Into Battle
Ring of Terror is a mystery-suspense novel by the British crime writer Michael Gilbert, first published by Carroll & Graf in the United States in 1997. It was, apparently, the only novel ever written by Gilbert not published in England at approximately the same time as its American publication. It finally appeared in England as a paperback edition in 2015 from the House of Stratus. It was Gilbert's 29th novel and the second of three featuring his final set of recurring characters, Luke Pagan and Joe Narrabone. Set in the opening months of World War I, it has, along with its fictional characters and situations, references to actual events of the time, and a number of actual historical personages also play roles in the book. Gilbert, who was appointed CBE in 1980, was a founder-member of the British Crime Writers' Association. The Mystery Writers of America named him a Grand Master in 1988[1] and in 1990 he was presented Bouchercon's Lifetime Achievement Award.[2]
Plot
Unusually for Gilbert, only about one third of the book's events take place in his usual locale of London. The book, which is really three related stories around a single theme, is set first in the great British naval base of Portsmouth, then in London, and then for the final third in war-torn France. Luke Pagan formerly a London policeman and now a young recruit in MO5, the new intelligence service headed by Vernon Kell, is an undercover agent posing as a waiter in a Portsmouth hotel. Elements of the German navy are in port, and he hopes to gain information about German plans for what most observers believe to be an impending war.
Reviews
From Publishers Weekly, which writes pre-publication reviews for the publishing industry and libraries:
xxx.[3]
From Booklist:
xxxx [4]
Notes
- ↑ Michael Gilbert (obituary), 10 February 2006. Retrieved on 13 November 2012.
- ↑ History of Guests of Honor. Retrieved on 5 July 2014.
- ↑ Publishers Weekly at [1]
- ↑ Booklist at [2]