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Charles Pol #4
Holy of Holies
A high-stakes aviation thriller! Perfect for fans of Len Deighton, John Le Carré, Tom Clancy and Ian Fleming.
It’s the final deadly plot for Charles Pol…
With a struggling liquor business and mounting bills, Charles Rawcliff is longing to relive his glory days as an RAF pilot.
So when he is offered a large sum of money to take part in a mysterious flying mission – while masquerading as the International Red Cross – he jumps at the chance to relieve his boredom and get rich in the process.
But without knowing the true purpose of the operation – or even where he will be flying to – Rawcliff has no idea of the danger he is in, or of the crimes he is about to commit.
And when it becomes apparent that the notorious gangster Charles Pol may be the mastermind behind the scheme, he begins to question whether he will make it out alive…
Why is so much money being offered for the mission? What is the real objective?
And will Rawcliff live long enough to collect his blood money…?
HOLY OF HOLIES is the sixth classic terrorist adventure novel in the Charles Pol espionage thriller action-packed international thrillers, full of twists and turns.
' the natural successor to Ian Fleming' - Books and Bookmen
THE CHARLES POL ESPIONAGE THRILLER SERIES
Book Barbouze
Book The Tale of the Lazy Dog
Book Gentleman Traitor
Book Shah-Mak
Book Dead Secret
Book Holy of Holies
It’s the final deadly plot for Charles Pol…
With a struggling liquor business and mounting bills, Charles Rawcliff is longing to relive his glory days as an RAF pilot.
So when he is offered a large sum of money to take part in a mysterious flying mission – while masquerading as the International Red Cross – he jumps at the chance to relieve his boredom and get rich in the process.
But without knowing the true purpose of the operation – or even where he will be flying to – Rawcliff has no idea of the danger he is in, or of the crimes he is about to commit.
And when it becomes apparent that the notorious gangster Charles Pol may be the mastermind behind the scheme, he begins to question whether he will make it out alive…
Why is so much money being offered for the mission? What is the real objective?
And will Rawcliff live long enough to collect his blood money…?
HOLY OF HOLIES is the sixth classic terrorist adventure novel in the Charles Pol espionage thriller action-packed international thrillers, full of twists and turns.
' the natural successor to Ian Fleming' - Books and Bookmen
THE CHARLES POL ESPIONAGE THRILLER SERIES
Book Barbouze
Book The Tale of the Lazy Dog
Book Gentleman Traitor
Book Shah-Mak
Book Dead Secret
Book Holy of Holies
360 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1980
3 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Alan Williams
255 books9 followersAlan Emlyn Williams was a journalist and foreign correspondent, reporting from notable hotspots worldwide including Hungary in 1956, Algeria, Vietnam and Northern Ireland. In 1962 he started writing thrillers which brought him the accolade "the natural heir to Ian Fleming" but it was his well-researched spy stories such as The Beria Papers and Gentleman Traitor (which featured real life traitor Kim Philby) which brought him international success.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 30, 2024
Alan Williams' final entry in the Charles Pol series, as well as his last novel ever--he would not write another one in the remaining forty years of his life--takes place against an epic background. The mysterious act of terror at its core, which is not revealed until the last chapter or so, also is of such a stupendous imagination as to make the book seem almost unimaginable. Set against the background of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the subsequent rise of Islamism throughout the Middle East, Holy of Holies pegs the mood of its time (1981) with eerie accuracy. To say much more about the story would ruin things for new readers, so I'll back off from it now.
Yes, Charles Pol once again is exercising his criminal mind to plan and execute murder and atrocities. I had hoped after reading the previous novel in the series, Dead Secret, that Pol would meet a miserable end in this last novel. No such luck. Williams apparently left his options open should he have ever wanted to return to the character.
A few other minor characters from the series also pop up in Holies. But it is the final appearance of Sammy Ryderbeit, the Rhodesian mercenary who first came to my attention in a non-Charles Pol Williams book, Snake Water, who comes under an interesting line of evolution. The psychotic, murdering alcoholic of Snake Water had been growing on me in his last couple of appearance, and, here, in Holies, he reaches his apotheosis. Sammy turns into an outright stable hero--although he remains drunk enough to satisfy his character's expected behavior. Sammy doesn't come on board until relatively late in the book. And he doesn't have nearly the focus as in the other books he inhabits. But he's still strong enough to me to lighten the spotlight that otherwise falls on Charles Rawcliff. Rawcliff is a typical Williams hero. He's unsteady, unable to control his emotions, and given to acts of stupidity that would have gotten him killed but for Sammy's interventions.
So ends Williams' career as a novelist, although I still have several of his non-Charles Pol books to read. He spent just shy of twenty years as a novelist over the course of his 84 years. Previously he had been a foreign correspondent, covering wars and political events throughout North Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Maybe he exhausted the experience he had to draw upon for his stories. I've yet to see an explanation of why he never wrote another work of fiction over the next forty years. I know I wish he had. I enjoy his works filled with intricate details of places and peoples that seem all too real, especially in their corruption, reliance on violence, and amoral motivations. There are no true heroes in the Charles Pol series. People get sucked up into advancing their own greed, pride, or anger. As I say, it's all too real.
Yes, Charles Pol once again is exercising his criminal mind to plan and execute murder and atrocities. I had hoped after reading the previous novel in the series, Dead Secret, that Pol would meet a miserable end in this last novel. No such luck. Williams apparently left his options open should he have ever wanted to return to the character.
A few other minor characters from the series also pop up in Holies. But it is the final appearance of Sammy Ryderbeit, the Rhodesian mercenary who first came to my attention in a non-Charles Pol Williams book, Snake Water, who comes under an interesting line of evolution. The psychotic, murdering alcoholic of Snake Water had been growing on me in his last couple of appearance, and, here, in Holies, he reaches his apotheosis. Sammy turns into an outright stable hero--although he remains drunk enough to satisfy his character's expected behavior. Sammy doesn't come on board until relatively late in the book. And he doesn't have nearly the focus as in the other books he inhabits. But he's still strong enough to me to lighten the spotlight that otherwise falls on Charles Rawcliff. Rawcliff is a typical Williams hero. He's unsteady, unable to control his emotions, and given to acts of stupidity that would have gotten him killed but for Sammy's interventions.
So ends Williams' career as a novelist, although I still have several of his non-Charles Pol books to read. He spent just shy of twenty years as a novelist over the course of his 84 years. Previously he had been a foreign correspondent, covering wars and political events throughout North Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Maybe he exhausted the experience he had to draw upon for his stories. I've yet to see an explanation of why he never wrote another work of fiction over the next forty years. I know I wish he had. I enjoy his works filled with intricate details of places and peoples that seem all too real, especially in their corruption, reliance on violence, and amoral motivations. There are no true heroes in the Charles Pol series. People get sucked up into advancing their own greed, pride, or anger. As I say, it's all too real.
Displaying 1 of 1 review