cover image A Time for War

A Time for War

Michael Savage. St. Martin’s, $26.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-312-65162-6

Disgraced, conservative talk show host Jack Hatfield, the hero of conservative talk show host Savage’s debut thriller, Abuse of Power (2011), battles a Chinese diplomat/spy in this mildly diverting follow-up. Stationed in San Francisco, Jing Jintao is on a personal mission to wreak havoc on the U.S. using a portable EMP—electromagnetic pulse device—that can disable planes, helicopters, cars, and pretty much everything else that uses computers and electricity. Lending Jack a hand are aging “unrepentant leftist hippie” Abe Cohen and ex-Special Forces warrior Doc Matson, with whom Jack shares “a love of wine and a distaste for doctrinaire leftists.” Jintao is also plotting to release a bioweapon in San Francisco. Besides dealing with both of these threats, Jack must bring down billionaire industrialist Richard Hawke, whose company invented the EMP device and sold it to the Chinese. Readers who approve of Savage’s conservative views will be pleased; those who don’t will probably be annoyed. (Feb.)