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Book Review By Nick Warren
The Greek Key by Colin Forbes

In 1944, three British Army Commandos commit a brutal murder. Forty-three years later, the crime is still unsolved, save for one detective's obsession with the case. Then in Greece, British MI6 agent Harry Masterson is pushed off a cliff and dies. When the commandos learn of this, they are in a state of terror. The Greek underground communist movement has united with Russian anti-Glasnost followers and use the commandos as a British contact, much to their fear. What is their motive? Russian President Gorbachev is due to meet with Western heads of state in the UK, and it seems that an assassination attempt is threatened. Who can stop the conspiracy? Why, enter Britain's best secret agents Tweed, Paula Grey and Bob Newman. Tweed and Paula travel to the county of Somerset in England to investigate the commandos and some grisly murders on isolated hills linked to the wife of one. Newman and the UK's best marksman Marler travel to the Greek island of Siros and also Athens to investigate a secret communist underground hideaway and how it is linked to Masterson's murder and Gorbachev's potential downfall. The story may seem dated now, but the action and intrigue never stop until an explosive climax in the UK. The locations are well described and created. Siros is fictional, but it brought back memories of our vacaction in Corfu, another real Greek island which Siros is based on in part. And of course, Tweed and Paula get to eat and drink in the best pubs and restaurants! Hugely entertaining.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets:
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
descript. of violence and chases - 30 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 30 %
War-time military intelligence mission? Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 40's-50's

Main Adversary
Identity: - an organization
Age: - long-lived adults
Profession/status:
Eccentric: Yes
Motive of antagonist - power
The antagonists are: - communists

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - Switzerland - England/UK - Greece
Air? Yes
Air: - passenger plane - air force one
Island? Yes
Island: - stranded - on vacation
City? Yes
City: - London - dangerous
Misc setting - fort/military installation

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Unusual forms of death - asphyxiation - poisoning - dropped from large heights - hanging - flamed - drowned - perforation--bullets - blunt clubbing (like seals) - exploded into bits
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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