Three politicians jockey for position in the early part of 2008. Senator Robert Fox has already secured his party's nomination, but Senators Jeannette Freddo Reynolds and Thaddeus Tasman are locked in a dogfight for theirs.     A load of highly dangerous weapons is in transit from the Arizona manufacturer to Fort Hood, Texas. A very sophisticated hijack plot interrupts their journey and the President, his Cabinet, and the U.S. military have to figure out how to get them out of the wrong hands.     Early in his first of three tours in Vietnam, Detective Hunter Morgan learned never to say the following: "Well, things can't get any worse than this!" They can and do when a sniper starts shooting in Baltimore.     Railroad catastrophes take place on both sides of the country and terrorists strike two major American airports, driving the elections news into the background temporarily, until one of the primary candidates turns up missing . . . last seen with a Secret Service Agent. Mike Sutton's experiences in the Vietnam War are the basis for his first novel, No Survivors (2004). Henry Small Deer was a primary character in No Survivors and returns in Primary Candidates (War Zone Press, 308 pp., $35.99, hardcover; $19.99, paper) as an authority on armaments. All of the characters of Sutton's second novel, High Order (2009), also have returned. The author informs us that the novel is inspired by historical events. As the title implies, this novel is about politicians who want to be president. Three senators are featured doing what senators do when they think they should have their party's nomination to the nation's highest office. The poisonous worm in this political apple is a shipment of Stinger missiles from Arizona to Fort Hood, Texas. At this point the book becomes a hijack novel in which law enforcement agencies scramble to retrieve the missiles and kill the hijacking criminals. Something serious always goes wrong in a scenario of this sort. If it doesn't, there is no story to hold our attention. Detective Hunter Morgan is one of the law enforcement people who goes after the missiles. Naturally, he did three tours in Vietnam. One is never enough for a character of this sort. He's a glutton for punishment. Many more things go awry in this thriller: snipers in Baltimore, railroad catastrophes, terrorist strikes on major American airports. Then one of the senators "turns up missing." That's one of my favorite all-time clichés. This book is a rouser, though. I highly recommend it to those who enjoy thrillers and to those who enjoyed Sutton's previous novels. Sutton, a witty author, also provides my favorite Jane Fonda quote out of many hundreds I've read in Vietnam War books. In this case, the words come from a senator speaking to the President: "Jane Fonda," the senator says, "has a better chance of becoming the National Commander of the Vietnam Veterans of America than the Desert Fox does winning in November." This caught me by surprise so late in the book and caused me to laugh aloud, something I rarely do when I read Vietnam War thrillers. Congrats to Sutton for his wit and wisdom. --David Willson Vietnam Veterans Of America Veteran      Primary Candidates is a novel inspired in part by historical events. It contains fictional characters, places, and circumstances set during in the 2008 time frame. The characters in it are completely fictitious, as are the airport bombing and military scenes. However, America's "soft targets" remain a major exposure in these troubling times.      I decided that Henry Small Deer - a primary character in my Vietnam War novel, No Survivors - didn't have to end his fictional career with one book. So, you'll meet him again in Primary Candidates.      All of the characters in High Order have returned, some in different roles. Beyond Hunter and Sam however, the other Primary Candidates ' first responders are based on the real people as mentioned on the "Acknowledgments" page.      I would be remiss if I did not mention two faceless resources that were of great assistance in this work:  Wikipedia and Google Earth. The former offers a galaxy of information on virtually any topic imaginable. The latter enables the writer to do research at the street level on the other side of the planet without leaving the office. The detailed descriptions in Primary Candidates were possible because Google Earth took me to almost any spot on the planet and let me look around. Simply incredible technology.      The men and women who man the Thin Blue Line - my son, Brian, among them - are people with amazing courage, dedication, and a tremendous sense of altruism - you don't become a police officer for the high pay and steady hours. In this time of increased tension - particularly racial - let us not cast these heroes aside based on insufficient evidence and the microscopic percentage of them who are less than honorable.      By the same token, those who wear - or wore -