Cross of Fire

Tweed & Co. #10

by Colin Forbes

General Charles de Forge ist ein gefährlicher Mann. Als Mitglied der Geheimorganisation »Cercle Noir« träumt er den Traum Napoleons: die Vorherrschaft der Grande Nation in Europa. Der politische Umsturz ist sein Ziel, Terrorismus und Mord sind seine Mittel. Wird es Tweed, dem britischen Chefagenten, gelingen, die Pläne des Machtbesessenen in letzter Minute zu vereiteln?

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Espionage, Suspense

560 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Raymond Harold Sawkins was a British novelist, who mainly published under the pseudonym Colin Forbes, but also as Richard Raine, Jay Bernard and Harold English. He only published three of his first books under his own name.Sawkins wrote over 40 books, mostly as Colin Forbes. He was most famous for his long-running series of thriller novels in which the principal character is Tweed, Deputy Director of the Secret Intelligence Service.

Sawkins attended The Lower School of John Lyon in Harrow, London. At the age of 16 he started work as a sub-editor with a magazine and book publishing company. He served with the British Army in North Africa and the Middle East during World War II. Before his demobilization he was attached to the Army Newspaper Unit in Rome. On his return to civilian life he joined a publishing and printing company, commuting to London for 20 years, until he became successful enough to be a full-time novelist.

Sawkins was married to a Scots-Canadian, Jane Robertson (born 31 March 1925, died 1993). Together they had one daughter, Janet.Sawkins died of a heart attack on August 23, 2006.

Sawkins was often quoted as personally visiting every location he features in his books to aid the authenticity of the writing. As a result, there is detailed description of the places where the action in his books takes place.

Fury (1995) was inspired by the courage of his wife before she died, and he set it apart from his other novels “because of the strong emotion and sense of loss that runs through it”.

Just one of Forbes' novels was made into a film: Avalanche Express, directed by Mark Robson and starring Lee Marvin and Robert Shaw, which was released in 1979 to generally poor reviews.

Reviews

[Julian Worker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an extremely long thriller at over 550 pages. It needs to be though as there are so many characters not all of whom are what they seem to be at first appearance.

The good people are: Paula Grey, Newman (who appears to be in a permanent bad mood), Nield, Butler, Tweed, and Marler. They have allies in France and Germany. These people are up against a would-be General de Gaulle named General Charles de Forge, who along with his supporters including Dubois, leader of a political party called Pour France, and Louis Janin, Minister of Defence is out to topple the government of France by fomenting an ever-increasing storm of hatred including riots in Bordeaux, Lyons, and Marseilles and attacks on Jews in the south of France. All these attackers are brandishing a burning Cross of Lorraine.

The story starts with two identical murders, one in Aldeburgh in Suffolk and the second in Bordeaux around 24 hours later. Both are committed by a mysterious assassin Kalmar. The story then moves at speed from London to Aldeburgh, Geneva, Basle to Paris, Bordeaux, Arcachon, The Landes. Gradually drawn into the story are characters you can never be sure about such as Jean Burgoyne, a mistress of General de Forge, Victor Rosewater a captain in Military Intelligence, Isabelle Thomas, girlfriend of a murdered British agent, Lieutenant Berthier who serves under General de Forge and his colleague Major Lamy. There's also a second assassin called Manteau who keeps calling de Forge demanding money for the assassinations he claims he's carried out, including the derailment of a TGV on a viaduct, a crash that kills both the President and Prime Minister of France.

There's also a sinister English Lord, Dane Dawlish who owns a magnificent catamaran called Steel Vulture and has an unhealthy interest in the sunken village of Dunwich. This boat has been seen visiting Arcachon.

All these characters are skilfully woven into a coherent story by the author. The only item that jars slightly is that all the characters are extremely good at everything they do. They're great shots, experts at self-defence, dress impeccably, can speak many languages and are attractive to the opposite sex. It's like having a lot of James Bond's (both male and female) all in the same novel. But that's a minor quibble about an otherwise wonderful book.

[Christopher Dove · Rating 4 out of 5]

This spy novel, first published in 1992, was the tenth in a series featuring Tweed,the head of the British Secret Intelligence Service and his team. This one starts with a murder in the Suffolk coastal town of Aldeburgh and goes on to uncover a scheme that could change the face of Europe. At the centre of this complex novel is a plot by General Charles de Forge to initiate a military takeover of the French Government. Some of the issues raised sound remarkably prescient today. For instance, General de Forge warns that 'hordes of refugees threaten to overwhelm Europe from the East.' The narrative moves easily from location to location, usually between Britain and France. This novel does emphasize the team of people involved, so I sometimes found it difficult to keep track of who was doing what, but that is an issue with my reading skills, not the author's writing skills! This is a very rewarding and entertaining spy thriller and one that paints it's picture on a broad canvas. The whole of the future of Europe is at stake in this novel and it still makes us care for the risks being taken and dangers being faced by the individuals in the team. An excellent read.

[Jan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was already becoming disillusioned with the series, but by #10 I found myself tutting and sighing, over the ridiculous notion that a so called secret organisation existed that was well known by the enemy, public schoolboy phrases e.g. fiendish weapon and dressing Paula in A-line skirts. When I found myself saying out loud "oh ffs" on a commuter train, it was time to give up.

[Rajat Narula · Rating 2 out of 5]

A plot of a military dictator planning to overthrow a government in France and how espionage teams of France, Britain and Germany combine to thwart his plans. Predictable, cliché-ridden and uninspiring.

[Lynn Hutchinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy Colin Forbes books even though they are a little far-fetched at times.

[Joseph Mupunza · Rating 5 out of 5]

READ THIS BOOK WHILST WRITING MY FINALS, COULDN'T STOP READING IT TILL I WAS DONE. A MASTERPIECE

[Ronald Newton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I considered it a good, light read. The plot was interesting: fear being used as a tactic to cause political upheaval. Sounds familiar?

[Stefan Salonen · Rating 3 out of 5]

En intrikat skildring där upplösningen var rätt väntad om än fullt läsvärd.

[Nigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cross of Fire is the tenth book in the Tweed and Co series, and this time we find the SIS deputy director battling against a rouge French general who is stirring up riots against immigrants in order to produce the right atmosphere for a coup de ’tat and for him to be installed as the new president. The team find themselves up against a vicious assassins who is working for the general and has an almost perfect success record (until him comes up against Tweed and his team that is).
There is the normal smattering of red herrings /double dealings and multiple suspects that one has come to expect from a Tweed story. A really good adventure thriller for all the elements of Forbes’ formulaic approach and I am already looking forward to book 11.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

By far one of Forbes' better Tweed novels, largely due to the introduction of some new characters each of whom one feels could become semi-permanent, if not permanent additions to the SIS.

A stellar recommendation from me despite the inaccurate tag-line.

[Hanieh · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK....it was amazing.
the cooperation of characters was OMG....
I don't know what to say about this exiting book but to everyone who like this genre it can be a great experience for you
so give it a try you're not gonna be disappointed.

[Sunil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah! Those were the days when for every two Agatha Christie we did one Colin Forbes. The Writer who helped a teenager to build a Europe, in his mind. Thank you.

[Safiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real page turner, the action starts on the very first page...

[Laurentiu]

reading

[Pabineau Peter-paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. I read this back in the early 1990's, and bought another title from the same author that was also great, I would like to read all the other books in this series.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book.

[Teresa]

Really enjoyed interacting with this gang of sleuths