PRESSURE POINT

Palestinian terrorists hijack a Puget Sound ferry and use it to swipe a nuclear submarine—in an unusually imaginative first hardcover from a Navy SEAL veteran and former CIA employee. Peace talks, rock throwing, and run-of-the-mill skyjackings have failed to bring about a new Palestinian state. Time to try something completely different. So where's the last place on earth you would look for a beautifully organized gang of Middle Eastern terrorists? Where else but the last ferry out of Seattle on a sleepy Saturday night? The terrorists have no plans to start their own Mediterranean shuttle; they need the ferry to capture a Trident submarine and its load of nuclear missiles, with which they plan to blackmail the US into pressuring Israel to get out of the occupied territories. Since it's the weekend and since nobody's exactly expecting superbly coordinated Islamic guerrilla action in that part of the country, the operation—which also requires capture of a floating bridge—comes off largely as planned, and the villains are soon beaming their pre-taped demands off the nearest available telecommunications satellite. While diplomats flutter, America readies a multi-force commando team to take back the boats, and the ferry captain, a tough Vietnam vet, waits for the terrorists to slip up and give him an opening. Lurking in international waters off the Juan de Fuca Strait: an unreconstructed Bolshevik in his own nuclear sub. Not bad. For maximum effect, read while commuting.