THE TEHERAN CONTRACT

by Gayle & James Hudson Rivers ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 19, 1981

Maybe only fans of merc novels will swallow it whole, but Rivers tells quite a story. In May 1979 he was approached with a vague proposition, and subsequently struck a deal: he was to remove a family of four adult male Jews from theft hiding place near Teheran and get them to safety. But: they must first be delivered to a safe house in Teheran for a mysterious debriefing. As Rivers mounts his force, a team of seven seasoned men, he's told that the oldest Jew has just been executed by a revolutionary tribunal That leaves three. Plans forming, he's taken aside in Bonn by Werner Muller, commander of G-9, a German antiterrorist organization fighting PLO infiltration into Munich student groups and terrorist bands. G-9 is deeply concerned with Rivers' Teheran op because the PLO stood behind Khomeini's takeover and now acts autonomously in Iran. The executed Jew, it develops, had been a bigtime drug-dealer and the major supplier of heroin to the Munich PLO! Two of the targets being evacuated by Rivers are his sons. G-9, in fact, knows more about Rivers' op than he does, and declares itself in. It also supplies him with much of his hardware and armament, including two trucks with false compartments for getting the team out of Iran. The op takes place in a Teheran overrun with armed insurgents shooting off guns everywhere. When the three young Jews are located and taken in hand, one is a kid junkie and the others are two overdressed, pot-smoking brats. Rivers is furl-that he's been sent after these nitwits. Nonetheless, when the junkie is captured and jailed, Rivers mounts an op against the jail and rescues him, meanwhile blowing the jail to bits. He also gets the other two (brothers) to the safe house where G-9 debriefs them about missing drugs and serial numbers to European safe-deposit boxes, containing millions in hard currency and details of PLO operations within Germany. Then comes the harrowing truck ride out of Iran, several shoot'-em-ups, and finally a seaplane flight to safety. Ratatat writing, nifty characterizations, and bloody action--plus some highly professional cost-accounting.

Pub Date: June 19, 1981

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1981

Categories: NONFICTION