Greg Rucka, A Gentleman's Game: A Queen and Country Novel

A Gentleman's Game: A Queen and Country Novel

Greg Rucka

Bantam Oct 2004, $24.00, 368 pp.

ISBN: 0553802763

The terrorist attack on the London Underground leaves over three hundred people dead. The English citizenry is outraged and scream for retribution so the government decides to retaliate. British Secret Intelligence Service Special Ops MI6 Division sends their top man (or in this case woman), agent Tara Chace, to take out Dr. Faud bin Abdullah al Shimmari, the extremist ultimately responsible for the attack.

Terrorism is an international business and other nations want a piece of Faud. Several spy agencies from western allies insist that Faud belongs to them having suffered from his extremist terrorist activity in their respective nations. However, besides sleeping with some of her so-called allies, Chace is tired of the endless negations. She is elated when she is finally sent to kill Faud. However, as she completes her mission with an assassination inside the Great Mosque, a Saudi Prince dies as collateral damage. This international incident has flamed the Moslem world with the audacity of these infidels.

This is an exhilarating, espionage thriller that takes a highly-regarded comic book heroine and effortlessly turns her into the star of her novel. The storyline starts all over the place making it difficult at first to follow, but those who remain patient will enjoy the antics and frustrations of Chace, who knows that you cannot just make a kill in the geopolitical world of today though that is her favorite climax. Though typical of the sub-genre except for the gender bending superstar, fans will enjoy the adventures of this wild Jane Bond.

Harriet Klausner