The Greek Interpreter

Davidson, author of four previous novels including Suddenly, in Rome ( 1988) and Hugger Mugger (1986) has crafted a delightful entry in a difficult subgenre, the comic thriller. Interpreter Stavros de Battista is in Bangkok to work the World League of Parliaments annual conference and to meet his lover Christine, also an interpreter, at the meeting. A switched briefcase is the trigger for a fireworks display of murders, attempted murders, kidnapping, disappearances, and murky political intrigue that suddenly engulf the increasingly befuddled Stavros--who also has to contend with a series of ill-timed phone calls from his shrewish wife at home in Vienna. Davidson keeps this firecracker plot believable, and the wit and political satire very dry. The scenes of hot-air speechmaking by delegates to the conference are especially hilarious. Recommended anywhere readers might enjoy a few laughs with their thrillers.-- A.J. Wright, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham