WAITING FOR THE END OF THE WORLD

A disappointing follow-up to Taylor's Caroline Minuscule (1983), wherein young English grad-student William Dougal got involved with a murder, a temporary mistress named Amanda, and an enigmatic con-man named James Hanbury. This time, in need of money, Dougal very reluctantly agrees to undertake an assignment for creepy Hanbury: spying on Alexander Vertag, US leader of a shady End-of-the-World cult that's expanding into Britain. But soon things get droopily complicated: Hanbury abducts Dougal's new black girlfriend Zelda; Dougal traces them to an English estate owned by eccentric bluebloods who are backing the End-of-the-World movement; there are chases around the estate, captures and escapes. And finally, before Dougal extricates himself (with help from gay bodyguard Malcolm), there'll be ho-hum revelations about drug-rings and CIA affiliations. Despite an amusing moment or two: meandering and merely silly where Caroline was sprightly and infectious.