Wow! One of Colin Forbes's best! Britain is under threat from a 'silent' enemy as a body is washed ashore on the south coast. Paula Grey, well-spoken British secret agent, discovers it to be a friend. Enter the Deputy Director of the SIS, Tweed, and foreign correspondent Bob Newman who investigate the murder and discover more than meets the eye! What is the secret of two mysterios and close-knit villages in Britain and Belgium? Why are ships around the world mysteriously disappearing? And as if that wasn't enough, a former British Army brigadier is liasing with Chinese troops and aiding in the construction of stealth warships which radar cannot detect, which seem to be heading for Denmark. Can Tweed and company stop them? The action never stops and also I think I should mention that Colin Forbes's books always give me hours of amusement. In between tracking bad guys, Paula, Tweed and other SIS colleagues always find time to wine and dine at the best restaurants and dress smartly as they track the villains, AVENGERS-style! Also, ace sniper Marler appears with his trusty Armalite rifle and if he needs back-up, in typical Colin Forbes-style, he can get hold of the weapons he needs wherever he wants. How convenient! And why not. The locations are well-researched(I recognised the Danish parts having been near where the story is set myself)Overall, if you can track down a copy, this great British thriller comes highly recommended and you won't want to put it down. So crack open a bottle of champagne, Tweed-style!

Special agents for British intelligence Tweed and Paula Grey, along with a foreign press correspondent, investigate boats that disappear off the south coast of England. When bodies are washed up ashore, they are linked to a mysterious village called Moors Landing, where the reclusive locals don't want visitors. Then the action shifts to Belgium, Germany and Denmark - more villages bought out by a consortium run by Dr Wand, a former Chinese general under a new identity. It becomes apparent that Chinese agents, along with stealth boats, are planning an invasion of Europe in a covert military operation. As more ships disappear at sea, and time runs out, Paula Grey is kidnapped by Dr Wand's cronies and it is up to Tweed to find her, and stop a world war. Can he save the world, or at least Europe? This is a great British thriller which, in spite of a lame narrative at the start picks up the pace and does not let go until the end! The prose is simple to understand, the exact opposite of a highly detailed technothriller but with enough to hold the story in place and appeal to a wide variety of readers, and Forbes also travels to the locations featured - I have visited southern Denmark, Germany and Belgium myself so I could relate to his descriptions of the countries well. Overall, if you can get hold of this, it comes highly recommended. I'll be reading more of his material now!

....The one main thing that surprised me about this is how well it's dated. I was wondering as I read it "when was it published" but it could have been released this week, and you wouldn't be able to tell when it was written.

As always, the atmosphere is amazing. Forbes has done a brilliant job of capturing the areas visited in the book, and the various peculiarities of the differant nations. There was a definite feeling of suspense, and I found it very hard to put the book down, sacrificing a lot of sleep getting through it!

In sum, I think it is a brillaint book, and if you can track down a copy, it is well worth it. This is far greater than any other terrorist thrillers out there at the moment.

Colin Forbes's favourite spies, England's finest, Tweed, Paula Grey(in her debut field assignment) and international foreign correspondent Bob Newman are hot on the trail of a former Russian strategic warfare planner who has in his possession Triton Three, the most powerful non-nuclear explosive in the world. What is his target? Who is the mysterious sniper called The Monk and whose side is he really on? The trail leads Tweed and co. to Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and a showdown at Rotterdam. The locations are once again well-researched, Forbes always visits them to get a good atmosphere and fire up his imagination! The action as well never stops, and the storytelling and prose is kept simple so it will appeal to a wide variety of readers. Which, along with memorable characters, shows why he is extremely popular. If you can track down a copy of DEADLOCK, get it - it is one of the best terrorist thrillers ever!

In 1944, three British Army Commandos commit a brutal murder in Cairo. Forty-three years later, the crime is still unsolved, save for one detective's obsession with the case. Then in Greece, British MI6 agent Harry Masterson is pushed off a cliff and dies. When the commandos learn of this, they are in a state of terror. The Greek underground communist movement has united with Russian anti-Glasnost followers and use the commandos as a British contact, much to their fear. What is their motive? Russian President Gorbachev is due to meet with Western heads of state in the UK, and it seems that an assassination attempt is threatened. Who can stop the conspiracy? Why, enter Britain's best secret agents Tweed, Paula Grey and Bob Newman. Tweed and Paula travel to the county of Somerset in England to investigate the commandos and some grisly murders on isolated hills linked to the wife of one. Newman and the UK's best marksman Marler travel to the Greek island of Siros and also Athens to investigate a secret communist underground hideaway and how it is linked to MAsterson's murder and Gorbachev's potential downfall. The story may seem dated now, but the action and intrigue never stop until an explosive climax in the UK. The locations are well described and created. Siros is fictional, but it brought back memories of our vacaction in Corfu, another real Greek island which Siros is based on in part. And of course, Tweed and Paula get to eat and drink in the best pubs and restaurants! Hugely entertaining.

The Greek Key is one of the BEST books I have ever read. It is not just a murder mystery, it is a MURDERS mystery; more than one murder occurs. The way Colin Forbes sets up the story is fabulous! The detectives Robert Newman, Marler, Paula Grey, Tweed, Pete Neild, and Robert Butler are out to solve two murders that took place 40 years ago (with respect to the year 1987, I think). They end up having to find the murderer of two people who were killed during their investigation. If I say anymore I may give too much away, but please read the book!! I highly reccommend this book, I have read it five times. It is gripping, page-turning, chiller. Anyone in the mood for an EXCELLENT mystery, should definetely read it.

