Frederick Forsyth is certainly among the best contemporary writers at capturing the heart and soul of organizations at work. While most crime novels pay necessary attention to police procedure and the motivation of chief and underling, few writers risk the minute concern with the organizational dynamics and the massive amount of detail which truly represent the way organizations do, in fact, operate. The actions of large numbers of people working in concert involve numerous subcategories of specialized knowledge, each with its own nomenclature and special emphasis; the relationship of these groups is what determines what gets done, whether it is apprehending assassins, buying illegal weaponry, or acquiring a perfectly legal driver's license. It is surely no exaggeration to say that organizations largely create the texture of modern life; yet few novels, crime-oriented or otherwise, shed much realistic light on their operation. This is Forsyth's forte, with the added...