Brass Eagle

Falklands Islands war hero Patrick Gillard, head of a special counterespionage section of the British secret service, teams up with his novelist wife, Ingrid Langley (also part of the intelligence unit), and young Terry Meadows, in Duffy's latest espionage thriller ( A Murder of Crows ). The christening of the Gillards' son, Justin, is interrupted by defense scientist David Prescott, in desperate flight from a pair of armed motorcyclists. After a near-fatal run-in with Prescott's pursuers, Gillard goes undercover and is severely beaten while rescuing a young kidnap victim. His injuries and seeming loss of nerve and possible involvement with the kidnapee cause Ingrid and Terry to initiate an undercover operation of their own, even as they struggle with their own shifting emotional ties. Offering considerable violence and sex and an intricate plot that requires close attention, Duffy also has a distinctive perspective on the human condition and is well worth reading. (Aug.)