The headlines only reveal half the truth. Hereβs the real story. . . .
Abu Qasim, the ruthless and cunning Al Qaeda leader who nearly succeeded in blowing up a meeting of the G-8 in Paris, has escaped from the grasp of the Americans and is plotting his next move. A small band of powerful men, highly placed leaders of industry and politics in the West, have decided they need to target and destroy the terrorist and his inner circle before he can strike again. When a prominent Russian dissident is poisoned in London, however, itβs clear that thereβs a very dangerous leak within the ranks of the Westerners, and that Abu Qasim has turned the tables on his rivals---it is now he who is pursuing, and his aim is to kill.
Admiral Jake Grafton dispatches special agent Tommy Carmellini to infiltrate the plot. He tracks the gorgeous and seductive Marisa Petrou, a Frenchwoman who may be Qasimβs daughter and who has her own reasons for wanting him alive---or wishing him dead. Qasim, meanwhile, has a trick up his sleeve---one that heβs been planning for years.
Who is behind the methodical assassinations of the wealthy and powerful Western vigilante team? Will Abu Qasim slip the noose once again? In this pulse-pounding thriller, Tommy Carmellini must put a stop to a master of terror before he unleashes even more death.
From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Coonts's exciting third thriller to star reformed burglar turned CIA operative Tommy Carmellini (after The Traitor) raises a timely issueβthe lack of well-to-do Americans on combat duty in the war against terrorism. When an Iraqi bomb kills Huntington Winchester's only child, a Harvard med student who joined the navy out of patriotism, the grieving father decides he and his privileged friends aren't doing enough to defend civilization against the jihadist threat. Winchester gets tacit approval from one of those friends, the unnamed U.S. president, for him and some other well-to-do types to finance their own private war. When al-Qaeda mastermind Abu Qasim discovers the identities of those in Winchester's group and targets them, Carmellini and his CIA boss, Adm. Jake Grafton, determine to set a trap that involves Qasim's possible daughter. Though the constant switching between various points-of-view distracts at times, the action moves swiftly to its Hollywood ending. Author tour. (Aug.) ""
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From Booklist
CIA agents Tommy Carmellini and Jake Grafton return in this follow-up to The Traitor (2006). A ruthless terrorist, Abu Qasim, escaped their clutches in the earlier adventure, and now they are desperate to capture him. When a Russian dies of radiation poisoning, itβs clear that Qasim may be in possession of a nuclear weapon. Meanwhile, Carmellini finds himself falling in love with a woman he has been assigned to protect, even though she may be working with the terrorist. Coonts has never been known for graceful prose, and this time that flaw is particularly evident in a series of similarly worded death scenes. In addition, the narrative never really catches fire, plodding along to its obvious conclusion. Still, Coontsβ fans are legion, and they are sure to be forgiving. --Jeff Ayers