A classic Colin Forbes suspenser! England's top MI6 secret agent Tweed is framed for a rape and a murder he did not commit, and is forced to flee to Europe in the midst of winter. Paula Grey, his trusty assistant, and Bob Newman, international reporter-turned-secret agent stand by his pleas for innocence. Meanwhile, a British government minister called Lance Buckmaster plans to alter the balance of power in the world . . . what is the significance of the hijacking of a ship carrying a supercomputer anti-ballistic missile space defence system? Tweed seems to be the only key, and he is being hunted by the authorities across Europe. To add to this, ace sniper Marler infiltrates Buckmaster's organisation, who are also trackong Tweed, to find out the villain's true aims using any means necessary. This is a brilliant thriller with Colin Forbes's trademarks - well-researched locations, amusing narrative and plot twists galaore when you least expect them! DON'T MISS IT!

First book I ever read of Colin Forbes, and was the first book I could not put down without reading another page!

France is in crisis. A right-wing general with leanings towards neo-Nazism is calling on the French people to rise up against immigrants. Rioting breaks out in cities, but is it really what it seems? Is someone engineering the crisis to change French leadership? Then to top it all, the French President and his ministers are killed when their TGV train is firebombed on a bridge and plunges into an abyss. Who can save France, and ultimately the stability of Europe? Rene Lasalle, head of French counterespionage sends for Britain's best SIS agents Tweed, Paula Grey and international foreign correspondent Bob Newman, along with trusty rifleman Marler. Can they stop the general in time before tanks roll on Paris armed with chemical artillery? Who is the mysterious assassin Manteau, who is blackmailing the general into paying him extortionate sums for carrying out orders? This book is a real page-turner! And of course, Tweed and his motley crew get to drink loads of wine and champagne in between drawing their enemies out into the open and cheating death! This is what makes a Colin Forbes novel worthwhile. Don't miss this one!

Yes, they're back again! It's Britain's finest secret agents Tweed, Paula Grey and Bob Newman(famous international correspondent) who are this time on the trail of a billionaire tycoon called Gabriel March Walvis, who plans to flood Europe with Project Tidal Wave. And before you think of natural disasters, read on further, it's not quite as predictable as that! The trail takes Tweed and his merry men(and women)from southern England to Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic where they are confronted with a motley crew of female assassins. Not only that, Philip Cardon, whose wife dies in hospital at the start of the book, is also on Walvis's trail out for revenge. And Britain's ace sniper Marler can get any arms he wants at a price to help out agents along, of course! This is an action-packed, dramatic thriller with well-described locations and sudden and unexpected twists at every available opportunity. The narrative does contain some amusing dialogue, for instance:

(p.186: 'I've ordered several bottles of champagne,' Tweed said casually. 'Champers! Goody-goody,' Paula enthused.

Somehow I don't think people talk like that these days! Also:

'A nasty little man pretending to be a police officer goes round the reception desks of all the hotels. His identity card must be forged. Par for the course.'

Someone who likes to state the obvious! But these unintentionally funny lines liven Forbes's books up no end. Highly recommended.

In the past year I have read dozens of audiobooks, but none had the impact of The Heights of Zervos. It begins with a gripping descrition of sabateur hero Ian Macomber narrowly cheating almost certain death, and keeps up the pace in this unabridged story of four men's struggle against huge odds. It's deliciously long, so the pleasure lasts. The writing (and reading) is exceptional (compared with others in the genre) and the characters really live, by their wits, as they carry us to the thrilling conclusion. I must read all the Forbes bookshelf now.

They're back again! England's top SIS agents Tweed, Paula Grey and international foreign correspondent Bob Newman, along with ace sniper MArler and heavies Butler and Nield are facing a dangerous threat. Europe is under attack as various high ranking politicians seriously concerned with the lack of leadership and military spending in Europe are being taken out one by one. Tweed is on the list. Paula is almost kidnapped by Arab fundamentalists in Vienna. In Slovakia, Arab leader Hassan has made his residence and is planning a major military strike. Tanks and mechanised infantry are massing in Iraq. Tweed and his crew head for Geneva and then Austria on the train of HAssan and his professional female assassins, known as the Sisterhood. Not only that, one Emilio Vitorelli suspects English redhead Tina Langley is responsible for the death of his wife and is out for revenge, but just who can Tweed trust? Can they save Europe again?! Once again, Colin Forbes has delivered another gem of a novel which will keep you reading and entertained right to the end. Fast pacing, a good, steadily flowing narrative and well-researched locations contribute nicely to the interesting and rather plausible storyline.

And a Colin Forbes novel which does not feature Tweed and co., like his other entertaining books in that series. Jules Beaurain is the leader of TELESCOPE, an unofficial anti-terrorist squad which is illegal but tolerated - they have overpowered everyone from bank robbers to nuclear terrorists! But they may be facing their most deadly enemy - the SYNDICATE of the book's title, who are spreading their influence into the highest reaches of power, including the White House, by using one Litov, a top Soviet agent. As both sides outwit each other across Europe, the net closes in . . . This novel, despite being written in 1982, is still a thrilling adventure even today. The action never stops after a bit of a false start, and Colin Forbes demonstrates that he visits the locations featured by describing them so well. Denmark and Belgium are countries I have visited and could relate to those parts in particular. One of his best reads.