Chasing the Lion

This winning series launch from Tata (the Jake Mahegan novels) takes Gen. Garrett Sinclair, who heads a team from the U.S. Army’s Joint Special Operations Command, to Iran on a mission that involves both an unusual bioweapon, dubbed Demon Rain (“a combination between LSD and nerve agent”), and his longtime nemesis, Brig. Gen. Dariush Parizad, deputy Iranian Quds Force commander and the leader of the world’s most lethal state-sponsored terrorist organization, who has a personal grudge against the U.S. Named the “Lion of Tabas” by Ayatollah Khomeini, Parizad proves to be a smart, dedicated terrorist and a worthy foe. Sinclair, despite the recent death of his wife from cancer, is up to the task, but an open ending suggests that readers haven’t seen the last of Parizad. In addition to providing fully fleshed-out characters, Tata transforms familiar elements, including an Iranian terrorist bent on revenge, a new bioweapon, corrupt public officials in high places, and a hero whose family is in jeopardy, in ways that are exciting and fresh. Military action fans will get their money’s worth. Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media Group. (June)