DEATH STALK

by Bob Langley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 3, 1978

Why has the Director General of the BBC been kidnapped? Could it connect with three other unexplained, unsolved nappings in recent weeks? Is it, as usual, the IRA? The mystery is anything but clarified when the anonymous kidnapper demands neither money nor political prisoners: all he wants is the use of a TV reporter--and guaranteed TV air time for three minutes of film. Hermit-like William Mellinger, retired from television, is the only reporter the kidnapper will accept, so Bill must reluctantly play along or sentence the kidnapees to death. Which brings him face to face, in the barren north Highlands, with madman Kyle--a huge muscleman disfigured and mortally ill from chemical industrial pollution in his hometown's river. Kyle's four kidnapees (one woman) all have something, however innocent or symbolic, to do with pollution, and Kyle plans to set them loose in the icy mountains, then hunt and slaughter them, with Bill filming and reporting the death stalk as a piece of anti-pollution propaganda. As the stalk ensues--Bill rebels and joins the ill-clad, out-of-shape victims in the freezing wild--the authorities try to figure out Kyle's identity and whereabouts. Frostbite, hand-to-hand combat, and a twinge of romance in the face of certain death. . . . A bit too busy but gutsy-readable, British-style--if you can manage that goofy, grisly premise.

Pub Date: Nov. 3, 1978

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1978

Categories: FICTION