“An honourable attempt to get into
the mind of a terrorist. What really motivates this bright,
educated, lethal young man... And the ending is purposely inconclusive.
What has it all meant, those killings, those mistaken interpretations
of what actually had happened, this waste of intelligence and
dedication? Mr Smith offers no answers. He merely observes
in this very well written, gripping book.”
New York Times Book Review |
“A stunning debut... An English schoolteachers
stalks a German terrorist who killed the teacher’s wife
... Irony suffuses the plot for the wife was faithless and
intending to leave her husband... An English detective in turn
pursues the teacher. Koller realising that he has been set
up by his “cut-out” is also tracing his own path
back along a well-hidden route of communications, becoming
ever more human as he does. This finely observed book by a
journalist who knows the Middle East well is bitter, compelling,
and, one suspects, too true.”
Library Journal |
“...a suspenseful, carefully written
and memorable novel.”
Playboy |
“For the unremitting chill of its
violence, few novels match ‘The
Cut-Out’ ...a top-rank thriller ...reflecting I suppose the insane chaos
of a sick, sick world.”
Los Angeles Times |
“A convincing novel... one that is both informative and frightening. Highly
recommended.”
The Muncie Evening Press, Indiana |
“Smith knows the twisted ropes,”
Christopher Wordsworth, The Observer. |
“Excellent and authentic... intricate
background material and well-observed characterisation.”
The Birmingham Post |
“Novels about the murky world of terrorism are two a penny these days but
this one contrives to be a cut above average”
The Sheffield Telegraph |
“A chilling, thrilling tale... a superb
fictional corollary of his biography of the terrorist Carlos.”
Auckland Star |
