A top-notch espionage mystery very typical of Colin Forbes, whose plots keep one guessing until the very end as to the answers and outcomes of well-crafted characters. Set and written in 1975, an original idea is the focus for THE STONE LEOPARD. France is about to change its political leanings from NATO to Warsaw Pact. Guy Florian, the new French President lashes out at the 'Americanisation' of Europe and pledges loyalty to the eastern bloc. The French defence minister Alain Blanc is planning to oust him from power, but as Marc Grelle, the Prefect of Police in Paris investigates, he discovers something far more dangerous is afoot. A hostile naval task force reaches the Mediterranean, heading towards France and Spain. What is the significance of the LEOPARD, a World War 2 Resistance leader rumoured dead but still apparently alive? Inside all of this, Grelle discovers a conspiracy worse than Florian's political leanings which could destabilise Europe as we know it. The climax detonates well as events race to their final conclusion. If you can track down a copy, this is well worth the read.

Keith Beaumont, an ace British Arctic troubleshooter and scientific expert is despatched to research base Target-5 on the icepack near Greenland to intercept a Soviet defector named Gorov who is carrying secret documents detailing a submarine defence network. The contents could upset the balance of world power, as these stories dictate, so when Beaumont and Gorov are tailed by Soviet airborne assault troops, they must head towards the edge of the ice pack in a perilous journey. This is a short but thrilling novel firmly set in the 1970s, the action scenes will satisfy even the most undemanding of adventure fans and a point of interest, this Colin Forbes classic proves there was much life in his writing before he created his British superspies Tweed, Paula Grey and Bob Newman. Well worth checking out.

In Switzerland, a pharmaceutical company is conducting experiments on human guinea-pigs who are terminally ill. One escapes to tell the world of the Swiss military's best kept secret and soon enough, British secret agents Tweed and Bob Newman are on the case, cheating death, escaping from their enemies on Swiss trains and staying in the best hotels and drinking litres of champagne and coffee! Ah, but Forbes's books are fun in this respect. What is the secret project of the Swiss army, or rather a renegade battalion who is guarding the Berne Clinic? When Tweed finds out, the results could change the stability of western Europe for good . . . read on! Interesting Swiss locations, non-stop action(and champagne drinking) and an easy-reading storyline very typical of this fine British writer! Not to be missed.

In Colin Forbes's 25th novel, Britain's best MI6 secret agents Tweed, Paula Grey and Bob Newman are back, along with regular characters such as marksman Marler and heavies Butler and Nield. In the opening pages, the director of the CIA, Cord Dillon, is saved from a bullet by Paula Grey. The Prime Minister is assassinated by a mystery sniper known only to MI6 as The Phantom(!). Then chaos reigns in London as terrorist bombs explode at power stations, department stores and in Oxford Street. Who are the protagonists? The action moves from the UK and the county of Kent across Europe to Switzerland and Germany's Black Forest, where the good guys discover a frightening conspiracy so audacious it seems only a miracle will prevent it . . . and why is Tweed faced with open hostility at the US Embassy while investigating the attempt on Cord Dillon's Life? Read on and you will find out! Top US diplomat Werner Morgenstern and also Sharon Mandeville, a woman of mystery with connections high up in thw White House seem to know more than they let on. The story takes on a dramatic twist as Morgenstern presents Tweed with an additional conspiracy theory: the US is planning to incorporate Britain into its own system as its 51st state. Hmmm. Overall, in spite of a blatant anti-American stance in parts, this book is still worth five stars due to an intriguing plot(if somewhat unoriginal in places, borrowed in part from Robert Ludlum's THE PARSIFAL MOSIAC with its high-up-in-the-White-House corruptibles), a fast paced narrative, well researched locations and all the regular characters drinking plenty of champagne and staying in the best hotels as ever! Good old Colin Forbes!

Colin Forbes demonstrates to us once again that he is a master of suspense. If you buy this book you will not put it down until you're finished with it. He keeps the plot moving at thirty miles per hour and never lets up. So keep your eye on the tramp.

Colin Forbes' novel seemed an appropriate way to celebrate Ronald Reagan's 90th birthday. This novel was written in the middle of the Reagan Administration. It captures the sense of intensity and fear that was at the heart of the Cold War. As I reread it (I first encountered it back in the 1980s) I was struck with how much of a period piece it is. Forbes accurately details the rivalry between the KGB and the British-American intelligence establishments. He flawlessly recalls the uneasy neutrality of Sweden and intimidated neutrality of Finland (all this long before Nokia became a worldwide brand). He brings us back to the Russian domination of the three Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) and the level of repression required to sustain it. You can feel the paranoia of the Russian senior political leadership and the brutality of their military-intelligence systems.

Cover Story keeps your attention throughout and has a powerfully surprising ending. If you still remain unsure about the President who knew an evil empire when he saw one, this book will convince you that we were very fortunate to have Reagan during those years. Forbes illustrates the alliance created by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher and how that partnership changed the world. This book's very quaintness as a description of a world gone bye is a tribute to their lives and their remarkable achievement in winning the Cold War.

When international foreign correspondent Bob Newman is shown a film sent to Britain's MI6 from the KGB of his wife Alexis being brutally murdered, he sets out to track down her killers. As he is not authorised by his MI6 bosses to do so, special agent Tweed must track him down. But what is the mysterious secret behind Adam Procane, a CIA spook defecting to the East with space weapons data in the upcoming months to the re-election of Reagan(this book was written in 1984, by the way). And what is Procane's link to the murder of Alexis? The trail leads Newman and Tweed across Europe to Sweden and Finland, also Estonia where events lead to a showdown, and all is revealed - or will it be? This is a very typical but much more realistic early Colin Forbes entry in his TWEED series. The characters are well-developed, the dialogue is not so cheesy as his later ones(i.e. THE CAULDRON and FURY - see said reviews) and as ever, the pacing and the intrigue is very engrossing. Not to mention the authentic European locations and an overall easy-to-read narrative. This one is a Cold War thriller that still packs a punch. Enjoy.

