Jigsaw

On forced leave from Scotland Yard's Special Branch for political reasons, Campbell's counterterrorism expert Frank Pagan (Jig) is called back into service after a London subway car is incinerated by a bomb during rush hour. None of the usual Irish or Arab suspects claims credit, and the Yard is baffled. We know that American Embassy employee Bryce Harcourt was the bomb's target, that American courier Jake Striek is running for his life from a mysterious group called the ``Undertakers,'' that philanthropist Tobias Barron is leading a double life, that international terrorist Carlotta (``vibrant with the idea of death'') is having an affair with Barron and that the American ambassador to England is mixed up in arms trading. Pagan's introduction to this web of intrigue and deceit comes by way of a savagely bloody taunt from Carlotta, a lie about Harcourt from an American functionary and the spectacular assassination of that functionary. His wrap-up of the case begins when he uncovers a lethal plot against the Russian president. Despite a few extraneous musings between the sociopathic villain and psychotic villainess about their relationship, great pacing and suspense make Armstrong's newest thriller (after A Concert of Ghosts) first-rate, featuring a charismatic team in the loose-cannon Pagan and his upper-class assistant, Foxworth. (July)