This fiction debut from journalist Benedek (Through the Unknown, Remembered Gate: A Spiritual Journey
) opens with a horrifying and credible scenario—the downing of three commercial jets, which results in the deaths of 723 people and plunges the world into a 9/11-like panic. Though none of the airlines involved is El Al, recently retired Israeli secret agent and aviation expert Julian Granot is tapped by his government to investigate. When Aviation Monthly
journalist Marie Peterssen asks Julian for an interview, he uses her request to forge a professional relationship that he hopes will lead to more clues. Readers learn early on that Julian’s old nemesis, Islamic extremist Mansour Obaidi, is the mastermind behind the crime, but Obaidi has bigger fish to fry as a massive container ship carrying a hellish mix of explosives heads toward New York City. Benedek offers lots of hot operational material and an exciting denouement, but thriller fans will find little that’s really new, and the open ending, which promises a sequel, is less than convincing. (Sept.)
