The Sword of Orion

In the near future of this somber, fast-moving techno-thriller, Afghan guerrillas capture a Russian hydrogen bomb. Capt. Aleksandr Belenko, a burned-out Russian veteran of the Soviet engagement in Afghanistan, joins U.S. Navy Cmdr. Richard Donovan and Lt. J.P. Harper in a desperate search for the weapon. They are aided by a P-3 Orion patrol plane modified to detect nuclear emissions at long range. White ( Angle of Attack ) solidly establishes the environment of a post-Cold War world in which old truths have given way to new uncertainties. He convincingly presents a group of nicely fleshed-out principal characters, the most notable among them being Lt. Harper, a hotshot multi-engine pilot who happens to be a woman. Describing conflict in the mountains of Afghanistan and danger in the cockpit of a P-3 during a lightning storm with equal vividness, White falters only at his novel's melodramatic conclusion. (Mar.)