Mallory's Gambit

In a familiar but extremely well fleshed- out and grippingly authentic narrative, Balling ( The Fourth Shot , 1982) takes a credibly flawed and down-to-earth American protagonist from the extem porized assassination attempts of a French Underground cell in wartime Paris to the dangers of spy craft in 1970 divided Berlin. Bertrayed to the Ges tapo by true love Marie in 1944, scraw ny, chain-smoking OSS agent Richard Mallory nevertheless survives to join the CIA later. Ultimately called upon to contact a potential defector in East Ber lin who can finger a KGB infiltrator at CIA headquarters, he encounters Ma rie once again and discovers a new be trayer. No real surprises, then, but the sustained, nervous excitement evoked by the author's efficient prose should ensure a good audience. Rex E. Klett, Anson Cty. Lib., Wadesboro, N.C.