The Heart of Danger

Just out in paperback, Seymour's latest topical thriller proves that a good writer can find believable material in what most of us look on as CNN horror footage. Seymour has written fine thrillers set in such troubled terrains as Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Afghanistan. This time the killing ground is Croatia, where the body of a young Englishwoman is found in a mass grave. Her mother hires David Penn, an ex-serviceman and failed intelligence agent, to find out why she died. (Seymour's previous thriller, The Fighting Man, set in the Persian Gulf and Guatemala, is also a gripping and unusual read.)