Special Forces

by Ted Allbeury

When the Russians learn that the British ambassador to Moscow is to return to London they give orders to the KGB that he is to be drawn into the Soviet net. If they are successful, their plans for... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0727858572
• ISBN13: 9780727858573
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: Severn House
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Back To The Cold War, Eh, Comrade?

This short, compact novel was first published in 1976 in the U.K. and is now ((2002) reissued in the U.S. When it was first published the cold war was still going on, the Soviet Union seemed indestructible, and Yuri Andropov (remember him?)was head of the KGB. As the story opens the Soviets have grandiose ideas of pushing Britain into a virtual coup d'etat. All they need is a little more influence, a little more leverage on the British government, and they think they may have found it in Sir James Hoult, the British ambassador. The Soviet plan is essentially to seduce the (apparently) naive Hoult with a highly trained female operative, get him to compromise himself, and then use him to extract information and to plant pro-Soviet advice in the ear of the Prime Minister. Of course nothing goes according to plan, the law of unintended consequences takes over, suspense grows as things spin out of control, taking you to a horrifying surprise ending.Allbeury creates a believable story out of this essentially unbelievable situation, creates characters you can connect with, makes you care about them, draws you in until you can't put the book down. For the book is not really about geopolitics after all, but about flawed individuals caught up in a mad system.If you really think about the story, it is absurd; on the other hand, it is gripping and most entertaining. And although the book is only twenty-six years old it already has a quaint aura of fading history. I think you will love it, comrade. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber