Anglophiles with a taste for the dark side will enjoy the latest thriller from British author Seymour (The Unknown Soldier
), despite an overly complicated plot involving drug trafficking and Mideast terrorism. Malachy Kitchen loses his job with British intelligence and is reduced to living on the street, abandoned by family and friends, after an apparent act of cowardice during the current Iraq war. Rescued by a stranger who judges him worthy of another chance, Kitchen moves to a drug-wrecked, gang-infested London housing project. After failing to prevent the mugging of an elderly neighbor, Kitchen employs his professional expertise against the local gangs. Meanwhile, a local drug lord is directed by his Hamburg supplier to do something that will carry him into far more shadowy realms than the drug trade. Unfortunately, since Kitchen comes across as such a pitiful figure for most of the book, readers will find it hard to like or identify with him until they gain a full understanding of his situation. (Mar.)
