The History Book Humphrey Hawksley Warner August. $24.99 ISBN 978-0446-52744-6

Revenge is the driving force in Humphrey Hawksley's The History Book. 'Kat' Polinski is working off her crime (computer hacking) by doing espionage for the United States. She'd only turned to crime as a catharsis, of sorts, over the death of her parents. Returning from a mission in which she's been forced to kill two people, Kat finds out her sister (Suzy) has been murdered. To protect herself, Kat has been backing up and keeping copies of all the material she's taken for the United States. She leaves key back up information with a trusted friend and is off to England to track down who killed her sister. All is not what it seems. Everyone in England is watched. Corporate entities are taking over government functions. No one is who they say they are and even if they are they still can't be trusted. Suzy lived in England under a different identity. As a lawyer, like her father, she'd been working on several different things. Suzy was active in trying to delay the signing of a world security treaty. Kat finds that an old family friend is now working to promote the treaty. He and his wife, Kat's 'aunt' urge Kat to return with Suzy to America and let the police handle things. Suzy, seeing how shoddy the investigation is going refuses. She 'escapes' from all the attention and uncovers two people (brother and sister) who've been helping Suzy. The three of them make the link between the treaty and the deaths in the Polinski family. Kat is chased for what she has and what she's uncovering. Fast paced, The History Book is fairly plausible though a bit exaggerated. Still, that's what a thriller is about, pacing and action and looking over one's shoulder. Go have yourself a little thrill.

Dave Biemann