JIGSAW

Thriller writer Campbell (A Concert of Ghosts, 1993, etc.) returns, this time with a briskly paced tale of international conspiracy that drags only near its end. Scotland Yard investigator Frank Pagan is on an unwanted leave of absence when a London subway bombing forces his superiors to recall him. Over a hundred people are dead, and, strangely, no terrorist group claims responsibility. Pagan can't make any sense of it all, until certain clues (including one left intentionally) point to Carlotta, an international terrorist, and Bryce Harcourt, a US Embassy employee and victim of the explosion. Fairly certain that Harcourt was the intended target, Pagan begins to question people at the Embassyand the investigation gets messy. Harcourt's superior is murdered, and an attempt is made on Pagan's life. Meanwhile, shadowy powerbroker Tobias Barron sits at the center of a worldwide conspiracy to create as much chaos as possible. Barron and his co-conspirators (all in top positions in governments, businesses, and various intelligence and military organizations) rig elections, incite protests, assassinate politicos, and arm radical groups, since instability is good for the markets and the political fortunes of Barron & Co. Barron is also romantically involved with Carlotta, who has recently returned from the bombing. Back in London, Pagan uncovers The Undertakers, a clandestine group within the US Embassy, who, with Harcourt's help, had distributed vast sums of money to aid Barron's various enterprises. When Harcourt got nervous, they arranged for Carlotta to kill him. Pagan's investigation takes him to France, where he's nearly killed (twice) as he begins to realize the enormity of the conspiracyone that includes the planned assassination of the Russian president during a state visit to Italy. Thrown into the mix are KGB and CIA agents, ex-East German Stazi, and an IRA killer who becomes Pagan's lover. Pagan becomes inexplicably chatty at the end, slowing the action considerably, though he still offers, generally, a tough and taut thriller.