Against All Enemies

Mixing high- and low-tech espionage, Air Force missions and politics into a credible and exciting plot with attractive characters and breakneck action, Herman's latest (after Power Curve, 1997) is a sure winner. When a Sudanese terrorist group is discovered to be almost capable of dispersing the Ebola virus (""the poor man's atomic bomb""), two Americans are sent on a secret B-2 mission to destroy the underground Sudanese lab--then are captured, tortured and almost certainly doomed. At the same time, in Missouri, Bradley Jefferson, an outstanding, African American Muslim Air Force captain, is charged with having passed mission details to the enemy. Trial lawyer and Air Force Reservist Hank Sutherland is recalled to active duty to prosecute Jefferson and is almost immediately plunged into a complex swirl of suspicious characters and conflicting motives. Adding nightclub strippers, FBI agents, a ruthless demagogue with sights on the presidency and a mysterious presidential adviser with a big, smart computer at his disposal, Herman keeps all of his plots spinning and readers of military adventure on the edge of their seats. (Aug.) FYI: Avon will simultaneously publish Power Curve in paperback.