Scorpion Strike

Nance ( Final Approach ), a C-141 pilot in the Air Force reserves, begins his latest technothriller in the immediate aftermath of Desert Storm, as defecting Iraqi scientist Shakir Abbas horrifies the coalition with the news that Saddam Hussein possesses a unique deadly virus capable of contaminating entire regions for decades. An American strike force is promptly flown to the ""biowar"" lab site in a C-141 transport, whose crew includes old friends Cols. Will Westerman and Doug Harris. The raid succeeds, but several containers of the virus are still missing. While Abbas tracks them through war-torn Iraq, Westerman, Harris and their cockpit crew are involved in a freak accident and presumed dead. Stranded in the desert, they must find their way home in the teeth of Saddam's call for vengeance against the destroyers of his ""scorpion strike."" Nance's promising plot is handicapped by the extremely detailed passages about flying a C-141, which, while interesting and original, distract the reader from the action. After the early raid on Iraq's biowar facility, the story becomes a stereotypical escape-and-evasion tale whose characters are subordinated to their aircraft. Desert Storm is likely to spawn better novels than this one. (May)