The Doll's House

In her latest romantic thriller, set in present-day England, the prolific Anthony ( The Assassin ; The Relic ) brings together the seemingly opposed objectives and personalities of Rosa Bennett and Harry Oakham. Oakham, a career intelligence officer who is bitter over being forced into retirement, has gathered the world's most cold-blooded ex-spies (all lacking a place in the post-Communist world order) to apply their talents for international terrorism and murder-for-hire. Their base is a quaint country inn, the Doll's House Manor. Rosa, recently divorced, is sent there on her first spying mission to discover what Oakham is up to. When Rosa and Oakham fall in love, none of their plans proceeds as expected. Rosa drops her guard and Oakham, with long-dormant emotions newly awakened, must question his true motives and desires. When his group'bungles its first job, they must race against time to see whose secrets will be discovered first. While fast-paced and entertaining, the novel is flawed by characters who switch allegiances and emotions at an implausibly quick rate, and by plot twists that often lack explanation and yield no suspense. (Aug.)