Word: sniffers
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Initial speculation in this case centers upon plastic explosives like Semtex, the lethal weapon of choice for many terrorists because it is safe to - handle and undetectable by sniffer dogs or X-ray inspection. A small amount hidden in a portable radio blew Pan Am Flight 103 out of the sky in 1988. Semtex was produced in quantity under the communist government of Czechoslovakia; while the postcommunist Czech Republic has discontinued production, large quantities remain in the hands of terrorist gangs that obtained them illicitly. Three years ago, Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel estimated that "world terrorism has supplies of Semtex...
...Gilmartin, a witty entertainment editor at a Toronto daily newspaper is as bewildered at his murder, in the opening paragraph, as the reader. Gil discovers his wife in bed with her lover-the Sniffer, a drama critic at the same newspaper. In a "fury, fed...by sexual excitement," the Sniffer deals a fatal blow...
Death, Gil soon finds, begins with a metaphysical trip to the movies. While the Sniffer, his very murderer, attends a prestigious Toronto film festival, Gil experiences an incomparable film festival in which his ancestors star. The subtlety, artfulness and capability displayed by the mystical film director move Gil. He can hear orchestral music, smell the scenes and even intuit the thoughts of the characters. Gil cannot turn away-he must watch the films of his personal history...
Davies' narrative style is playful to the end, and this sustains the book. Finally, the Sniffer is revenged, the present accounted for and Gil learns, ironically, to "Wake up, man! Come alive! Feel before you think! "The true joy of the novel is not in the final revenge nor even in the final lesson, but in the grace and wit with which Davies renders a history and in the sweet and artful confusion of Gil's afterlife...
Isolated from much of the world, largely on its own volition, Iran initially sought to prove its self-sufficiency. Tehran sent signals that foreign rescue workers and sniffer dogs were not wanted and, at first, forbade direct rescue flights from abroad. Soon, however, the extent of the destruction forced Iran to relent. Though it barred all aid from Israel and South Africa and refused to accept blood donations from any outsiders, Tehran asked for food, water tanks, electric generators and medical supplies, including blood plasma. The world responded immediately. Japan pledged relief funds and goods worth more than $1.5 million...