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The Widow's War
A high-stakes guerrilla warfare thriller! Perfect for fans of Len Deighton, John Le Carré, Tom Clancy and Ian Fleming.
An unscrupulous colonel becomes embroiled in a Fascist conspiracy…
After a thrilling career in safe-breaking and espionage, Colonel Ryan has settled down to run an expensive health farm in the English countryside.
But despite his wealth and comfort, civilian life bores him and he craves the action and adventure of his military days.
When Madame Achar — the widow of a deposed Fascist dictator from the Caribbean — arrives at Ryan’s health farm, it seems that the excitement of his old life once again beckons.
Backed by a notorious international terrorist and a guerrilla army, Madame Achar is intent on leading a counter-revolution in her home country.
And with his military expertise and lust for danger, Ryan soon finds himself embroiled in her brutal quest for power…
THE WIDOW’S WAR is a classic political thriller with a dangerous international conspiracy at its core.
‘ the natural successor to Ian Fleming’ — Books and Bookmen
An unscrupulous colonel becomes embroiled in a Fascist conspiracy…
After a thrilling career in safe-breaking and espionage, Colonel Ryan has settled down to run an expensive health farm in the English countryside.
But despite his wealth and comfort, civilian life bores him and he craves the action and adventure of his military days.
When Madame Achar — the widow of a deposed Fascist dictator from the Caribbean — arrives at Ryan’s health farm, it seems that the excitement of his old life once again beckons.
Backed by a notorious international terrorist and a guerrilla army, Madame Achar is intent on leading a counter-revolution in her home country.
And with his military expertise and lust for danger, Ryan soon finds himself embroiled in her brutal quest for power…
THE WIDOW’S WAR is a classic political thriller with a dangerous international conspiracy at its core.
‘ the natural successor to Ian Fleming’ — Books and Bookmen
361 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
About the author
Alan Williams
252 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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December 7, 2024
Hugh Ryan, one time British double agent during World War II who was decorated by both the British and the Germans, has entered his early sixties in fine shape. He's prosperous, comfortable, and at home among his friends in the English countryside. But adventure beckons. Ryan runs a sanitarium for wealthy alcoholics, people overweight and out of shape, and those in need of rest from the press of modern life. Into his clinic arrives the dipsomaniac, Madame Achar, who eventually ropes Ryan into a conspiracy to restore her to power in the Caribbean island her husband, General Ramon, ruled ruthlessly but with a degree of loyalty.
What Williams does in this novel is create a pastiche that aligns characters, countries, political movements, and international politics from the 1970s into a generic rendering that anyone living and reading a newspaper during that era will recognize. The Island is a composite mostly of Cuba but also Argentina (and in a prescient way, El Salvador and Nicaragua in a few years from the time of Widow's War's publication). Madame Achar combines the figures of Eva and Isabel Peron into one person. Presidente Gallo is a direct copy of Castro. And the entire conspiracy, mainly consisting of inepts and misfits harkens back to the Bay of Pigs. It's all rather historical, then, except for the way things play out. And that is how Williams created such a first rate political action thriller. Williams the anti-Communist is not just that, of course. He's a social skeptic, doubtful about all who would engage in revolution and violence for whatever cause.
There is one major difference in this novel compared with his ten other works. That lies in the nature of his hero, Ryan. This is the first and only time Williams wrote a smart, capable, experienced hero who did not fluff his plans and intentions. Ryan's another alcoholic, yes, but a functional one. His motivations, after all, are not to become rich--he's already comfortably well off--gain power or get revenge. The three elements that usually cross up a Williams hero. Thus the lesson is pretty clear: live for experience, even maintain a degree of honor and justice, and all will go well.
This is the last of Williams' novels that I hadn't read. Looking back over them--I began reading them with Snake Water a month ago--there is not a disappointment among the bunch. I enjoyed all. From my perspective, it's almost an unprecedented level of good quality writing and popular appealing fiction. I only wish there were more to read.
What Williams does in this novel is create a pastiche that aligns characters, countries, political movements, and international politics from the 1970s into a generic rendering that anyone living and reading a newspaper during that era will recognize. The Island is a composite mostly of Cuba but also Argentina (and in a prescient way, El Salvador and Nicaragua in a few years from the time of Widow's War's publication). Madame Achar combines the figures of Eva and Isabel Peron into one person. Presidente Gallo is a direct copy of Castro. And the entire conspiracy, mainly consisting of inepts and misfits harkens back to the Bay of Pigs. It's all rather historical, then, except for the way things play out. And that is how Williams created such a first rate political action thriller. Williams the anti-Communist is not just that, of course. He's a social skeptic, doubtful about all who would engage in revolution and violence for whatever cause.
There is one major difference in this novel compared with his ten other works. That lies in the nature of his hero, Ryan. This is the first and only time Williams wrote a smart, capable, experienced hero who did not fluff his plans and intentions. Ryan's another alcoholic, yes, but a functional one. His motivations, after all, are not to become rich--he's already comfortably well off--gain power or get revenge. The three elements that usually cross up a Williams hero. Thus the lesson is pretty clear: live for experience, even maintain a degree of honor and justice, and all will go well.
This is the last of Williams' novels that I hadn't read. Looking back over them--I began reading them with Snake Water a month ago--there is not a disappointment among the bunch. I enjoyed all. From my perspective, it's almost an unprecedented level of good quality writing and popular appealing fiction. I only wish there were more to read.
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