Wrath of the Lion
Wrath of the Lion is a 1964 thriller novel by Jack Higgins. Like the more famous The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth, the background to Higgins' book is the last ditch effort by the OAS, a French dissident paramilitary organisation, to take revenge on Charles de Gaulle, the President of France, for his having granted independence to Algeria and ended French rule there.
Plot summary
The OAS has managed to suborn the crew of a French Navy submarine, the L'Alouette. From a secret hideout in the British-ruled
Themes
Reviewer Naomi Wineman wrote:
In particular, the book's main protagonist Neil Mallory is specifically mentioned as having the nickname "The Butcher of Perak". A long flashback to 1954 Malaya, including graphic descriptions of the systematic torture and extrajudicial execution of prisoners, show him to have amply earned this nickname, yet knowing his past does not prevent the warm-hearted Anne Grant from falling very deeply in love with him.
Given the book's great emphasis on the characters' tortured and traumatized psyche, the final scene seems a bit forced, with both victorious agents being embraced and kissed by their respective sweethearts and the reader promised a future of 'they lived happily ever after'."
References
- ^ Naomi R. Wineman, "Heroes, Psychotics and In Between" in Miranda Brandt (ed.) "The Killing Fields in the Mirror of Literature and Film", London, 1981.