Prelude To Terror by Helen MacInnes (Robert Renwick #1)

Colin Grant, New York art expert, suddenly finds himself on a secret mission for a mysterious millionaire--to acquire a famous painting being smuggled out of Hungary. What he does not know is that he is about to become the key piece in a sinister puzzle--a conspiracy to unleash a war of bloody international terrorism. From inside front Grant glanced sideways and saw a woman, beautiful enough to change his glance into a stare. Something stirred in a deep memory, couldn't come to the surface. Amber earrings emphasized the strange color of her eyes, almost a golden brown. Her lips smiled. Softly she said as she turned back to admire the painting, "You don't remember me, Mr. Grant?" Grant looked at her, puzzled. "I must talk to you," she said urgently. "It is too important for a telephone--it's about a job a friend of mine thinks you could carry out for him. Could you meet me at my hotel tonight? We can have supper in my room." Colin Grant did not know until it was too late that his whole life began to change in that moment--and that he would be lucky even to stay alive for the next few weeks.

Paperback, 1978

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