Countdown to Mecca

A stolen suitcase nuke loaded with a deadly disease, that contemporary suspense staple, drives Savage’s overstuffed, slow-moving third novel featuring conservative former talk-show host Jack Hatfield (after 2013’s A Time for War). Millions will die if Jack, sidekick Doc Matson, and love interest FBI agent Dover Griffith all can’t stop Pyotr Ansky, an assassin who hijacks a commercial airliner above the Caspian Sea in the prologue. Meanwhile, a group of conspirators led by Gen. Thomas Brooks, head of the U.S. Strategic Command, feel that the only way to thwart a Muslim takeover of the U.S. and the world is by dropping nuclear bombs on Mecca and Jerusalem in the hope that the ensuing war will finish off the Muslims once and for all. Fans of Savage’s conservative radio talk show will have no problem with the political posturing, but those who prefer faster, more nuanced thrillers should look elsewhere. Agent: Ian Kleinert, Objective Entertainment. (May)