Shanidar

In the mid-1990s Iranian terrorists kidnap a team of American archeologists that includes the U.S. president's daughter. Spearheading the rescue attempt is super-agent Jackson Harding, supported when necessary by the Israelis, the KGB and the Special Operations Branch, a top-secret U.S. strike force. Hashian, a pseudonymous retired government official, handles action scenes well. His description of the final rescue is convincing, as are his SOBs, veteran warriors in their mid-40s or beyond. But Hashian throws the novel off balance by wavering in his strategizing between a team operation and a lone-hero format. Harding plays so many roles in so many places that he loses credibility; his story becomes more a flat formulaic thriller than intriguing techno-thriller, with its military and intelligence gadgetry merely enhancing Harding's already-Homeric capacities. Finally, dialogue is both stilted and laced with outdated Briticisms: a U.S. pilot is unlikely to express surprise with an ``Egad!'' Shanidar lapses too often to be classified as suspenseful reading. (Aug.)