Publisher's Weekly
Savarin ( Hammerhead ) contributes yet another name to the list of undercover agents bent on retirement who are inexorably drawn back into active espionage. Gordon Gallagher, formerly with the British Secret Service, and his fiancee, Lauren, have barely survived a series of harrowing ordeals. After their plane was hijacked, they were dumped ''in an underground prison in the middle of Australia,'' from which they escaped in a daring prison breakout. Now, during a skiing vacation in France, Lauren is brutally murdered and Gallagher narrowly escapes. Although his former bosses forbid him to seek revenge, Gallagher is obsessed with finding the person responsible for Lauren's murder, whom he is convinced can only be Inge Schonbronn, one of the gang of hijackers. Following Schonbronn's trail to Africa, Gallagher uncovers a frightening scheme with nuclear implications. Savarin is occasionally authoritative on the espionage game, his dialogue is taut but the narrative lags somewhat in suspense.

School Library Journal
YA-- A prenuptial ski trip should be wonderful, even if it is a gift designed to erase a terrible ordeal just survived. All joy ends for Gallagher, however, when his betrothed is shot and killed on the high slopes. Grief not withstanding, he calls on the well-honed intelligence skills learned in military special forces to plot his revenge. Assistance, treachery, and bureaucratic red tape follow him as he races from France through England and on to Africa in search of Lauren's murderer. YAs interested in political espionage that moves at slalom speed will love it. It won't help raise their SAT scores, but they'll have a great time. --Barbara Hawkins, West Potomac High, Fairfax, VA

Genre: Thriller