Having read another (more recent) novel by Colin Forbes which featured the inimitable Tweed, I was keen to get my hands on more. A little research revealed that this title, Double Jeopardy was apparently the first appearance by the British super-spy. Although relatively short compared to most of his later works, Double Jeopardy is still a cracking read. It tends to focus more on the activities of Martel, the primary agent, but Tweed's abilities emerge towards the end. If you become a Tweed fan like myself, you will enjoy going back to where it all started (circa 1982) and then following the sequence through to more recent publications like The Sisterhood (1999). How Forbes keeps conjuring up these plots with the amazing end/twists is the real appeal of his works.

Four world leaders are scheduled to travel by train to a summit in Vienna. British intelligence reports suggests not one but two threats to one of the world leaders, by both East German communists and the neo-Nazi Delta group, who have been targeting spies around the Lake Constance area of Switzerland. Tweed, Marler and other characters who feature in many more of Forbes's later books have to find out who is behind an attempted assassination - not only that, the neo-NAzi arms dumps are located and the communist leader uses this to his own political advantage in the run-up to the German national elections. To top it all, one of the security personnel on the train in a suspect . . . who? A timeless classic and an engrossing thriller all in one. Athough it was written in 1982, set in East and West Germany, the neo-Nazi angle could easily be applicable to today's German political climate. This is also the debut appearance of Tweed, the 'hero' of Forbes's novels. The pacing is fast, the narrative is easy to read and the story does not get too complex. Overall, track down a copy and enjoy! Oh, in case you're wondering, this is nothing to do with the recent Tommy Lee Jones and Ashley Judd movie of the same name!

An action packed read moving around the countries of Asia and the Middle East, often by some quite alarming modes of transport.There is an eye for detail, the changing scenery, local characters and the many facets of local culture affecting the life and work of an export rep.Colin Forbes' perceptive comments help the reader participate in the action.Often amusing, always interesting, this is a book that you will want to read more than once for information and pleasure.

A refreshingly different sort of book. The descriptions of the revolutions in Iraq and Burma are compelling,very real and give the reader a sense of what followed in both countries. The accounts of life in South East Asia are also very interesting and this reader was especially intrigued by the descriptions of Ceylon. Personal anecdotes and considerable humour enrich the text, throughout which shines the stuff of true experience. All in all, the book is original, highly credible and very entertaining. It makes a really good read and is strongly recommended.

One of the very first Forbes novel, and surprise, it doesn't include any of the Tweed group. A book of suspenseful international intrigue by one of the masters of the genre. This book is globe-spanning intelligence thrill and excitement, remiscent of the classic James Bond espionage stories. Extremely recommended to the fans of the genre.

I had long heard of Henry James and his short novella, The Turn of the Screw and decided to read it, thinking that at only 88 pages long, it would not take more than one evening. Three evenings later, I finished the text and I must admit slightly confused. I had to reread the ending several times to truly understand what had happened. Thankfully, I had the critical edition, which included several essays on the story, one in particular by Edmund White which profoundly changed my opinion of the story.
A simple ghost story on the face of it, but in reality a pre-Freudian tale of sexual repression. Narrated by an unnamed governess who ventures to a country house to take charge of two young orphaned children, it soon becomes a tale of ghosts, mysteries and secrets. Always alluded to and never talked about at face value, the governess becomes convinces that the ghosts are after the children and she alone can save them. But are there really ghosts? The reader must go beyond the plot and carefully read the language...all the language. James writes like no other author I have ever read. The best word to describe it is "dense". With almost no dialogue, the narrator can spend pages describing her thoughts and feelings, yet these are so "coded" as to decipher her real meaning takes much concentration on the part of the reader. I know that James himself thought the story an amusement only, but the critical essays I read after the book deeply impressed me that the story has hidden depths which make it all the more interesting.
I would recommend this novella to anyone with the patience to read it thoroughly and with an open mind as to its meaning. I would strongly recommend the critical edition which helps the reader better understand the story's meaning and importance in literature.

Henry James is one of my favorite authors and this novella is one of my favorite books. It's a ghost story, it's horror, it's suspense, but what set it head and shoulders above most ghost/horror/suspense stories is the fact that it's strictly psychological.

A young governess secures a position at what appears to be a lovely English manor house and she soon discovers that nothing is what is seems and things are definitely not as they should be.

James has a highly stylized way of writing and he loved using long, convoluted sentences, even when saying something quite simple. Some readers might find this a litle jarring, but for me it only adds to the atmosphere of the book.

Over the years there has been much speculation about the meaning of this story, especially the enigmatic ending. I know what I think, but I won't give anything away here. Read The Turn of the Screw yourself and be prepared for a scary evening of surprises and perhaps even a sleepless night.

This book begins with the retelling of a sinister tale from thepast. A young woman in Victorian England secures a job as governessto two orphan children. As she arrives at her new post, she feels uneasy even though all seems well and the future looks bright. Despite attempts at optimism, the presence of evil continues until the governess begins to experience regular and terrifying sightings. The horror rapidly grows when the reason behind these visitations is realized.

Although this book is short, its impact is nevertheless profound. The story's setting is surrealistic, leaving many factors open to speculation and debate. The end is chilling and mysterious at the same time. The enigmatic nature of the story adds to the mystery and terror and this book is sure not to disappoint any reader looking for a haunting and unforgettable story.