Quarry's Contract

Sion Quarry, living quietly on Mallorca after his previous adventure ( The Fourth Angel ), is approached by Philip Wintle, ex-Scotland Yard and Quarry's old pursuer-turned-friend. Wintle is running security for a Milan consortium of industrialists fighting a wave of kidnappings. A 16-year-old girl has been abducted, then mutilated, to speed payment, and Wintle requires Quarry's proven skills. Kleiner, Swiss head of the consortium, also wants Quarry as contracted muscle. Quarry agrees to help Wintle, but the payoff goes horribly awry. Almost immediately, the child of another consortium member is abducted, Quarry and Wintle are nearly killed, and further complications arise when Quarry begins an affair with the daughter of the man who may be responsible for the wave of criminal acts. Before Quarry wraps up the case, there's much gore and more deaths, some of its rather stylishly done. The violence is a lot more fun than Quarry's lady-love's tiresome kvetching about justice and due process. Paperback rights to Pocket. (Feb.)