A red file for Callan.

An efficient, ruthless killer with a conscious comes out of retirement

If you're of a certain age and British, you'll remember the Callan TV series. It starred Edward Woodward as David Callan. He is an agent of a state secret service dealing with internal UK security threats. Portrayed as having responsibilities like those of the real-life MI5, Callan's fictional “Section” has carte blanche to use the most ruthless of methods. In the story lines interrogation is by means of torture. Extrajudicial killings are so routine they have a colour-coded filing system. Callan is an assassin who stays in his isolating job because it is the only thing he is good at. But he also comes across as a sympathetic character. As compared to to his sadistic upper-class colleagues and implacable superior.

This book has had several incarnations. As ‘A Red File for Callan', in the UK. As ‘A Magnum for Schneider', in the US and as ‘Callan' in a Corgi Books imprint in the UK. It was also re-tooled into the Callan movie.

The plot sees David Callan, an intelligence agent/assassin who comes out of retirement. His mission is to handle the assassination of Schneider, a German businessman. Colonel Hunter, his former employer, promises Callan that he'll be returned to active status as long as he follows his orders. But Callan refuses to act until he knows exactly why Schneider has been marked for death.

As with all Callan novels there are twists and turns. One of them being his conscience which gives the interweaving plot a dramatic tension. Who are the good guys? What are the characters true intentions?. It's a real page-turner

Some of the language is a little dated and its not great literature. But it is a page-turning thriller that gives the reader pause for thought.

Recommended.