The Judas Gate (Sean Dillon)
Sean Dillon, the former IRA soldier and missionary who now works for the British government, has another tough case on his hands. In Afghanistan, a unit of American soldiers and British medicos were ambushed. Some of the attackers were British-born Muslims, which is bad enough, but it appears their leader might be a mysterious Irishman who calls himself Shamrock. Against his better judgment, Dillon reaches out to an expert on the Irish element: Daniel Holley, an assassin who once nearly killed Dillon. This is an especially dialogue-heavy novel—much of the action is implied, or takes place off camera—perhaps because the author is interested in exploring the relationship between Dillon and Holley. Like the previous Dillon novel, The Wolf at the Door (2010), this one is slower paced, more introspective, and frankly, not quite as engaging as some of the earlier entries in the series. Fans, however, will want to see Dillon through to the end. --David Pitt