cover image Covenant of the Poppies

Covenant of the Poppies

Colin D. Peel. St. Martin's Press, $17.95 (215pp) ISBN 978-0-312-09264-1

A prolific New Zealander with some 20 novels to his credit, Peel has mastered one of the fundamentals of thriller writing: keep the action fast and furious, so the reader never has a chance to realize just how improbable it all is. International arms dealer Mike McConnell inadvertently discovers a deadly secret about a respected relief agency during a gun-buying trip to rural Afghanistan. At least some members of the Joint Afghan Relief Organization (JARO), which is supposed to buy up and destroy opium poppies, are apparently selling the opium themselves. Saved from certain execution by a mysterious woman named Maria, McConnell manages to get back to his London base; within days, a bomb intended for him kills members of his family. From that point on, the action is bloody and virtually nonstop until the dramatic conclusion in Berlin, as McConnell and the beautiful Maria alternately pursue and are pursued by villains whose power becomes increasingly apparent with each new revelation. Fun, even if thoroughly unbelievable. (July)