The author of the best-selling The Enemy Within pens the harrowing tale of the world's wealthiest man, a member of the Saudi royal family, who also happens to be an international terrorist hunted by two American agents. 150,000 first printing. U.S. Army colonel Peter Thorn, former Delta Force squadron commander and counterterrorist expert, harbors two passions. One, he loves to lead the troops. Unfortunately, for the past six months he's been logging more time behind a desk than behind enemy lines. So, when he hears of an opportunity to investigate a plane crash in Russia, Thorn jumps at a chance to once again see some field action, as well as to rekindle his second passion: a partnership with FBI special agent Helen Gray. Gray and Thorn have led cases together before, although this time they've both been instructed by the U.S. government to take secondary roles to the Russian task force investigating the crash site. By nature, Thorn and Gray can't sit on the sidelines for long, and within a few days they have found inconsistencies in the case. Deciding to investigate further, they manage to attract the attention of the Russian police, a German ex-Stasi, and the U.S. government, all of whom, for their own reasons, want the pair off the case. But the twosome agree that the case can't be closed. If their hunch is correct, it appears that someone has stolen a Russian nuclear warhead. By going undercover, the two have a chance to avert a potential catastrophe, although it means directly disobeying government orders. As a result, they must finish the investigation alone. Colonel Thorn will soon find himself in situations that draw on his years of training in armed combat (as well as skills honed playing flight simulation computer games!). Though Day of Wrath does have its clichéd moments and awkward dialogue, the book is made interesting by Bond's knowledge of nuclear warfare and intelligence strategy. Anyone with a head for military hardware and a penchant for post-Cold War intrigue will enjoy this technothriller. --Kris Law Bond, a former naval intelligence officer, is the author of four best-sellers, Red Phoenix (1989), Vortex (1991), Cauldron (1995), and The Enemy Within (1996). In this "time is running out" thriller, the world's richest man, a Saudi prince, is also a dangerous terrorist who has bought nuclear weapons from Russia. He controls the deadliest terrorist groups on earth, and his plan is to destroy the U.S. He aims a nuclear-armed aircraft at the Pentagon, putting most of Washington inside the bomb's blast and shock radius. Bond's two protagonists from Enemy are back, U.S. Army Colonel Peter Thorn and FBI Special Agent Helen Gray. Again, it's their job to save the world from this evil plot. There are some ghoulish scenes, lots of military jargon, and a few hackneyed phrases (When was the last time anyone said, "I suggest we skedaddle" ?). But Bond probably has another best-seller on his hands, and his fans will be clamoring for it. George Cohen Former naval military analyst and intelligence officer Bond, ex-collaborator with Tom Clancy (on Red Storm Rising) and now a spectacularly large-selling, spankingly reviewed technothriller author himself (The Enemy Within, 1996, etc.), slaps scenes into his computer like fresh magazine clips. This time out, he pits the bold archvillain Prince Ibrahim al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family and perhaps the world's richest man, certainly its most dangerous, against US Army Colonel Peter Thorn and FBI Special Agent Helen Gray, who must stop the bankrolling billionaire's delivery of Russian devices onto American soil. But on a countdown to apocalypse, they find themselves being hunted. Will the Day of Wrath detonate? And how does Bond's plotting hold up? Well, you know, it's your typical fifth novel's divinely inspired terrorists--and they're not waving sparklers. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.