Date first published	1996
ISBN Number
Page Count	430 h/b
h/b= hardback : p/b= paperback

Storyline

Alex McAuliff has been offered the job of a lifetime. To carry out a survey in Jamaica, and report back. However he finds that the offer is one that he can't refuse, unless he wants to end up dead.

McAuliff gathers together his team and heads to Jamaica where he finds that he is surrounded by allies and foes alike. All want one thing, control of Jamaica. Besides the survey McAuliff is also given the task of contacting a secret organisation, that only a few know about, and secure a deal with the British Secret Service. However the Halidon may not want to be found, and are not keen on negotiating with the British, and suddenly all that McAuliff values in life is under threat.

As the bodies pile up McAuliff meets the mysterious Halidon, and is introduced to the secrets of the mysterious tribe who have untold wealth. Can McAuliff make the deal and get out of Jamaica alive?

Review

This is one of Ludlum's better books, and I think I know why. It was originally written back in 1974 when Ludlum was just starting to make his name. Consequently editing is tighter and some of Ludlums poor dialogue is missing. The story is much more of a narrative, and there is less of the characters constantly insulting each other, which appears in the later books. For this reason the story really does bubble along.

There is quite a range of characters in the book from Warfield, the catalyst for the whole book to the traitorous Jensons who are effectively the spies in the camp. although they are not the only ones.

The foreign characters are not so cliche as in some of the later books, with Hammond coming across as a no nonsense government servant. The Jamaicans, I'm not quite so sure about, but having never been to Jamaica, will have to assume that they are not to caricatured. I did wonder about some of the Jamaican dialogue, but couldn't decide one way or the other whether it was realistic. It should be remembered though that the book was written in 1974, in a very different world.

Considering the age of the book, (I know it has been updated, but I'm not sure how much) it has really aged, with the same old pattern of different sects wanting power, and using any method it can to gain the power. Although it was written some 12 years after Jamaican Independance from the British.

A good fast paced story, concentrating on the action rather than long boring conversations which take the reader nowhere.

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