Sand Against the Tide

Bishop, a 13-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, places series heroes ( Citadel Run ), retired cop Calico Jack Walker and his ex-partner and lover, Tina Tamiko, in an improbable fantasy that centers around a barge loaded with cocaine and confiscated weapons that the LAPD plans to dump in the ocean and the bad guys plan to hijack. A hotshot police captain, whose obvious crimes and corruption escape everyone's attention, rises through the ranks; a terrible ordeal in Vietnam has left him under the control of his Asian wife and her evil father, a Cambodian drug lord. Another Vietnam vet takes ill-gotten wealth from criminals and distributes it to the needy. Walker gets involved after his son is shot by boat hijackers and another of his ex-partners is framed for the murder of a nightclub owner. The ex-cop sets up a confrontation at sea with the Cambodian's motorboat armada (manned by Salvadoran terrorists), armed with flamethrowers and a vintage, battle-ready P-51. There's more, but mindless action and wisecracking heroes do not a thriller make. (Sept.)