[Review] Craig Thomas: 'Wolfsbane'

During the Second World War, Richard Gardiner was an effective, if rather ruthless, leader of a group of guerilla fighters in the French resistance, fighting against the occupying Germans and – at the same time – trying to thwart the communists from capturing Paris during the interregnum between fleeing Germans and the arrival of General Charles de Gaulle. But Gardiner became the victim of betrayal, torture and, after a somewhat fortuitous flight, an attack on his life. After the war he settled in the countryside of England, desperately trying to forget his ordeal.

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But devious plans are devised. Unbeknownst to Richard Gardiner, he is to be reawakened. "Cry 'Havoc!,' and let slip the dogs of war," cries Mark Antony in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. And that's exactly what happens, because Richard Gardiner suddenly remembers and wants revenge.

At the same time, Kenneth Aubrey, head of SO-4, part of British Intelligence, is trying to weed out a deep cover agent or mole. The question is who gets their intended target first. Will Richard Gardiner find the man who gave the order to betray him or can Kenneth Aubrey find his mole?

The action drips from every page and, once you start to read, you won't be able to put the book down. Richard Gardiner is portrayed as a lethal tool and his viciousness is quite unsettling.

Set in 1963, 'Wolfsbane' (1978) is a great thriller. Period.

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