Brian Cleeve is one of the best-known modern Irish writers, having achieved international attention for his analyses of national and international conflicts that grow out of personal ambitions, animosities, and quirks. He draws on his personal experience and knowledge of South Africa, Ireland, and England to define and expose in a brutal, straightforward manner the conflicts, passions, and injustices he sees inherent in these cultures. Prior to 1980 most of his books were light entertainment, relying on the conventions of spy, murder, and Gothic romance novels. His hard-boiled crime novels, which critics described as frightening and provocative tales of horror and sadism, combine the spy, mystery, and adventure genres. As he related in Twentieth-Century Crime and Mystery Writers (1980), Cleeve finds crime thrillers appealing because, like fairy tales and myths, they directly confront the battle of good and evil and "touch the most fundamental levels of human experience." Since 1980, to...