Pinnacle Event

Bestseller Clarke (Sting of the Drone) takes on stolen nuclear warheads, that genre favorite, in this exciting action thriller. A Pinnacle Event is the Defense Department%E2%80%99s term for a nuclear detonation, and the novel opens with a report that one has occurred in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, Douglas %E2%80%9CDugout%E2%80%9D Carter, a geeky government analyst, is in his office at the Policy Evaluation Group in Washington, D.C., running a giant intelligence computer when he notices that five men around the world, all from South Africa, recently each received deposits of $500 million dollars and then died in bizarre ways. This leads Dugout to a group known as the Trustees and their plan to use five stolen nukes to change the global power structure. It%E2%80%99s a common thriller setup, but Clarke, as always, puts an original spin on each familiar element. The author%E2%80%99s note at the end gives the fascinating nonfiction details that fuel his story. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency. (May)