Super top-secret spy duo Scott Dalton and Jackie Sullivan return to battle Islamic terrorists in bestseller Weber's (Primary Target
) latest techno-thriller. Charged with capturing the key lieutenant—and his suitcase-sized nuclear weapons—of a terrorist organization that's begun a deadly assault on the U.S., the pair spends much of the novel flying around in an assortment of meticulously described aircraft as attacks on American symbolic and strategic targets mount. President Cord Macklin orders a series of counterattacks, at first setting his sights on Saeed Shayhidi, the multibillionaire shipping magnate–cum–terrorist arch-villain. When that doesn't halt the strikes on America, Macklin aggressively broadens his war on terrorism, promising, "No peace talks, no compromises, no settlements, no bullshit
—period!" This post-9/11 rage might prove cathartic for some readers, but it doesn't do much for Weber's plot. The "assured" quality of attack and response drains the book of its suspense, and the violence level rises predictably and inexorably. The one truly surprising element in the novel is an international border dispute that follows a deeply unlikely chain of events. Dalton and Sullivan continue to speak like robots (She: "We are going to Hawaii as soon as possible, right?" He: "No argument from me, but responsibility is the nature of our business"), and they also seem to watch much of the book's action on Fox News. The plot threads that are left hanging—to be picked up in the next installment, presumably—give the book a frustratingly half-finished feel. (Jan.)
