By Chris Emejuru

Overview of the novel

This is a long but interesting conspiracy tale. The Soviet Union is facing an energy crisis, with dwindling oil reserves and production. They will have to import more from abroad, and to finance the imports less funding will have to go to military spending. Their military chief personally would rather invade Iran for their oil. But Gorbachev is in power and it is the era of perestroika and glasnost, so the military leader’s plan for invasion has to be kept in the cooler.

Following the visits of their leaders to each other, an arms reduction treaty is hammered out between the US and USSR. When in effect, it would lead to reduction in military spending with savings amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars. Due to following reduction in military budgets, it will also lead to the bankruptcy of some defense industries, especially in the US where investments has been tied up in the manufacture of advanced weapons. A group of five Americans conspire to force the American President Cormack to resign, by kidnapping and murdering his only son, but making it look like the Soviets are responsible. This is to prevent the arms reduction treaty from coming into effect. With the cooperation of some highly placed military men in the Soviet Union who also do not want the treaty to be ratified, the kidnap plan is effected.

In comes Quinn as the negotiator, charged with securing the release of the president’s son from the kidnappers. Relying on skills and experience from negotiating release of kidnap victims in the past, he manages to effect the release of the US President’s son, Simon. But unknown to Quinn the US cabinet and even the CIA people working with him have been compromised by the conspirators, who do all they can to increase the president’s pain over the kidnap and render him unfit to govern. A belt concealing a bomb is planted on Simon and after he is released, the compromised CIA agent uses remote control to trigger the bomb.

The death of Simon nearly leads the US president to resign as the conspirators want. So they are feeling happy about the execution of their plan. Until Quinn, aided by the new intelligence leadership in Russia, manages to checkmate and expose them at the last minute.

The author unfolds the plot without emotion, leaving gaps here and there for the reader’s imagination. He mentions Biafra in the discussion of European and South African mercenaries.

Selected Quotes

Know this and know peace: … in the Soviet Union as everywhere else those who made the rules never deemed they should apply to them.Chaper 1, page 1

… battles are not won by courage or sacrifice or even clever generals; they are won by having the right gear in the right place at the right time and plenty of it.Chaper 1, page 2

Those kidnappers in Nigeria are probably amateurs or professional criminals. ‘… there are four kinds of kidnapper. Only four. The best from our point of view would be amateurs. They plan badly. If they succeed in the snatch, they leave traces. They can usually be located. They have little nerve, which can be dangerous. Usually the hostage-recovery teams move in, outwit them and get the hostage back unharmed. … Worst of all are the maniacs … Unapproachable, illogical. They want nothing material; they kill for fun. … Of the other two, the worse are the fanatics, political or religious. Their demands are sometimes impossible to meet—literally. They seek glory, publicity—that above all. They have a Cause. Some will die for it, all will kill for it. We may think their Cause is lunatic; they don’t. And they are not stupid, just filled with hate for the Establishment and therefore for their victim, who comes from it. They kill as a gesture, not in self-defence. … [The fourth type is] The professional criminal… They want money—that’s the easy part. They have put in a big investment, now locked up in the hostage. They won’t easily destroy that investment.’Chaper 5, page 134-5

Initially, keeping kidnapped victims in total isolation is part of the softening-up process, a long opportunity for the hostage to dwell upon his isolation and his helplessness. Also a chance for hunger and tiredness to set in. A hostage full of pep, prepared to argue and complain, or even plan some kind of escape, simply makes problems for his abductors. A victim reduced to hopelessness and pathetic gratefulness for small mercies is much easier to handle.Chaper 6, page 146

The thoughts of a wealthy German in Dortmund: As in any country in the world, money is power and both buy information.Chaper 13, page 351

Liars don’t like it when they are lied about: ‘Looks like you don’t appreciate disinformation when it works against the Soviet Union, even though you’re pretty good at it yourselves,’ said Quinn.Chaper 17, page 446

So says the Russian diplomat: ‘… All the pieces are visible, and yet … there is more deception in chess than in poker…’Page 450

Hear the cabinet member friend of the President of the USA on why he joined the conspiracy to force the man out of office: ‘… This entire nation is about money. No one can change that. Always has been, always will. We worship the God Dollar. Everything and everyone in this land can be bought, bought and paid for.’Chaper 18, page 487