The Britannia Contract.(Brief Article)

Paul Mann. Carroll & Graf, $19.95 (448p) ISBN 0-88184-933-2

Mann (The Traitor's Contract) has crafted a pip of a thriller. After a state visit to Saudi Arabia, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are heading home aboard the royal yacht Britannia when it is hijacked by IRA terrorists demanding the evacuation of all British troops from Northern Ireland in one week's time. Moving swiftly from the Red Sea to London to Ulster to Washington, Mann portrays the frenetic responses of terrorists, soldiers, politicians and hostages. Almost everyone schemes against foe and friend: Whitehall is especially …