FORGOTTEN THRILLERS: THE SOUKOUR DEADLINE by ANTONY TREW
Antony Trew is largely forgotten these days as a thriller writer, and if he is remembered it is mainly for his naval war novels, such as Kleber’s Convoy, and his nautical adventure books. Both of which were heavily influenced by his experience as a naval officer in both the South African and Royal Navies during World War II.
He also dabbled in spy novels, particularly where they involved aspects of naval espionage, such as The Antonov Project (1979) and the well researched The Zhukov Briefing (1975). With his 1976 novel The Soukour Deadline, however, he left the nautical settings behind and opted for the far murkier waters of the terrorist thriller.
The Soukour Deadline, originally titled Ultimatum, is a taut thriller about a bold plan by a splinter group of the PLO, the Soukour-al-Sahra (the Desert Hawks), to hold London to ransom. The group has managed to acquire a nuclear warhead, from France of all places, and has hidden it in London. Unless the UK and American governments agree to support Palestinian demands for a free state, they will detonate the warhead in seventy-hours. The only thing potentially stopping them are the operatives of an illegal Israeli surveillance team in London.
The Soukour Deadline is very typical of 1970s thrillers with a large cast of ‘point of view’ characters, from port security guards to Israeli surveillance experts to Syrian police officers and the British PM, all of whom play their part in Trew’s novel as we watch the nuclear warhead being hijacked in Lebanon and then secretly transported to London for its deadly ultimatum. Some of their roles are quite minor, and often short lived, but once the book moves closer to the deadline we start spending more time with the Israeli operatives and the increasing desperate Palestinian conspirators.
It is an enjoyable thriller with some well choreographed set pieces around the hijacking of the warhead and the frantic hunting of the terrorists. The large character list dilutes some of the tension that could have been gained by just focusing on a smaller cast and getting to know them better, but there is still plenty of suspense and some brutal dispatching of operatives and innocent bystanders.
The story builds to a good climax in which luck plays an important part, and the book’s relatively short length means that things move along quickly. As with all of Trew’s novels, the central idea is meticulously set out and is well buttressed with convincing detail and believable mechanics.
The Soukour Deadline is not the most exciting 1970s thriller I have read, but it is entertaining and I am keen to go back and re-read some more of Trew’s books. The only aspect that I struggled with was the opening premise that France would be selling a nuclear weapon to Syria in 1975, but maybe it seemed more feasible at the time. Anyhow, certainly well worth a read!
The book is also well supported by a great action cover on the 1977 Fontana edition (above).
Side Observation: it is interesting how often ‘splinter groups’ appeared in 1970s thrillers. So instead of the PLO it was often a rogue splinter group that was providing the threat, or a splinter group of the IRA or one of the Irish Loyalist organisations. Or even a KGB splinter group that was embarking on some wild scheme that was too radical and dangerous for the Russian government. If you are reading thrillers from the 1970s and 80s, keep an eye out for those splinter groups!