Time and again Helen MacInnes has proved herself a master of novels of intrigue and suspense. But while she once more has employed all the ingredients that have worked so successfully for her in the past, her eighteenth book falls just short of the mark.

MacInnes novels are known for their colorful settings, tightlypaced action, and plots which dovetail neatly with the international and political headlines of the day. At least in the first and third categories, "Prelude to Terror" follows suit with its predecessors.

The plot revolves around New York art consultant Colin Grant, who is commissioned by an eccentric millionaire to purchase a Ruysdael painting at an auction in Vienna.

Grant quickly finds there is more to his task than purchasing the painting and soon is involved in a web of terrorism, laundered money, and intelligence agents.

As always, MacInnes paints a wonderfully vivid landscape, from...