Strategic Compromise

Political writer Nixon sets his novel in the mid-1990s when successive U.S. administrations have developed the Strategic Defense Inititative to the point of activation. The project has been so well camouflaged, however, that its revelation could bring a nuclear strike by a desperate Soviet Union. The secret begins to emerge when reporter Malibu Hamilton finds the corpses of a West German politician and a U.S. senator in a Rome hotel. Pursuing the news story from Europe to Washington, Hamilton encounters a stock roster of traitors, spies and beautiful women. Although in many respects dated by events of the past eight months, the novel suffers more from Nixon's apparent determination to offer something to everyone. Effective as a techno-thriller presenting the risks and promises of SDI, the plot is stretched out of shape to include quick-hit excitement in scenes of espionage and romance that in turn require Hamilton to display an incredible spectrum of heroic qualities. Reading this first novel is like eating the proverbial Chinese dinner: an hour later one is hungry again. (June)