Intelligence analyst Elizabeth Loftus (who first appeared in The Old Vengeful (1982)) is assigned to a field investigation in which she commands officers to whom she has previously reported. Nobody truly understands what is happening (regretably, that includes the reader) and even the Epilogue is inconclusive. If you are interested in Price's espionage novels, I suggest that you start with The Hour of the Donkey (1980) and read the rest in chronological order of the narrative. That sequence is summarised in the LibraryThing series named "David Audley / Jack Butler: Chronological Order (1984)". ( )

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