cover image The Eyes of the Goat

The Eyes of the Goat

Donald MacKenzie. St. Martin's Press, $16.95 (185pp) ISBN 978-0-312-09056-2

This clumsy installment in the Raven series ( Raven's Shadow et al.) follows former British policeman John Raven to Czechoslovakia on a search for the codes needed to access computer disks that contain information collected before the collapse of Communism. Two men have died trying to buy the codes: former diplomat Struan Dunbar and his daughter Catriona's lover, con man Henry Grattan. After Catriona asks for help, Raven heads for Prague with his wife, Kirstie. There he finds that many others are hunting for the codes, including former Communists and members of Force Four, a secret pro-democracy group working directly for Vaclav Havel. Confusing, elliptical prose, a weak story line and undeveloped characters seriously mar this perfunctory tale. (Feb.)