From the Back Cover Decision by Committee - When an airliner is high-jacked by Iraqi terrorists and ordered to Istanbul, the news sends shock waves through the British Government. Prominent on the list of passengers are two UK Chiefs of Staff, as well as Sandbagger Willie Caine and CIA Agent Karen Milner. As the plane sits on the dusty tarmac, Burnside and his Whitehall masters debate the high-jackers' demands for the release of imprisoned dissidents and threats to execute the Chiefs of Staff and blow up the entire plane if demands are not met. As Whitehall dithers, Burnside fumes and finds himself once again wrestling with red tape and political considerations. Are the high-jackers bluffing? Is the threat real? Are negotiations possible? Will Whitehall sit and wait? Or should the SIS mount an Entebbe-style rescue? A Question of Loyalty - Warsaw. Rookie Sandbagger Mike Wallace sets out on an apparently simple assignment to escort a defecting agent to safety. The task suddenly turns highly dangerous when the agent fails to appear. When Wallace approaches his flat, he finds himself surrounded by inexplicably well-informed local police who seem to know him well. The mission has failed... but why? Wallace blames Shearburn, Head of Station in Warsaw, but Shearburn in his lightning-quick report to London, faults Wallace for bungling the operation. Whitehall sides with Shearburn, but Burnside, who knows his operative well, believes Wallace. As this tense drama builds, Burnside puts his career on the line to battle his superiors and in doing so, opens the door to yet another highly intriguing mission. It Couldn't Happen Here - A prominent American senator is shot dead in his home by an unknown gunman. London's head of CIA suspects the FBI may be responsible. Sandbagger Willie Caine is assigned to protect the Senator's successor, a well-known civil rights leader, at the funeral. When two more apparently unconnected and accidental deaths occur and investigations reveal sinister implications, Burnside wants hard answers. Who is killing these people and why? What is the connection and where? And what, he asks, is the link between a high-ranking, secretive British Cabinet Minister and the assassinated American senator? Only one answer is certain. In the shadowy world of international intelligence, things are never quite what they seem. Operation Kingmaker - Politics are never so treacherous as when practiced under the principles of diplomacy, power and the "old boys' network." When Burnside's superior, Sir James Greenley, is forced to retire, the question arises-who will take his place? Two strong candidates emerge-Matthew Peele, Greenley's deputy and John Tower Gibbs, Burnside's old enemy. Neither is acceptable to Burnside who has no official say in the final choice. When word leaks that Gibbs has already written a formal report advocating the breakup of the CIA-SIS Special Relationship, Burnside immediately knows he must take unusual steps to save the situation to promote the advancement of Peele, a leader he personally disdains. In doing so, Burnside sets the stage for political infighting, the likes of which Whitehall has never seen. At All Costs - Berlin. Sandbagger Laura Dickens lies dying on the desolate cold strip of no-man's-land between East and West Germany, assassinated on the orders of Neil Burnside. Exactly one year later to the day, Bulgarian agent Galabov transmits a Top Priority signal offering enticing crucial information. His terms? An immediate meeting with Sandbagger Elliott in Bulgaria. Burnside is suspicious and unwilling to risk another Sandbagger. Why Elliott? Why now? Galabov is insistent and his terms precise-meet all details or no deal. For Burnside, the nightmare of Berlin begins again. Pressured by government spending cuts, the desire to safeguard his agents and the increasing need for an intelligence coup to provide Special Operations with a reprieve, Burnside struggles to make the right decision at all costs! Enough of Ghosts - Brussels. A major international incident threatens when Sir Geoffrey Wellingham, Permanent Undersecretary of State, is mysteriously kidnapped by a group of terrorists while visiting NATO. For Neil Burnside, the threat is double-edged and personal. While the kidnapping is disquieting enough, Burnside is also aware of something worse. Wellingham was in possession of highly sensitive material, lent to him by Burnside himself. Who are the kidnappers and what are their demands? Burnside and his Whitehall colleagues must sit tight and wait... but not without strike-back initiatives in place. Rapidly briefed, two Sandbaggers head for Brussels, where CIA agents are already investigating from their end. What follows is a tense war of nerves that builds inevitably to a gripping and mind-numbing conclusion!
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