From Library Journal
This exciting addtion to the popular series take Mrs. Pollifax, an occasional CIA agent, to Syria, where a young American woman who foiled an airplane hijacking has diappeared. Disguised as the woman's aunt, Mrs. Pollifax follows dim tracks while sinister other track her. Slick and charming as usual. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
This fourteenth Mrs. Pollifax novel is narrated by Barbara Rosenblat and includes an interview with the author at the end. On a mission in the Middle East, Mrs. Pollifax searches for a missing American woman. Rosenblat comfortably exudes the charm, suspense, and inquisitive nature of the characters and the foreign setting they travel through. Author and narrator mutually complement each other's talents in this short, yet pleasing, mystery. B.J.L. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
It is so soothing to be in Emily Pollifax's presence: we know that, at any time, she may leave her tidy existence in Connecticut (complete with geraniums and an understanding husband) and venture forth, with manners and nerves of steel, to do whatever the CIA has planned for her. This time, with her rakish cohort Farrell, she's sent to Syria. An American girl named Amanda Pym has faced down a handful of skyjacking terrorists and then vanished. Mrs. P and Farrell track Amanda down with the barest of clues, through souks and tourist destinations, through the desert and an archaeological dig where an earnest young professor named Joe manages to assist with borrowed vehicles, large numbers of sheep, and other tools. It's wonderful to watch Mrs. Pollifax manage it all with clear thinking and the midlife woman's ability to fade into the scenery as someone's aunt or mum. Along the way, there's lots of local color, a bit of politics, useful phrases in Arabic, and some really elegant use of ancient Babylonian verse. GraceAnne A. DeCandido


From Kirkus Reviews
Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled ($23.00; Feb.; 208 pp.; 0-345-43652-0) Gilman returns from the fairy-tale purlieus of Thale's Folly (p. 107) to the more-well-trodden paths of Emily Pollifax, whose status as unlikely secret agent is being seriously undermined by her durability (this 14th title ties her with Ian Fleming's James Bond). This time, Mrs. Pollifax is searching for Amanda Pym, who foiled an airline hijacking only to vanish among a sea of popping press flashbulbs after her plane touched down in Damascus. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
After facing down hijackers on a flight to the Middle East and saving the lives of the passengers on board, a young American woman steps off the plane in Damascus in a blaze of celebrity and disappears. The CIA believes Amanda Pym was kidnapped, possibly murdered.

Masquerading as Amanda Pym’s worried aunt, Mrs. Pollifax begins her determined search, slipping through Damascus’s crooked streets and crowded souks . . . and trekking deep into the desert. Yet she is shadowed by deadly enemies, whose sinister agenda threatens not only Mrs. P. but the fragile stability of the entire Middle East. Only a miracle–or a brilliant counterplot– can forestall a disaster that will send shock waves around the world.



Download Description
Seven weeks ago, a young American woman, Amanda Pym, faced down hijackers on board a flight to the Middle East and saved the lives of more than two hundred passengers. In a blaze of celebrity, she stepped off the plane in Damascus and was whisked away in a waiting car. Since then, Nothing. The CIA believes she was kidnapped and murdered.Masquarading as Amanda Pym's worried aunt, Mrs. Pollifax begins her determined search, slipping through Damascus' crooked streets and colorful, crowded souks, and trekking deep into the desert, hoping that rumor and whispers -- which is all she has to go on -- will lead her to the truth.


From the Inside Flap
After facing down hijackers on a flight to the Middle East and saving the lives of the passengers on board, a young American woman steps off the plane in Damascus in a blaze of celebrity and disappears. The CIA believes Amanda Pym was kidnapped, possibly murdered.

Masquerading as Amanda Pym’s worried aunt, Mrs. Pollifax begins her determined search, slipping through Damascus’s crooked streets and crowded souks . . . and trekking deep into the desert. Yet she is shadowed by deadly enemies, whose sinister agenda threatens not only Mrs. P. but the fragile stability of the entire Middle East. Only a miracle–or a brilliant counterplot– can forestall a disaster that will send shock waves around the world.


