SNOW MAN

by Roger Busby ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1988

Veteran Busby (The Hunter; Gamey's Code; etc.) steadily if none too thrillingly offers up an international drag syndicate (The Enterprise) and the three lawmen who must resolve it--along with their own personal, past guilts. DEA agent Monroe, a rash, brash Vietnam vet, tracks the Fat Man to England, loses him, and in the process causes the death of a policewoman. Yard Detective Sergeant Rowley is then assigned to partner (i.e., babysit) Monroe; soon, the two are tracking the Fat Man to Germany and Hitler's Berchtesgaden--where German Detective Wolfe, still morose over the Munich Olympics debacle, foils their plans in order to follow his own agenda (i.e., outwit terrorists), and it appears that the drug trafficking will continue while the security forces of three countries slug it out for political reasons. As compromises are reached, the three cops uncover the full drug scheme--which includes a German plane dropping the goods in the channel, where a parked tanker chugs out to reclaim it, cut it on board, and then distribute it. The British surround the tanker; the Germans blow up the plane before it can make the delivery; the drug bust is a shambles. Meanwhile, the Fat Man dies of a heart attack; Rowley et al. quash the syndicate; and Monroe's Vietnam nightmare comes full circle. . . Predictable, but enlivened by the governmental machinations that botch the cops' good intentions. So-so as thriller, then, though fairly lively as an indictment of political exigencies.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1988

Categories: FICTION