Red Fox

by Gerald Seymour

Beautiful seductive and extremely dangerous Franca Tantardini is one of Italy's most ruthless political extremists. When she is captured in a shoot-out her fanatical young lover Giancarlo Battestini vows to set her free and with quiet watchfulness waits for the moment to strike. In Rome a British businessman Geoffery Harrison has been taken hostage by a ruthless organised crime syndicate - kidnap is after all a growth industry. The British Government are adamant that they will not pay the two-million-dollar ransom and discharge responsibility to the Italian police. As political wrangling takes hold Battestini sees a weakness and realises that the only way to secure the release of his beloved Franca is to capture Harrison and bargain his life for hers. The authorities are confronted with a terrible choice. Should they release a woman who has masterminded the murder of so many or let an innocent man die?

Genres: Thriller, Fiction

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Gerald Seymour (born 25 November 1941 in Guildford, Surrey) is a British writer.

The son of two literary figures, he was educated at Kelly College at Tavistock in Devon and took a BA Hons degree in Modern History at University College London. Initially a journalist, he joined ITN in 1963, covering such topics as the Great Train Robbery, Vietnam, Ireland, the Munich Olympics massacre, Germany's Red Army, Italy's Red Brigades and Palestinian militant groups. His first book, Harry's Game, was published in 1975, and Seymour then became a full-time novelist, living in the West Country. In 1999, he featured in the Oscar-winning television film, One Day in September, which portrayed the Munich Olympics massacre.
Television adaptations have been made of his books Harry's Game, The Glory Boys, The Contract, Red Fox, Field Of Blood, A Line In The Sand and The Waiting Time.

Reviews

[Givemore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a memorable five star read. It is fun, descriptive, pulsating, dullish in the middle but still adorable. Me, being an accounting professional could quite empathize with vulnerability of the British Chief Accountant based in Italy who is Kidnapped by a young terrorist who demands ransom from the accountant's principals.

I bought the Red Fox paperback copy from a secondhand bookstore particularly because i had fond memories of reading "The Journeyman Tailor"- (the Irish mountains book) almost two decades earlier. Another reason is that i am curiously intrigued by books of the many novels published during the 1975 to 1985 era. Some of them were authored by Stephen King (Fire Starter) Thomas Perry (Butchers Boy) Dean Koontz (The eyes of darkness) Gregory Benford (Time scape) etc.

[Peter Brickwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seymour's early novels were notable for their unhappy endings. This is ,perhaps, his first attempt at assuaging the reading public's desire for everything to "come out all right." I thought it was a credible effort leaving one a little let down but did not give me the real depression I felt at the end of Kingfisher.
The Harrison Affair is Seymour's fourth novel, published in 1980. He has written more than eighty books in the last forty years adapting his themes to current events. I've read a lot of them; I continue to find his work fresh and engaging but this earlier work was noticeably burdened by lengthy depictions of setting and character. His newer works have less verbiage but still achieve intriguing descriptions with gripping fast paced action.

[Andy Blanche · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual from Gerald, outstanding.

I’m not sure what to say except that I was captivated by the characters, the plot and the descriptive writing which, as so often with his books, transports me to the location. I feel I am right there with the protagonists, experiencing the same weather, the same atmosphere. Really splendid.

[Richard Flude · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something different from my normal read but very enjoyable none the less.

[Robin Gott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tense thriller set in Italy about a British business man kidnapped by a young Italian terrorist.

[Robert Hinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspense

My second Gerald Seymour book I thought the writing was excellent built up a storyline where your sympathies move from the terrorist,police,to the victim

[Richard Sharp · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 stars if the meat had been leaner.

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although out of print, and written in 1979, this superior thriller burns with its contemporary setting. Seymour really is so great when writing on those societies within which he lived so long, Italy and Northern Ireland.

Set in 1979 Rome, the book revolves around the kidnap of a British businessman by first the clan criminals, and then the communist urban guerilla that was such a visceral threat to the Italian society of the time. All very real, written when the kidnap and murder of the long standing Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro was fresh, it is almost unbelievable to think this was the scale of threat to such a major industrial, sophisticated power in Western Europe.

However, as the dispossessed and undeniably unenfranchised youth of Europe currently launches itself into its tired, irrelevant, non-sensical, intellectually vapid left wing moronity viewpoint that falling prosperity is as a result of "evil" corporations and "the rich", and "privatisation" I am sure we will return to such dark times. It read timely, in my eyes.

The characters are immense and complex as always, from emotionally unstable teenage kidnappers, to compromised, traumatized police, to lonely disintegrating wives, nothing is spared. The steps from police headquarters in Rome, hideouts in Calabria, British Ambassador's office, jails holding the most dangerous terrorists so seemless, so real in their portrayal. And the ending so gut wrenching, so visceral, it really is satisfaction, meatiness, reality, everything you want from such a read. No superheroes here, but real heroism, as it really occurs in life. Brilliant.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

C1979: - The Sunday Independent had this to say - "His best thriller yet: taut, suspenseful, eminently topical." I am not sure if I would agree that this is his best but agree with the rest of the review. Although the PR department decided to go with “A wholly riveting read” from the Daily Express as the comment to go on to the cover. FWFTB: Beautiful, Italy, extremists, hostage, political. FCN: Geoffrey Harrison, Franca Tantardina, Giancarlo Battestini, Giuseppi Carboni, Francesco Vellosi. “Without a word, he passed two forward to his companions, then dived again into the bag. A snub-barrelled Beretta pistol for the driver, who probably had no need for a gun at all as his work was to drive. For himself and the front passenger there were squat submachine-guns made angular as he fitted the magazine sticks. The quiet in the car was fractured by the heavy metallic clacking of the weapons being armed.”

[Lysergius · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well crafted thriller.

[Barry Bridges · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another stylish thriller from Seymour. Believable, fallible characters and the real world setting adds to the enjoyment of the novel. Glad the world has moved on from the early eighties!

[Imbtsman · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, but a bit dull in the middle section