April 7, 2008
Even fans of bestseller Robinson's previous techno-thrillers featuring Adm. Arnold Morgan and his archenemy, SAS-major-turned-Hamas-general Ravi Rashood (Hunter Killer
, etc.), may find this climax to their struggle a bit hard to swallow. After an attempted terrorist outrage at Boston's Logan Airport is foiled by chance, the captured bombers implicate Rashood in their scheme, leading the U.S. and Israel to redouble their efforts to eliminate him. While the Israelis manage to trace Rashood and his wife and partner-in-killing, Shakira, to a quiet block in Damascus, the hit on him fails when the professional squad somehow manages to detonate its explosive without verifying that the man entering the couple's house is, in fact, the quarry. Furious that Shakira was injured in the attack, Rashood devises a complicated plan to assassinate Morgan while the admiral is visiting London. Full of plot implausibilities, this entry makes a weak ending to this popular series. 5-city author tour.