Shockwave by Colin Forbes

Some years ago I discovered books by Colin Forbes. His books are of the same genre as Alistair MacLean but set in the post WWII. There is still the cold war and spying between the west and the communist countries. The central characters are the Deputy Director of SIS Tweed and his team who are rushing against time to save the world for some major disasters.

In Shockwave, the story begins with Tweed having to run as a fugitive across Europe after being accused of A brutal murder and rape of a young woman in his flat. A big manhunt is started officially through a request to all the European Police Forces as well as unofficially by the Minister of External Affairs via his World Security Company. The motives for this framing is not clear and Tweed has to solve this puzzle on the run. He is accompanied by Paula his assistant and Robert Newman who goes looking for evidence and provides protection when needed. He is also a liaison between the police chiefs and Tweed as they have known Tweed for many years and do not believe he committed the murder. While we can see that World Security has put out a hit on Tweed by hiring an experienced assassin. However, the reason for this set up and making Tweed run remains a suspense well into the book. There are a couple of other storylines which run side by side – a murder of an accountant at World Security and a high jacking of a ship carrying a top secret cargo across the Atlantic.

There are so many different attempts to kill Tweed and how he manages to evade the killers every time. The author keeps the tension running evenly all through the book. There is fairly detailed description of all the places in Germany and Switzerland and this is a mark of Colin Forbes and his familiarity with European cities and countryside. This book is probably one of the earlier ones as Marler, the best marksman and part of Tweed’s team, is not so close with the rest and works alone most of the time. Newman and Paula are all for not trusting Marler totally, however Marler comes through at the climax of the story. While there is violence it is mainly to the detriment of the villains.

I have read this book many times. Generally, I leave the book for a few months or sometimes even a year or so and read it again. It is as if new and I read it with the same relish as I did the first time. There are always new points that come to light or new angle to the situation as I am generally in a hurry to get to the end. Also often if a lot of time has passed I have forgotten a lot of the plot details and nuances of the menace in this convoluted plot. The villains are spread and working as a strong network across Europe and well matched by those who are out to stop them and their network is spread across Europe as well as into USA. The pace of the book is fast and keeps you guessing as who is the real murderer and what is the real motive for it. Enjoyable read every time.