The Pentecost Project

This intriguing international thriller about a communications breakthrough starts with a variation on the story of the ill-fated Korean Airliner flight 007: Soviet pilots force down but don't destroy an Air France 747 that has strayed from its authorized flight plan through Russian air space. On board, the Soviets discover in the attache case of the Vatican's Father Nicholas Resaccio papers related to an advanced computer/satellite system. If built, it will allow broadcasts to be simultaneously translated into countless languages. The nations of the West are backing the Jesuit priest/scientist's work, which will debut with the pope transmitting a message of peace to the world. The Soviets, expecting this technology to be used against them, engage with the Libyans to wreck the pope's broadcast, and pirate the system. Breton (Softwar occasionally seems to be unleashing a doomsday novel; and after his excellent, many-faceted political picture develops, he allows his plot to sag slightly. But with a young Irish terrorist infiltrating the Vatican project, and her Maltese lover, despite doubts, collaborating from afar, Breton gets his narrative back on track and infuses it with intelligence, sympathy and suspense. (August 14)