Harlequin by Morris West (1974)

Harlequin
by Morris West
Publisher:  William Morrow & Company, Inc.
Copyright:  1974
Book Club Edition

Morris West continues his important and incisive exploration of the jungle of the modern world in this portrayal of international violence -- for hire . . .

Like The Salamander, its global best-selling predecessor, Harlequin takes the form of a thriller, with all the action, excitement and surprise that the term implies.  At the same time it explores in depth a contemporary phenomenon as fateful as it is terrifying.

The focus is on the new wholesalers of violence.  These are the men who, through the sophisticated use of computers, literally program human beings to murderous acts, assembling the personnel and procedures for a hijacking or kidnapping here, a quiet assassination there . . .

This time the target for take-over is a highly reputable family-owned Swiss bank with branches in a number of capitals of the world.  In the process governments are suborned, reputations diminished or ruined, lives snuffed out, and even decent men driven themselves to violence as the only antidote.  The settings are Geneva, London, Washington, Mexico City, New York.  The time is now.

A page-turner if there ever was one, Harlequin remains an eloquently serious achievement.  The questions it poses are deeply disturbing.  For example, in a lawless society, is one justified in taking the law into his own hands?

Perhaps in an upside-down world only the harlequin, the clown, has the final answers.  Yet the moral stance in these pages seems clear:  in a world in which money and power, sustained by violence, are the only watchwords, "the Year of the Assassins" has no end.

Condition:  Used.  Hardcover.  Dust cover is discolored and shows edge wear/tear/creases.  Dust cover flaps are discolored and back dust cover flap and inside back cover/back endpaper/page 275 and inside endpaper has water and soiled spots.  Binding is beginning to split in places but pages are in tact still.

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