires and sells world-class secrets, and Laura Morse, who's on loan from the CIA, threatens their partnership. (Laura thinks Jack thinks she's a lesbian, but is certain he'll never know one way or the other unless she tells him.) Add to this a young recruit who's uptight about being part "Negro," and the team has the potential for fractures that only tough professionalism can avoid. DeVoe successfully captures the feel and attitudes of the period in a novel closer to James Bond's glitz than to John le Carré gloom, as everybody chases a German scientist, a Nazi secret weapon and a fiendish international arms dealer through Monte Carlo and the Swiss Alps, with much ado about auto racing and the lifestyles of the very rich. (Mar.)