The heart of danger

Seymour's latest topical thriller proves that a good writer can find believable material in what most of us look on as CNN horror footage. Seymour has written fine thrillers set in such troubled terrains as Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Afghanistan. This time the killing ground is Croatia, where the body of a young Englishwoman is found in a mass grave. Her mother hires David Penn, an ex-serviceman and failed intelligence agent, to find out why she died.