Point Deception

Set on the eve of Desert Storm, this improbable thriller centers around a U.S. senator who is blackmailed into helping provide the Iraqis with the necessary chemicals for poison gas warfare. The plan begins when Senator Wattles's teenage daughter, who is being held in seclusion at a Caribbean hideaway in order to protect her from his enemies, is reported drowned and half-consumed by sharks. Ex-secret agent Alex Sandars, now a pilot, is hired to fly the corpse--actually the unidentifiable body of another young woman--to Miami, where he reunites with his former lover, professional diver Chicago Nordejoong (last seen in Osprey Reef ). Abetted by an ambitious TV reporter, they tumble to the truth. Enter Sophie von Brauer, an Amazonian assassin working for a German chemical empire thriving in the nerve gas business, and death and violence quickly become the order of the day. Several diving scenes (reflecting the author's background as a scuba instructor), one unlikely escape in a bullet-riddled small plane and a wild confrontation in a Mexican airport ensue before the good guys triumph. Like a bad horror movie, this story would have collapsed immediately had any of its characters acted with simple logic. (July)