Deadlock

Tweed & Co. #5

by Colin Forbes

The countdown to deadlock has begun...It should have been a tranquil, if unwelcome holiday for Tweed. But six fresh graves in an isolated Norfolk churchyard mark the start of one of the deadliest manhunts ever undertaken. A hostile master planner has gone missing. He hasn't defected, he has vanished - with enough explosive power to take out a great city, leaving no survivors. Now the Russians, appalled that detente may be destroyed, are asking Tweed to track him down. Somewhere in Europe, a ruthless cold-blooded killer is moving towards his unknown target, a near-genius for whom 'terror is the ultimate weapon'. He has planned a brutal act of violence which will bring Europe to its knees. With Bob Newman, foreign correspondent turned undercover agent, and Paula Grey, his assistant, Tweed must locate the renegade before crisis becomes holocaust. The final confrontation will be one of the most terrifying they have ever faced.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Espionage, Mystery, Suspense

507 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

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]

I read this book in just over a day, a real page-turning story that kept me hooked. There's a plot to blow up a major port and bring the continent of Europe to its knees. A Russian renegade is behind the fiendish plan and he's hired the finest bandits to help him succeed. Tweed of British intelligence knows his antagonist will make a mistake and then Tweed will pounce.

This is what happens, but the renegade has hired a double-agent who's working for Tweed and this character is key. The Russian is ruthless and eliminates all witnesses to his way of working, even a beautiful English aristocrat who in most books would survive due to her good looks...

[Angie S · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had an excellent start with a very intriguing and exciting cold open. Overall, it is a good book with loads of detail and international intrigue. The main problem, for me, is that it was just too needlessly long.

Also, there was very little way in the way of characterization. Everyone had a distinct personality, but there was very little nuance to those personalities, and we got very little in the way of their inner thoughts. Much of the dialogue was also very cliched and repetitive. We get it: You don't like Lady Windemere, and you think the main terrorist is a "fiend".

It had loads of minute plot detail, but it got very samey after a while, and I was itching for it to end by the time I got to page 400 but had over 180 pages to go. Yeesh! It got to be a letdown after such a strong opener.

However, I liked the ending. It was perhaps a little silly how the main baddie got his comeuppance, but I didn't mind. Overall, it is an OK book, but it could have done with judicious editing of the more repetitive elements to shorten it a good bit.

[Ropah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to confess my first time reading it I was like nah it ain’t all that but I am so In love with 😍 Marler & Tweed ....this book 📖 is so good 😊 I love it so much ☝️ one of the best really ..Tweed and his team ...dang I love ❤️ it

[Stefan Salonen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spännande Tweed som alltid

[Alan Welch · Rating 1 out of 5]

Possibly the worst thriller I have ever read!

[Grace Art · Rating 2 out of 5]

crime book that include interpol, spy, and so on, yet still not that interesting (just event after event)

[Abhishek Prakash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trademark Tweed.
Pacy. Another team member gets introduced. Marler.

[Ian Higgs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good plot line and characterisations, plus this is the first time we meet Marler in the Tweed books.

[Suresh Vijendran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a diabolical plot.

It had excellent pace, and the climax got over in just a couple of pages.

The only annoying fact is that summarizing the events every 2-3 chapters

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite authors during my teens. The thrill his books give is insane. If you are a younger self and are into thrillers, then give this book a try!

[Jack Sakalauskas · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Deadlock,' is #5 in the series 'Tweed & Co.' by Colin Forbes. It belongs to the Genre of action/adventure. The title is appropriate for the story, but I find the cover a bit bland. The book is aimed at a male audience.
Having lived for a time in that part of Europe, I recognize a lot of the locations and can verify that they are well researched. There is a lot of accidental dropping of names to move the story along.
It is a fast-paced thriller and a long read, but every page is worth it. All the characters are well developed and so well described you would probably recognize them if you saw them walking down the street.
From very early in the story, there was a continual reference to scuba divers, but no one seemed to pay any attention to them until the end. The story depended a lot on two new characters. One had a minor role in an earlier book and the other someone new. I would expect to see them in future stories. The book had an ending I did not expect.
A drawback to this book of good versus evil is that it is similar to all the other books in the series. There were some editing mistakes that seemed to increase towards the end of the book.

[A.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was the first book by this author I read (way back in 2000-ish). Very fast paced thriller with detailed descriptions of European locations. Liked the characters, especially the ones introduced that would later go on to be mainstays (not saying too much to avoid spoilers in case people are reading in series order). Only complaint would be other books in the series are very similar and the characters seem to be invincible. But a great read with twists and secret agents in a modern setting.

[Kanika · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really rocks!! the plot in the book was good and I would loveee reading it again.....

[Tilak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this as a prize for winning a Quiz on Olympics at St.Germain High School when I was in the seventh standard. Had not heard of the book till then. Nevertheless a reasonably enjoyable read.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good read by a good author

[Thomas West · Rating 2 out of 5]

R has read it 2