The Delta

Harrison ( A Lonely Kind of War ) has grounded his second technothriller in his tour of duty as a forward air controller in Vietnam. The novel opens in 1964, when U.S. involvement in Vietnam is still restricted to the efforts of a handful of professionals: Green Berets, pilots and the forward air controllers, whose Piper Cub-like 0-1s direct the strikes. Maj. Sam Brooks is an unwilling FAC, hounded into the role by Col. Jack Jones, with whose wife he was once intimate. Instead of getting killed, as Jones hopes, Brooks wins three Silver Stars for heroism, finds love with AID (Agency for International Development) official Lee Roget, and sets the stage for a sequel. Harrison tells a rousing story of male bonding and military adventure; the dialogue is crisp and convincing and the action is nonstop. Vividly described high-risk forward air control missions and Special Forces raids climax in a CIA-sponsored (but completely unauthorized) operation in Cambodia, during which Brooks rescues the brave and sexy Roget. He and his swashbuckling comrades are refreshingly free from the angst that dominates so many Vietnam novels. Harrison sidesteps the search for the war's meaning, instead offering readers plenty of action and entertainment. (May)