Escape from Marrakesh

Jere D. Turner is Adult Collections Co-ordinator at the Regina Public
Library in Saskatchewan.

Rob Wilson’s background as a journalist, a Green Beret, a commando, and an intelligence officer eminently qualifies him to write this novel of adventure, violence, and political intrigue.

Set in Canada and Marrakesh, the story follows the unsavory career of Julian Marlowe, Canadian Senator. Marlowe plots to have the Prime Minister killed, as his waning popularity could cause the Liberal party to lose the forthcoming election. Marlowe also believes rumors that the opposition is willing to grant Quebec independence from Canada in order to destroy the Liberal power base in that province. This will make it virtually impossible for the Liberal party to win any future elections and Marlowe is determined that this will not happen.

To carry out his plans the Senator hires a group of disreputable and violent people. These range from an unscrupulous RCMP corporal to a handful of hit men. A number of violent scenes follow where all but one of the hit men become unavailable — through no fault of their own, as it turns out. This leaves Kerne (no first name) to become the Senator’s hired gun.

The pace is fast and furious as Kerne is first on one side and then the other when he discovers the Senator has definite plans for his future too. Moving from Canada to Morocco and back to Canada, the plot follows the violent and bloody trail of Kerne and the Senator to a gruesome but satisfying conclusion. The romantic interest in the story, between Kerne and the Senator’s secretary, does not work well and is unconvincing. No matter; it is hardly noticeable in this fast-moving story of treachery and extreme violence set in an international scene.

Not recommended for the squeamish but highly recommended for arm chair soldiers of fortune and anyone else who likes his fiction fast, deadly, and believable.