cover image The Luxus

The Luxus

A. W. Mykel. St. Martin's Press, $19.95 (442pp) ISBN 978-0-312-05893-7

This sinuously choreographed avalanche of action has more dizzying turnarounds than a political campaign. Mykel ( The Windchime Legacy ) has concocted a gripping tale around a biological weapon that threatens the entire world economy. Asher Sky (an oil tycoon patterned after Armand Hammer), calls on Intel-Trace, a private intelligence agency, to locate a missing airplane that was moving biological materials from a Skyco genetics research lab that was recently attacked by terrorist commandos in Medellin, Colombia. Intel-Trace operative Michael Quinn finds the plane and stumbles across a drug kingpin while his control, Bob Elias, uncovers a terrorist informer on Skyco's payroll. Quinn and Elias decide to track these small fry, contact by contact, back to the brains behind the attack. The ensuing action unfolds as easily as a worthy road map, leading the reader on a long, suspenseful journey with few rest stops. (July)