The Britannia Contract
Books / Hardcover
ISBN: 0881849332 / Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub, July 1993
When the British royal yacht, "Britannia," is hijacked with Queen Elizabeth aboard, the hijackers demand the removal of troops from Northern Ireland
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Paul Mann leaps to the very front rank of thriller writers with this superbly crafted epic adventure of the ultimate kidnapping: the IRA's seizure of the British royal yacht, Britannia, with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on board.The story begins with the hijacking of the Britannia in Jiddah harbor during a royal visit to Saudi Arabia. The hijackers are determined to use the queen as a hostage to enforce an ultimatum to the British government to withdraw all troops from Northern Ireland within seven days.Aided by the secret support of a Middle Eastern terrorist group and the tactical genius of a British turncoat, the hijackers take the Britannia out to sea, where they defy the gathering forces of the Royal Navy and the United States Navy in a deadly standoff. Shock waves from the hijacking reverberate around the world. The survival of the British prime minister is imperiled as his government confronts the agonizing choice between the demise of the sovereign and a surrender to terrorism.Anarchy reigns in Belfast and the American president must decide where his own interests lie when supporters of Irish unity take to the streets and violence erupts in cities across the United States. As the countdown runs out and tensions among the hijackers approach meltdown, the commanders of elite British and American special-forces units pool their resources for a spectacular rescue attempt that has only a single chance of success.From the geopolitical realities that follow the hostage-taking to the whereabouts of the safe that houses the queen's jewels, The Britannia Contract crackles with authentic details which lure the reader into a careening drama that was once unthinkable, but today is all too possible.
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