About the Author
Dorothy Gilman is the author of fourteen Mrs. Pollifax novels, including The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (the series debut), The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax, Mrs. Pollifax Pursued, Mrs. Pollifax and the Lion Killer, and Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist. She is also the author of many novels, among them Thale’s Folly. She lives in Westport, Connecticut.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Mrs. Pollifax was feeling bored
and rather left out of life. Cyrus had re-cently
accepted an invitation to teach
law three days a week at the university; he was
hugely enjoying it.

"Damned good to feel so useful again," he'd
admitted, and she was glad for him.

She, however, was not feeling particularly
useful. She reminded herself that she was still
growing prizewinning geraniums, was in excel-lent
health, hoped soon to earn her black belt in
karate, and remained a faithful member of the
Save Our Environment club. But . . . How spoiled
I am, she thought. For a woman of what was delicately
referred to as "of a certain age" she ought
to feel fortunate indeed, and yet . . . She realized
that she was absentmindedly scratching her left
arm from which, not long ago, a bullet had been
removed in a Bedouin tent by a man named
Bushaq, and she concluded that what she was experiencing
was letdown.

The price one pays, she thought sadly, for venturing
out into dangerous worlds for Carstairs
and the CIA, only to return to errands at the grocery
store and bank, cooking and cleaning, mulch-ing
her garden for the winter, and pampering her
geraniums.

Across the breakfast table from her, almost
hidden behind his newspaper, Cyrus glanced up
and saw the gesture toward her arm. "Still
hurting?" he asked. "Do wish you'd let Dr. Orton
have a look at that." He hesitated, and then,
"Damn good to have you safe at home again,
Em," and as he said this the telephone rang. He
put down his cup of coffee, reached across his
briefcase and newspaper, and when he answered
it she saw his face change. Handing the phone to
her he said, "It's Bishop."

"Oh," she said, startled, and concealing her
reaction she kept her voice casual. "Bishop, how
good to hear from you, are you well?"

Bishop, however, was not interested in polite
conversation. He said bluntly, "Have any important
plans for this day?"

"No," she said, honestly enough.

"A car will pick you up in forty minutes at
your house," he said. "Carstairs wants to talk
with you. Oh, and you might bring your pass-port
with you, just in case."

And he hung up.

"Emily," said her husband warningly.

"He just wants to talk with me," she told him.

"Hard to believe," growled Cyrus. "You
haven't even been home long enough for that
arm to heal."

"It's healed," she told him. "It just itches."

He gave her a rueful smile. "I know, I know--I
promised never to interfere, but still I don't like
the sound of that call." With a glance at the clock
on the wall he added, "And now I've got to go or
I'll miss my first class, but Em--nothing dangerous,
promise?"

He knew, of course, that anything Carstairs
might have in mind could be dangerous; after all,
she and Cyrus had met in Zambia under very
dangerous circumstances and they had survived
by luck and ingenuity. Cyrus had gone with her
to Thailand, too, where he'd been snatched away
from her by bandits, but she did not think it wise
to remind him of this, nor to mention that Bishop
had asked her to bring her passport. Instead she
said tactfully, with a bright smile, "Barbecued
chicken for dinner tonight," and when he had
gone she hurried upstairs to dress for her trip to
CIA headquarters.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Mrs. Pollifax will go to any lengths to solve a problem, even down dark Damascus cul-de-sacs. In this quickly twisting mystery, the former CIA agent surprises even herself as she attempts to track down a young American woman in Syria.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

After facing down hijackers on a flight to the Middle East and saving the lives of the passengers on board, a young American woman steps off the plane in Damascus in a blaze of celebrity and disappears. The CIA believes Amanda Pym was kidnapped, possibly murdered.

Masquerading as Amanda Pym's worried aunt, Mrs. Pollifax begins her determined search, slipping through Damascus's crooked streets and crowded souks . . . and trekking deep into the desert. Yet she is shadowed by deadly enemies, whose sinister agenda threatens not only Mrs. P. but the fragile stability of the entire Middle East. Only a miracle or a brilliant counterplot can forestall a disaster that will send shock waves around the world.

SYNOPSIS

After facing down hijackers on a flight to the Middle East and saving the lives of the passengers on board, a young American woman steps off the plane in Damascus in a blaze of celebrity and disappears. The CIA believes Amanda Pym was kidnapped, possibly murdered.

Masquerading as Amanda Pym's worried aunt, Mrs.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal