Wetterhahn's fiction debut (he's the author of The Last Battle: The Mayaguez Incident and the End of the Vietnam War) is a sloppily written espionage novel about American POWs in Vietnam. Air Force fighter pilot Maj. Will Cadence is astounded when a mysterious woman shows him a current photograph of his father, who was taken prisoner during the Vietnam War and has long been presumed dead. A meeting with Sen. Hank Dalton, a presidential candidate and former soldier who was taken prisoner along with Will's father, helps Will wrangle a posting to the joint task force investigating MIAs. On the job, he tries to learn whether the photograph is genuine. He meets Dr. Gabrielle DeJean, a forensic anthropologist at JTF headquarters in Hawaii, when he nearly crashes his Thunderbird into her Harley. After someone makes an attempt on Will's life, the two begin an intercontinental odyssey across Laos, Ukraine and Russia. They encounter plots within plots involving the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a president-elect. Everyone wants to cover up the truth about America's POWs, and no one's loyalty or true identity is certain. Though the book is generally readable, and at times even gripping, its extremely complicated plot becomes messy and unsatisfying as it wears on. In spite of its timely subject, this debut doesn't stand out in a crowded genre. (Dec.)
