British thriller veteran Egleton ( A Double Deception ) has written better endings--and better books--but even when off his form, he's engagingly knowledgeable and has a knack for pacing. In the spring of 1991, a minor British agent is apparently blown up by neo-Nazis in Germany. Mid-level operative Peter Ashton, sent to tidy up, decides the bomb was meant for Galina Kutuzova, the daughter and granddaughter of Soviet apparatchiks, who is probably an informant. When she disappears, Ashton pursues her across Europe and America before the chase ends in eastern Germany. Galina has various adventures, including stripping in New Orleans and a lesbian encounter in Arizona, and Ashton runs the risk of being branded a double agent, but all in all they're not very interesting characters. Although a KGB hit team spices things up a bit towards the end, the large supporting cast of Yanks and Brits blurs together, and the various intra- and interagency rivalries grow dull. Still, Egleton is nothing if not brisk, and readers will zip along--right up to the final fizzle. Copyright 1993 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

/*STARRED REVIEW*/ Egleton, author of a whole series of popular espionage stories--A Double Deception (1992), Last Act (1991), In the Red (1990)--hits paydirt once again with his newest thriller, set in the perestroika-driven world of post-Cold War intelligence gathering. Galina Kutuzova of the GRU has been selling secrets to the Brits. When the intelligence officer who's been running her is blown to bits shortly after a rendezvous with Kutuzova, the SIS calls in agent Peter Ashton to figure out how the betrayal happened and why Kutuzova has suddenly disappeared. Ashton's investigation takes him deep into a covert world of suspicion and violence where perestroika doesn't exist and trust is a dirty word. Egleton's army-intelligence experience shows--his characters reflect his more-than-passing acquaintance with the dangerously precarious life of the secret agent, the "spyspeak" sounds authentic, the intricately twisted plot is gripping and suspenseful, and the sometimes brutal action comes thick and fast. Not as cryptic as le Carr{ }e but just as intense and chilling, Hostile Intent affirms Egleton's reputation as one of today's best thriller writers. (Reviewed June 1993)0312088124Emily Melton From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.