President Down

British bestseller Strong (Stalking Horse) delves into the murky world of espionage and terrorism as seen through the eyes of Phil Mason, a former Royal Marine sniper turned PI. A little surveillance on an easy target turns into an investigation of several people with suspected ties to al-Qaeda and other Islamic terrorists. With a team that includes his former lover, interpreter Jasmina “Jazz” Alagic, and a Pakistani MI5 agent called Popadom, Mason goes to work and soon stumbles upon an assassination plot of frightening magnitude. Strong predictably runs down the checklist of the world-weary hero’s personal life—a checkered past, an acrimonious divorce, a stack of unpaid bills—but thorough research and ample details grant verisimilitude, and cutting-edge spy gadgets, topical issues, and a surprisingly nuanced understanding of world politics and Islamic tradition make this more than your basic anti-terrorist shoot-’em-up. (July)