Shadow Wars

The alchemist's dream of converting base metals to gold comes true in a debut novel that mixes high-tech physics, government duplicity, interagency rivalries and realistic romance into an exciting global adventure. When the gold-making theories of Jewish physicist Dmitry Sherbatov are rejected by Moscow bosses, the Mossad fakes his death and whisks him off to a secret Israeli lab at Dimona to perfect the process. Soon, he has filled the state's coffers, but ex-Mossad director Yosef Ravid, outraged when he learns of tolerated graft by a highly placed government minister, leaks the secret to the CIA. Sent by a skeptical U.S. president to verify Ravid's story, atomic expert Hillsdale Landover escapes two attacks on his first day in Israel, but when Ravid's physicist daughter, Rachel, sneaks him inside the ""gold factory,"" Iraqi fanatics, seeking the gold, kill Ravid and kidnap Rachel and Landover, who escape to find they are framed for Ravid's death. Now hunted through the Israeli and Egyptian desert by the Israelis, the CIA and Iraq, they make it to Switzerland and win the confidence of a U.S. reporter. On their own, the trio eludes the pros until Sherbatov provides the key for an effective final confrontation. A long backstory, including biographies of even minor characters, slows the action--and the Saddam Hussein connection is barely credible--but the twisted plot, venal governments and Mideast landscape glitter like the real thing. (Feb.)