Frost of Heaven

In the tradition of Rider Haggard adventure stories, this absorbing debut thriller set in remote lands offers penetrating character studies along with colorful, nonstop action. Peter Novak is a young American reporter in London seeking information about his father, an RAF officer who disappeared on a secret mission over the Himalayas before his son's birth. Peter has already provoked the suspicion of MI5 when a beautiful and mysterious woman named Tashi leaves him with a satchel containing a human skull. Pursued by killers and by the police, Peter flees to Calcutta to continue his search. There he meets Tashi again and is caught in a deadly race with three ruthless men--Tashi's protector, Zhdanov; a mysterious priest known as Father Decimus; and Chinese scholar Dr. Poc--to find the secret valley of Shambala, where lies a secret that could destroy the world. Parallel story lines culminate in a cataclysmic resolution. Podrug deftly depicts his diverse locales, from modern London and contemporary, ageless Calcutta to Tibet and Mongolia, providing rare texture for his plot of violence and danger. (Aug.)