The Contract by Gerald Seymour (1981)

The Contract
by Gerald Seymour
Publisher: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Copyright: 1980
First American Edition

"There's a job to be done in Germany, the other Germany, just right for Johnny . . ."

The British Secret Intelligence Service is looking for a man who will work under a "contract." They want a freelancer. The risks will be massive, so they don't want a man from the inside.

And it's going to be an incredible triumph for England when Johnny brings Otto Guttmann, a veteran Soviet missile expert, out through the curtain of fences and patrols and watchtowers that separate the two Germanys.

Johnny Donoghue is the man who will take the contract. A graduate from the Military Academy at Sandhurst, ten years with Army Intelligence before the assignment that breaks his career. At a stakeout in Northern Ireland close to an IRA arms cache Johnny has shot a teenage girl by mistake, shot her dead, killed his future.

Doing Johnny a favor, really, the Intelligence men, because when he takes their contract he'll be on the road back, the disgrace will be behind him. "Whatever happened in Ireland doesn't matter, Johnny. All gone . . . Guttmann is what counts, getting him across and his daughter will be with him . . ." Erica Guttmann is a complication, but only one of many and no one ever said it would be easy.

The prize is rich enough. Otto Guttmann has just developed a new Soviet anti-tank missile and the British are at the design stage of a main battle tank. If Guttmann can be persuaded to defect, if he can be brought over, then his experience and knowledge can provide that tank with a devastating defense capability.

There's a blueprint for the mission, there's a bait for the old man, there's a specialized team for back-up. "It's a good plan, the best, it deserves to succeed . . ."

At a country house in the south of England Johnny is made ready for the journey into Eastern Europe. There are many eyes on him, many reputations hanging on the decisions he will make once he has crossed over. He will be launched into a gray world of security police and intelligence services, of courage and cowardice, of trust and deceit. He will be alone with only danger and fear for company.

"I don't know whether we should ever have asked it of him . . ."

Condition: Used. Hardcover. Dust cover shows shelf wear, edge wear and tear, discoloration. Pages may be tanning from age. Previous owner's "Library Of" stamp is on the front endpaper.

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