THE KILLING HOUSE

A British warrior, cashiered from the elite Special Air Services, sells his brains and skills to a couple of loony American billionaires who back his plan to seize and hold the cream of American Jewry for ransom. By the author of one other novel (The Five Fingers, 1978, with James Hudson) and three books of nonfiction (The War Against the Terrorists, 1986, etc.). Tim Bell, who worked his way up through the ranks to become an SAS captain and a specialist in anti-terrorism, is fired and out on the streets for having executed a couple of IRA murderers without benefit of trial. Embittered but unbowed, Bell moves to America to look into the mercenary business. After a fling with an old flame at Fort Bragg and a peek into her husband's top-secret files, Bell cooks up a plan to storm the Windows on the World, that pricey restaurant at the top of New York's World Trade Center, where America's richest and most famous Jewish men will be celebrating Israel's 40th birthday. Pooling the resources of a left-wing billionaire dominated by a suave Palestinian and a right-wing billionaire with his own private army, Bell sets to work training a special attack force. But his movements have not gone unnoticed. The intelligence agencies know he is up to something. They just don't know what. After weeks of Bell's relentless training and ruthless discipline, the troops are ready, the World Trade Center is booby-trapped, and all systems are set for a flying attack from tower to tower. Brutal, bloody, nasty, simple-minded movie material. No heroes.