The Terrorist — Peter Steiner

Long ago, after a brief and catastrophic career as a CIA operative in the Middle East, Louis Morgon went to live in the French countryside. He just wanted to be left alone in his little corner of paradise, to garden and to paint and to have long, lazy dinners with his friends.

But an old enemy with a lingering grudge has organized a conspiracy that will use the full force of the American government to destroy Louis. At first Louis is oblivious to what is going on, and even when he has an inkling, he is slow getting started. By all rights he shouldn't have a chance. And he wouldn't, except for his quirky intelligence and his odd and wonderful friends---Solesme, his lover; Renard, the village policeman; and Zaharia, an Algerian boy.

This is a vivid and colorful novel with a cast of vibrant and amusing characters. It takes the reader from the beaches of Brittany to the halls of official Washington to old Algiers and back again along a route so twisty that it would make you dizzy if it weren't so much fun.