Secret Missions

Like his nonfiction debut, Operation Drumbeat, Gannon's routine first novel deals with the threat posed by German U-boats along the American coast during WWII. In 1942, a Nazi sub lands crack secret agent Peter Krug in Florida to secure information on the performance data of U.S. warplanes. Picking up spunky dancer, escort and thief Sally Parkins as a cover, Krug sneaks around the state pursuing his mission. Meanwhile, Catholic priest Tony D'Angelo learns of Krug's presence while hearing the confession of a guilt-ridden accomplice of the German spy. Bound by sacramental seal to reveal nothing to the authorities, D'Angelo, aided by an attractive female pilot, goes after the Nazi in a chase that concludes in a dramatic confrontation between a U-boat and a U.S. flying boat. Gannon is at his best describing the details of U-boat life and of the theological challenges that confront D'Angelo as he tracks Krug without betraying his priesthood. But with the exception of Parkins, who's appealing as an unapologetic gold digger, the novel's characters are unconvincing. In addition, the espionage/confessional plot-tangle is sorely contrived and owes more than a little to Ken Follett's Eye of the Needle and the classic Hitchcock film I Confess. (Oct.)