From Library Journal
After one of their friends disappears, three young Soviet Jews hijack an airliner, hoping to find freedom from persecution. Veteran thriller writer Seymour's (The Heart of Danger) 1977 novel might seem dated given the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it remains fresh because of the concentration on moral ambiguities that has won him comparisons with Graham Greene and John le Carr?. The dilemma here is whether the three are victims, terrorists, or both as several nations agonize over the conflict between political freedom and the safety of innocent bystanders. The author is more concerned with mood and character than plot and occasionally undercuts the suspense by switching from the plane to a subplot, but his tale remains engrossing. Nigel Graham's smooth reading complements the story's subtleties. Recommended for public libraries.AMichael Adams, CUNY Graduate Ctr., New York
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Description
After one of their friends disappears, three young Soviet Jews hijack an airliner and demand passage to Israel. In the style that has won him comparisons to Graham Greene and John le CarrΓ©, acclaimed thriller writer Gerald Seymour zeroes in on the moral ambiguities of the activists' deeds. As several nations agonize over the conflict between political freedom and the safety of innocent bystanders, Seymour forces us to wonder whether the hijackers are victims, terrorists, or both.
As in all his novels, Seymour focuses on the everyman foot soldier torn between the enemy before him and the high-ranking diplomats at his back. Charlie Webster is a world-weary counter-terrorism expert who has been called away from his soft desk job to negotiate with the hijackers. Gripping, explosive, yet still fully human, Kingfisher demonstrates the concept that elevates all of Seymour's stories: victory in multinational political conflicts is quite often Pyrrhic at the personal level.