Dark Armada

Peel's disappointing new suspense thriller leans on fast pacing and exotic locale at the expense of characterization and plotting. When a small plane is mysteriously destroyed while flying near the South Pacific's remote Solomon Islands, American engineer Steven Redman, who works for the aircraft manufacturer, flies in to investigate. He learns that the pilot's widow, Jennifer Decker, having obtained strange pieces of evidence from some seafaring South Sea Islanders, is convinced that the destruction of the plane was due to something other than pilot error or bad weather. Investigating further, she and Redman learn of an old Pacific WWII airfield that has been restored, and they stumble on plans to develop a weapon based on combustible, airborne dust. A plot twist forces Redman to find another partner, journalist Debbie Hinton, to share his adventures; together, the two bore to the center of a power struggle among Western intelligence agencies, a coalition of Arab countries and the Israeli government. Peel (Covenant of the Poppies) writes everything in the same fast gear, which generates little suspense. His lead character, moreover, despite a world-weary, faux-Bogart manner, is thinly drawn and just not compelling enough to retain reader interest as he bounces from one revelation to the next, weathering a pro-forma series of betrayals and double-crosses. (Dec.)