Rules of the Hunt

The best thrillers are those in which events flow from the story inevitably, with the author's work of manipulating the plot and supplying necessary narrative information remaining invisible. This is O'Reilly's feat in his fast-moving second novel starring Irish counterterrorist Hugo Fitzduane. Even the premise is based on action that has gone before: Fitzduane is being hunted by the Yaibo, a group of Japanese assassins under obligation to avenge the death of the Hangman (killed by Fitzduane in Games of the Hangman). The Yaibo are also tied to the highly visible (and very shady) Namaka Corporation, which has been implicated in a brutal Tokyo killing. After being attacked in Ireland, Fitzduane travels to Tokyo, where he gets caught up in a plot that touches the CIA and reaches back to the postwar occupation of Japan. The cast, main and secondary, are likable, hateable and memorable; his complex plot unfolds effortlessly, lit by successive action scenes that explode like a string of firecrackers. Fitzduane, a reluctant but formidable warrior, weathers every twist and turn like a modern Odysseus, desiring nothing more than to go home in peace. If this Irish writer is smart, he won't allow his hero to achieve his ambition too soon. (Feb.)