Pascual: His name was legend. A courier for a network of radical groups that spread terror across Europe, he had defected to the enemy, and in the hands of Mossad and the CIA had become the single most damaging secret weapon in their counterterrorist operations. Then he had disappeared. Cadging meals and sleeping in flophouses, Pascual has shed his past in the teeming portside alleys of Barcelona. While he has begun to find something like peace of mind, the man who broke the covert world of international terrorism wide open cannot entirely escape his memories. Neither alcohol nor a plump widow's fleshly charms enable him to forget the beautiful Katixa, the one terrorist agent he did not betray--and whom he has no hope of ever seeing again. Or so he thinks. On the run from both the police and an ETA band of killers, Katixa bursts back into Pascual's life with a suitcase full of cash appropriated from the ETA and a one-way ticket out of Spain. She professes her love, and Pascual's better judgment doesn't stand a chance. To redeem both their lives, Pascual dusts off his old skills of subterfuge and deceit. The lying has again begun; the crying--and the dying--yet to come. "The thriller nouveau--of deceit, betrayal, tears. It crackles with electricity: one of the very best."--Lionel Davidson, author of Kolymsky Heights
The scene is Barcelona and Pascual is a former terrorist who would work for anyone, but is now living out his retirement as quietly as possible. That is until his former colleague and lover, the beautiful Katixa, locates him and puts a lucrative proposition to him. They need to disappear along with the 5 million francs that she has stolen.In the early stages, the story is convoluted with numerous flashback sequences serving to set the scene and give us an idea of how ruthless these main characters can be. It also gives us an idea of what a big part in this story trust is going to have to play.Pascual and Katixa have to leave Barcelona, pick up the money from where it's hidden and then, somehow, smuggle it out of the country. It's a hard enough task at the best of times, but Pascual finds that his past is starting to catch up with him. He is a marked man and his pursuers are zeroing in on him, causing him to go to ground while still trying to organise his passage out of Spain.This is a very good story of intrigue and deception, with no character above suspicion of double cross. When dealing with spies, thieves and murderers and in possession of a lot of money, you have to have eyes in the back of your head. From a slowish start, this story builds in momentum and provides a satisfying conclusion.
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