GIDEON'S WAR – Howard Gordon
Touchstone (Hardcover)
ISBN: 1-4391-7581-0
January 2011
Thriller

The Sultanate of Mohan, the Present

Shortly after awarding him the United Nations Medal of Peace, the President of the U.S. summons Gideon Davis to a private meeting where Gideon also finds Earl Parker, his long time friend and mentor. Earl had actually been Gideon's father's friend, but when Gideon's parents died twenty years ago, “Uncle” Earl often visited Gideon and his brother, Tillman, in their foster home, and he is the reason Gideon entered the State Department. President Diggs orders Gideon and Earl to take on an urgent assignment. This mission will have far reaching and personal consequences for Gideon.

With the leadership of a man called Abu Nasir, insurgents are gaining ground in the South China Seas Sultanate of Mohan. Gideon is told that the sultan is giving them twenty-four hours to take custody of Abu Nasir before he sends an assassin squad. Abu Nasir agreed to surrender to one man…his brother Gideon. Even though the brothers have been estranged for seven years, Gideon has a hard time swallowing the idea that Tillman has gone rogue and joined the jihadi rebels.

Once landed in Mohan, Gideon joins a motor cavalcade that is to take him to his brother, then to meet Earl on Obelisk, a huge, state-of-the-art off shore oil-drilling rig. However, the group is attacked, and all are killed but one. Thus begins a danger-fraught run for his life as Gideon tries to evade those after him and get to his brother.

After suffering through a bout with D.C. politics, Obelisk's manager, Kate Murphy, returns to the rig as to home. She awaits an expert who is to helicopter in to help correct some disturbing stabilizing problem on the structure. Less welcome is an official coming to hold a press conference on the platform. Things go horribly wrong. Terrorists take over and a storm is coming.

With thrill-a-minute, non-stop action, GIDEON'S WAR is a masterpiece of suspense. Amid a large cast of characters with loyalties and motives not always clear, Gideon and Kate stand out as ones to believe in. Though written in third person, theirs are the main points of view. The author does a great job in having the story unfold without having to simply tell it. Astonishing events occur in rapid succession but do not over stretch credulity…at least I was so caught up I believed every bit.

GIDEON'S WAR is Mr. Gordon's debut novel, but he's no stranger to suspense and entertainment. He was highly involved in the television shows, 24 and The X-Files . Thriller fans and others who enjoy a well written work will most certainly like GIDEON'S WAR.

Jane Bowers