The Cat and the Rat

Andrew Thomson is a Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of
Guelph.

The traditional spy thriller has been threatened by the pace of change
in the old Soviet Union. The monolithic “evil empire” has
disappeared and readers find it hard to accept many of the notions that
have been the foundation for the spy novel. Wall’s book attempts to
address change in the Soviet Union but falls victim, in many ways, to
the pace of that change. That said, the book remains a good example of
the thriller. It has devious plots within plots and a sympathetic hero
caught in the middle of it all.

Wall’s hero, The Cat, is an American assassin, a trained killer whose
role has been the elimination of terrorists and others beyond the reach
of normal legal redress. The Cat is an unusual killer, and an unusual
hero. He sports a growing pot belly and has a serious drinking problem
that he does nothing to address. When he is recalled from retirement to
avenge the death of several Americans, including his own brother,
Wall’s hero uncovers a conspiracy that may reach into both the White
House and the Kremlin.

The book suffers somewhat from extended flashbacks, and an unlikely
love story, but it remains a solid thriller that will appeal to those
who enjoy good espionage fiction.