Silent Thunder

Alternately a thriller, a whodunit and a soft-porn page-turner, this outstanding debut novel depicts Japanese power brokers who are attempting to wreck Western financial markets. The apparent suicide of an investment banker in Tokyo leads PI Mori to a secret ``patriotic society'' called Silent Thunder, which has colluded with Maruichi Securities to drive up the price of dollars in order to provoke a market free fall. At a covert mountainside meeting, Mori eavesdrops on a speech by top Thunderer Iwanaga-Sensei, who plans to reassert the primacy of Japanese culture and economically enslave the West. As Mori and others try to foil this insidious plot, they must venture into the world of high-stakes money-market trading (depicted in interesting, unintimidating detail) and make a risky attempt to tap Maruichi's central computer. A provocative subplot involves an American image-maker and a presidential candidate who are both deep in Iwanaga's pocket. British-born financial analyst Tasker has a fine grasp of the values and cultural contradictions of contemporary Japan. (One scene depicts the Silent Thunderers railing against Western obsession with pleasure while eating salami off the bellies of nude women.) Characters and dialogue ring true in a tale packed with plenty of spills and thrills. Paperback rights to Berkley. ( Sept. )