The Cauldron

In this typical Colin Forbes thriller, a billionaire industrialist called Vincent Bernard Moloch with concerns in the US, the UK and Middle East, and the director of the worl'ds biggest multinational called AMBECO, invents a new type of explosive called Xenobium. Supposedly more powerful than the A-bomb, Moloch makes a point of demostrating it with spectacular results and a view to selling it to Middle Eastern nations for military use. So who is there to stop him? Enter the British MI6's finest gourmet-loving, champagne-drinking, well-dressed secret agents Tweed, Paula Grey and foreign correspondent Bob Newman who infiltrate AMBECO and discover that the madman's plans are bigger than they realise. And as they fight off killers in speedboats, a loony employee of AMBECO with a mother fixation and use sniper Marler to pick out the bad guys(isn't it convenient he can buy all the arms he needs anywhere in the world! ), they still find the time to dine at the best parties! And the narrative contains some hilarious lines. For instance:(p169): 'And he paid them very well. I don't know how much, but they started appearing in more expensive clothes.'(p265-266): (referring to a courier delivering essential documents) 'They will reach you in seven hours time.' 'Seven hours? How are they coming? By rocket?' 'I've got government co-operation. They must be using one of their incredible new supersonic aircraft.'Enough said. But on the book's finer points, it is a very good, if somewhat familiar story, and the pacing is fast and action never stops until two explosive climaxes in California and Cornwall. Worth a read, at least Colin Forbes's novels have a knack of being extremely entertaining, if somewhat in the wrong way, which is notable in his later books.