Holy War: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A real page-turner
Review: In this techno-thriller a group of Latin American radicals, led by a defrocked priest and financed by Iran, attempt to take over the Dominican Republic. They initiate a violent urban guerrilla war then kidnap the American Ambassador to undermine U.S. support for the local government. The American military response is immediate, heavy-handed, and totally unsuccessful. It remains to an African-American CIA officer, overweight, unmpromotable, and ignored by the authorities, to unravel the plot and pull together a scratch force to save the Ambassador and thwart the terrorists. You can tell that the author has lived and worked on the island (he's a Foreign Service Officer), and his understanding of the local culture, government bureaucracy, and military operations is flawless. The plot is incredibly complex, yet easy to follow, without some of the usual holes or miraculous events so common in this genre. It is equal to Clancy at his best. I dare you to put it down.