THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 9, 1997 TAG: 9701310735
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: Bill Roach
LENGTH: 31 lines
THE DEVIL'S FOOTPRINT
VICTOR O'REILLY
Putnam. 375 pp. $24.95.
Victor O'Reilly is a master of the thriller, as he shows with this third novel featuring Irish counterterrorism hero Hugo Fitzduane.
Fitzduane hails from the tradition of knighthood of olde. In O'Reilly's first two novels, Games of the Hangman and Rules of the Hunt, he battled terrorists in Europe and Japan. In The Devil's Footprint, the action is set in the United States and Mexico.
Once again, Fitzduane must confront Japanese terrorist leader Reiko Oshima. Intent on vengeance, Oshima plots a Holocaust-like strike at the United States, using a monstrous supergun from a Mexican stronghold. First, though, he captures our hero's pregnant wife, Kathleen, and holds her hostage. In response, the Irish warrior puts together a small strike force - with the aid of a congressional task force - that includes men from the 82nd Airborne and launches a preventive attack.
Like O'Reilly's others, this novel vibrates with action and suspense. But it is also a strong narrative, rich with realistic dialogue and deft characterizations. Fitzduane and his leader, General Shane Kilmara, are heroic and human, very believable warriors.