The Trojan Pony

Author William V. Timmons has delivered another fine addition to the Bill St. John trilogy of international spy novels. In Trojan Pony, protagonist St. John, an aging ex-CIA operative, faces another electrifying challenge, this one intended to be won quickly and cleanly. With the assistance of his team of unlikely heroes—Father O’Brian, rogue CIA agent Platte, to name a few—and aided by an unlikely group of transvestite Thai dancers, St. John accepts the challenge of carrying off a bloodless coup in Togo, West Africa. What he cannot count on are the twists and turns, the personal entanglements, and a most unlikely marriage. Parallel to this story runs the theme of ego involvement and how even the most tyrannical can be brought to their knees when their false sense of power is shaken. As the story unfolds and the complexity of the plot is revealed, St. John and his fellow operators become introspective, as much a function of the stress of their work as the wisdom of age and experience.