Fire Storm

Readers who like their Americans square-jawed, their villains foreign and their defense budgets uncut will be delighted with this second novel by the author of Persian Horse ; others may have some reservations. When Shining Path guerrillas launch a revolution in Peru, American Special Forces troops and Drug Enforcement Agency operatives stationed at two small bases in the Andes become specific targets of the uprising. One base is wiped out in a surprise attack; the survivors and the rest of the Americans seem doomed. Back in Washington, a determined president, his hard-nosed female national security adviser and a host of noble cabinet officers, generals and admirals hit upon the idea of using the soon-to-be mothballed USS Missouri to effect a rescue. Characterization here consists of oft-repeated physical descriptions (``The big Samoan,'' ``the black DEA agent,'' ``the Peruvian,'' ``the bosun's mate''); nobility is determined almost exclusively by nationality; and war, while hell, is lovingly described in technical terms. Oddly, the most memorable and fully realized character is a Cuban colonel assigned to assist the Shining Path in their insurrection. (Aug.)