Take No Prisoners

Horatio Cassidy, professor of medieval history in New York, conscientious father and seeker after the quiet life, is not entirely surprised to find himself up to his neck in murderous mayhem once again. For however hard he tries to sever his connection with the CIA and his smooth ex-boss Hugh Alison, the past has a way of entangling itself with the present.

True, it itsn't the CIA that sets the ball rolling this time—it’s a boyish fellow with winning manners and a very professional gun, who insinuates himself into Cassidy’s apartment, to be followed very shortly by two armed Hispanic hoods. Almost before the blood is cleaned off the carpet and the police have finished asking questions, Cassidy is prepared to bet that the CIA is involved somehow. And he’s right. 

The caper that follows begins so sedately that Cassidy takes along his bright-eyed thirteen-year-old daughter, Lucia. Their destination is the vast Virginia estate of Shotover Hall, whose forests hide an airstrip, a radio station and several secretive people. All Cassidy knows is that the murky affair involves a corrupt Latin-American regime smuggling cocaine; that 26 million dollars seems to be missing; and that the CIA. the New York police, and the President of the USA are all taking a keen interest in the outcome . . .