Juggernaut

British author Baker (Outpost) makes his U.S. debut with a top-notch horror thriller, set in Iraq. Three top-secret 2005 CIA communiqués from Baghdad Station, dated August 25, 2005, referring to a contamination zone in Iraq’s Western Desert, lend verisimilitude at the start. The action begins with a Blackhawk helicopter dropping an American soldier onto the roof of a runaway locomotive in the desert. The soldier succeeds in stopping the locomotive, whose controls are jammed. In the engine bay, he finds two Western security contractors, Lucy Whyte and Amanda Greenwald, both unconscious, one with a bullet wound in her leg. Flash back five days. Greenwald’s team is lured to a remote desert site by rumors that a huge cache of Saddam Hussein’s gold is concealed there. Of course, they face all sorts of difficulties recovering the treasure trove, not the least of which is the appearance of the walking undead. Fans of zombie fiction and students of the Iraq war will be equally enthralled. (Apr.)