Eagles of Fire

Yankee flyboys prove their mettle anew in Rizzi's turbo-charged latest (after Phalanx), which sees returning hero General Duke James pitting his experience and courage against a global gallery of villains out to destabilize Asia. A plea from North Korean general Han Sinchon for American support of his planned coup to topple his nation's repressive communist regime brings Duke to Langau Island in the Sea of Japan for secret negotiations. When Sinchon's main rival in North Korea orders an attack on Duke's security forces, Sinchon, Duke and other stalwart Yanks get caught up in an extended duel on the ground and in the air to make it back to freedom. Rizzi fleshes out this narrative skeleton with muscular subplots concerning a conspiracy between North Korea and Iran to develop nuclear weapons, and the specter of chemical warfare and treachery on the part of an American intimate of the Oval Office. A distasteful plot wrinkle involving the blackmailing of this official as a homosexual mars the narrative's glistening surface, but the abundant, well-detailed action--this is as much adventure novel as techno-thriller--and Rizzi's knowledgeable, sympathetic portrayal of how military professionals must do their best in an uncertain and underappreciated role win the day (Aug.)