by William P. McGivern
"He was tall and lean, with thick, gray hair cut short and when he smiled, which was seldom, the effort tightened the muscles around his mouth..." That kind of descriptive detail lends credibility to the large cast of characters in this violent, international cops-and-robbers novel. It concerns a retired Army general turned crime fighter whose son is a police officer in Chicago. Four young black soldiers, just back from duty in Europe, are found murdered. There seems to be a link between the killings and a tough Army sergeant in a Chicago armory who is importing heroin on the side. An aggressive young woman reporter and a deserter from the Vietnam war provide a strange love affair that adds yet another dimension to this gritty, suspenseful novel. McGivern, who died in 1982, was the kind of writer who could conjure up a slick smuggler who quotes Tolstoy and still be chillingly believable. He gave this solid adventure yarn an original, consistent tone of bitter melancholy. (Arbor House, $16.50)
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