Hard Line

In bristling, economical prose Perle, right-wing assistant secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration, throws a spotlight on behind-the-scenes maneuvering at the highest political levels. His engrossing first novel skewers the paper jousting and sound-bite scrambling common among White House advisers anxious to keep policy on track. It's 1998 when Harvard professor Michael Waterman looks back on events surrounding a 1987 summit meeting requested by the Soviets to discuss limits on nuclear missile deployment in Europe. The Defense department wants to remove all but short-range nuclear missiles from Europe and will give no ground on full deployment of SDI. Waterman, then assistant secretary of Defense, fights to keep this position in favor with the president. His counterpart and nemesis at the State department, Daniel Bennet, opposes this hard-line stance, feeling it will get in the way of an agreement-- any agreement--at the summit. A battle of press leaks, secret memos and influence-peddling ensues as State and Defense jockey for the role of chief policymaker as summit fireworks wane. Waterman's and Bennet's bosses aid their assistants but retain primary loyalty to the president when ambition derails one of their proteges. Perle breathes vibrant, if partisan, life into characters who are caught up in the internecine scrambling for authority that precedes any major White House action. (May)