Send a Fax to the Kasbah - Hardcover

Corporate and governmental espionage fuel this seventh thriller by an author better known for her historical novels (the Crawford of Lymond and House of Niccolo series)--a Keystone Kops tangle of pratfalls and missteps saved by sharp wit and clever dialogue. Miss Wendy Helmann, young executive secretary to the chairman of Kingsley Conglomerates, the home appliance giant, is sufficiently aware that A Company's Competitive Edge Depends Upon People to remain self-possessed when an exploding bomb at corporate headquarters--plus a portrait painter with a yen to visit Morocco- -convinces her boss, Sir Robert Kingsley, temporarily to relocate his wheeling and dealing in the land of the kasbah. Sir Robert's efforts have been recently aimed toward the unfriendly takeover of MCG, a chain of beauty salons whose assets could help fund the research of Kingsley's newest acquisition: Mo Morgan, a research scientist whose skill with computers will someday revolutionize the washing-machine industry. To Wendy's and Sir Robert's surprise, MCG is onto Kingsley's efforts, having infiltrated Kingsley Conglomerates' infrastructure at least as thoroughly as Kingsley's has infiltrated theirs. But the question remains--as kidnappings, shootouts, shifting allegiances, and an unusual number of costume changes follow one after the other--who is really taking over whom? Is the redheaded MCG chairwoman, a former makeup artist, Kingsley's portrait painter's lover? Is the portrait painter a government agent or, perhaps, an Arab spy? Is Mo Morgan himself, who (it turns out) is an Arab, designing weapons systems instead of appliance controls, and if so, for whom? Confusion reigns as an exotic car rally, a Pan-African football championship, a vacationing group of Canadians, a kasbah teeming with veiled conspirators, and even Wendy's domineering mother horn in on the act, leaving the reader overwhelmed but, mercifully, amused. Unabashed slapstick--corporate style. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Well known for her historical novels ( Niccolo Rising ; The Spring of the Lamb ), Dunnett also turns her literate pen to thrillers, producing here a sprightly but excessively convoluted tale. When a bomb goes off in the London headquarters of Kingley Conglomerates (aka King Cong), the detonator accidentally becomes a victim. Or so it seems until it is discovered that the man was shot before the blast. Who was he, and what was he doing at the acquisition-minded company? Before these questions can be answered, Sir Robert Kingsley, the chairman of the board, his ambitious secretary and her mother (for reasons wholly unfathomable) are whisked away to Morocco to undertake delicate negotiations for the purchase of a cosmetics concern. The ensuing story features corporate takeovers and industrial espionage, and involves ex-SAS and Foreign Legion officers, Canadian journalists and a renowned portrait painter who may not be what he appears. Dunnett draws her characters well, especially as she captures the casual bigotry of the British upper class. She also skillfully evokes the North African locale where most of the action takes place. The tale is timely--for those who are not tired of reading about double-dealing on the corporate scene--and obviously written as a lark; readers should approach it in that spirit.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.