The Japan Conspiracy

A sneak attack on the American economy by a consortium of extreme nationalist Japanese industrialists is the focus of Anderson's ( Zero Time) tale of a financial Pearl Harbor. A tip--on CIA letterhead--prompts California's new Senator Elinor Woods to question the White House about the ``O Fund.'' When both the White House and Senate colleagues turn defensive, her aide, David Perez, starts to probe. Meanwhile, back in L.A., Alison Carey begins her own investigation into suspicious goings-on in the law firm where she is a summer associate. Suddenly her apartment is burgled, her sister's house on Guam is searched, and her lawyer/boyfriend, Kevin Daulton, is fired for digging in files. When Perez is killed and his O Fund notes stolen, Kevin's dad enlists Raymond Farrow, a rich friend with the President's ear. Farrow and the Senator team up to work the Hill while the California kids continue to sleuth on the coast. The pairs converge on the scion of Miyaki Industries just as the market is poised to crash. Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Anderson credibly develops the economic threat, greedy lawyers and political conniving central to his story, but the improbable success of the youngsters in the crooked law firm is too contrived. On the other hand, the Japanese extremists' plot is constructed without Japan-bashing--no mean feat. (July)