"The bell rings at midnight, as death requires it." - Irish proverb   From "the dean of intrigue novelists" ( St. Louis Post-Dispatch ) comes a knife-edge story of terrorism and revenge.        In Ulster, Northern Ireland, a petty criminal kills a woman in a drunken car crash. Her sons swear revenge.      In London, Sean Dillon and his colleagues in the "Prime Minister's private army," fresh from defeating a deadly al-Qaeda operation, receive a warning: You may think you have weakened us, but you have only made us stronger.      In Washington, D.C., a special projects director with the CIA, frustrated at not getting permission from the President for his daring anti-terrorism plan, decides to put it in motion anyway. He knows he's right - the nation will thank him later.      Soon, the ripples from these events will meet and overlap, creating havoc in their wake. Desperate men will act, secrets will be revealed - and the midnight bell will toll.      Filled with event, driven by characters of complexity and passion, The Midnight Bell is a remarkable novel from the "architect of the modern thriller" ( The Huffington Post).