THE ENEMY WITHIN

The ripsnorting, all-too-plausible latest from bestselling Bond (Cauldron, 1993, etc.) pits a duo of dynamic Americans against a mad Iranian bent on altering the geopolitical balance of power. When Muslim fundamentalists detonate a gasoline tanker on the Golden Gate Bridge at the height of a morning rush hour, the loss of life shocks Washington into a retaliatory missile raid on Tehran. With the religious rulers and populace of the oil-rich country reeling from this blow, General Amir Taleh seizes complete control of the Defense Ministry with an eye to restoring the Islamic republic's lost glory. In aid of his vaultingly ambitious plan to annex Saudi Arabia by force of arms, he attempts to neutralize the US by unleashing on it US small bands of fanatical, well-trained terrorists whose atrocities appear to be the handiwork of indigenous white supremacists or militant groups of ethnic minorities. The coordinated campaign of nationwide bombings and massacres spawns copycat acts that strain the capacity of law- enforcement agencies to keep order. With America's social fabric unraveling, and the military tied down on guard duties calculated to lull the frantic public into a false sense of security, Army Colonel Peter Thorn (a counterterrorism expert with observer status on the case) unearths a computer-communications anomaly suggesting that offshore operatives are responsible for the evil deeds that have all but paralyzed the US. Helen Gray (Thorn's lover) and fellow FBI agents confirm his suspicions in a deadly assault on a safe house. The raid puts Helen in the hospital, but also yields enough information to send Thorn winging off to Tehran at the head of a Delta Force unit ordered to assassinate Taleh before he can launch his invasion fleet across the Persian Gulf. A triple-A Bond.