Blowback: A Vanessa Pierson Novel

Aided by Lovett (Dark Alchemy), former CIA agent Plame (Fair Game with Laura Rozen) makes her fiction debut with an able contemporary thriller centered on Iranian nukes. Plame’s fictional alter ego, Vanessa Pierson, is waiting in a Vienna amusement park for a vital Iranian asset, Arash Farah, when she receives and ignores a text from headquarters to abort the rendezvous. Farah, who arrives late, reveals that he knows the location of an Iranian weapons facility, but before he can give exact details, a sniper shoots him dead. Finding herself in professional trouble after the murder, Vanessa gambles that Farah’s widow can both escape to safety and help her identify the facility’s geographical coordinates. Her willingness to take a creative approach to regulations extends to her personal life as well, making her a multifaceted maverick. Readers looking for a strong female lead will be rewarded. Author tour. Agents: Elyse Cheney, Elyse Cheney Literary (Plame); Theresa Park, Park Literary (Lovett). (Oct.)