The Kill Box

Killing off former American president George Bush as an opening gambit is one of the milder button-pushing events in this credible techno-thriller that pits the cream of the U.S. Air Force against diabolical Iraqi agents who have hidden the ultimate biohazard time bombs on U.S. soil. Top guns Charlie McKay and Alex Bennett are tapped to spirit Saddam Hussein's son Odai out of Iraq after he kills Bush and the current veep by planting super-germs on the presidential plane. The germ proves deadly to most animal life and is contagious through air, human and animal contact, insect bites and the water supply. Intelligence learns that Odai's agent may have placed more of the bug in Washington itself. Stewart (Shattered Bone) lays out a commando-lean plot with nick-of-time saves and edge-of-your-seat aerial theatrics that pull the reader through to the rewarding conclusion. Strong characters on both sides of the conflict keep the tension thick as Stewart shows the vulnerability of national borders to biohazard attack. (Nov.) FYI: A U.S. Air Force major, Stewart won the MacKay Trophy for the ""most significant aerial achievement of the decade"" for flying 36 hours nonstop at an average speed of 440 mph.