By Aymond & Van Hamme
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 9781849180962
There’s something a little cheeky about this volume of Lady S, with Van Hamme taking us along on an as-to-be-expected intelligent thriller but having rather a lot of fun at the American’s expense while he’s at it.
It’s a while since I read a Lady S book, so it took a few pages to get back up to speed, but fortunately Van Hamme’s script is full of references and pointers to past events to keep you up-to-date. Suzan and James Fitzroy, her American Ambassador father who adopted her, are on holiday in southern France when terrorists burst into their villa and kidnap James. However, the terrorists are in fact CIA operatives attempting to make Lady S turn to her European handlers and so expose them, as to date the CIA don’t have a clue as to who they are or where they operate from.
Unfortunately Suzan has no idea either, but fortunately they’ve been keeping an eye on her and so they begin the process of bringing her in under the noses of the CIA, causing much confusion, upset and hair-pulling from the men from across the Atlantic. But Suzan’s troubles don’t end there, because her past as a cat burglar in this part of the world catches up with her as well, and she’s left struggling on two fronts to understand her predicament and save her father.
The digs at the CIA are, in places, brutal, but I’m sure they’re big enough and ugly enough to take it. We’ve all seen enough Hollywood movies to appreciate a mission that doesn’t go to plan for once. Van Hamme also lays down a lot of new information throughout, so we get to better understand the nature of Lady S’s coerced employment and a hint at where it could take the books in the future.
Van Hamme’s again teamed up with an excellent artist in the form of Aymond, giving the tale the weight it needs to succeed as a contemporary and exciting thriller. He sure does know how to pick them.
And if you liked that: Volume four is out now
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