A SONG IN THE MORNING

by Gerald Seymour ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1986

Despite the sappy title, this satisfying thriller about a young Britisher who plots to bust his dad out of a South African death row is yet another lean, politically engaged entertainment from veteran English novelist Seymour (Field of Blood, In Honour Bound. Archangel). The novel takes off in a rush as ""Jeez"" Carew, middle-aged cabbie and shadow operative for the outlawed African National Congress (ANC), is arrested in Johannesburg as a participant in a botched terrorist bombing. Sentenced to be hung, Jeez writes a poignant letter to the wife and the son he abandoned 20 years earlier. When son Jack, an executive for an English demolition firm, learns of his father's fate, he appeals for British intervention, to no avail. But a sympathetic bureaucrat lets Jack in on a dark secret: Jeez is a British agent assigned to investigate the ANC, and is now being left out in the cold for diplomatic reasons. Enraged, Jack decides to free his dad by force. Seeking support from an exiled ANC leader, Jack strikes a first blow against the South African police by undertaking a daring--and hair-raising--one-man bombing raid on the Johannesburg security police headquarters. But when the ANC official is killed in a police ambush, Jack must fall back on the help of a crippled student radical and his sister, whom Jack beds. In the high-velocity conclusion, Jack, using his demolition expertise, blows his way through several barriers into his father's cell. But a snap decision to free other prisoners costs precious time; before the two can flee, police block their escape route. After holing up for the night and exchanging life stories, father and son, guns blazing, march towards the cops and a certain death. No surprises here, but Seymour stirs his somewhat familiar ingredients with a sure hand. His South Africa boils with violence, his plot races along, and the finale explodes with emotion: good reading.

Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1986

Categories: FICTION