Two Thumbs OFF!
Written: Jun 25 '00 (Updated Jun 25 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: relevant thrilling thoughtful "a wake-up call" character-oriented
Cons: that we might take this as "mere fiction"
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| wickengel's Full Review: Nelson Demille - The Lion's Game |
Readers who survive DeMille’s laborious windup will be treated to an exhilarating scenario exhibiting the very essence of contemporary terrorism – and, more importantly, counter-terrorism.
"The Lion’s Game" has become an "instant classic" among the American counter-terrorism network, and its broadening popularity will give ordinary citizens a vantage on the difficulties of the "game" that Tom Clancy and his co-authors never anticipated.
The Libyan Asad "the Lion" Khalil is a brilliant and cruel creation, among the most masterful and credible "villains" in DeMille’s pantheon. Gifted with refined intelligence, a sixth sense, the Islamic extremist’s notion of mission and a literal taste for assassination, he is a worthy adversary of former NYPD Homicide detective John Corey of "Plum Island" fame, whose character first stumbles, then builds rapidly at mid-passage when he connects quite physically with Kate Mayfield of the FBI – a strong female associate as well as counterpoint to DeMille’s strong male hero.
The plot line is an inspiration since it involves the methodical revenge assassination of the entire American Air Force team involved in the Reagan-era bombing of Tripoli – by a man whose loss of family in that raid at age sixteen, whose personal coming of manhood through the seduction and murder of the virgin Bashira at that time and whose closeness to Qaddafi himself make him the perfect terrorist.
Add to the mix the systemic incompetence and organizational infighting of the US Anti-Terrorism Task Force (ATTF), the security lapses allowing the vulnerability of the more-than-top-secret Air Force group and the relatively open access inherent in the American transportation system. The result is confusion multiplied to the point of such chaos that only thinking "out of the box" can leverage palpable leads. In fact only on page 420 is "the Lion" suddenly aware that some force might have a credible chance at detecting him – and that is only after his triumphant symbolic assassination of two of the Air Force team in the cockpit of an F-111 aircraft!
The comparison with Clancy is inevitable, but DeMille is not interested in techno-thriller nonsense. Yes, wiz-bang technology is evident (e.g., autopilot landing features, GPS navigation in automobiles, advanced weaponry), but the key to this work (as in so much of DeMille) is not technology or government organizations; rather it is human beings acting outside the debilitating circles of groupthink. Lessons abound for our American CT teams, which often do NOT involve or engage "outsiders" and "mavericks." As such, they open themselves to havoc and ruin.
The depiction of the communication patterns and the lifestyles of those involved in the Libyan bombing is among the best in literature involving former black world operators in the "airdale" community. As such it should serve as a warning to all such groups to redouble their own security protocols (which are NOT addressed in this work – perhaps its major flaw).
DeMille has given us a realistic scenario with point and fire. It should serve as a wakeup call for our national counter-terrorism teams. As co-author of the national counter-NBC-terrorism plan, I can personally attest to the value of "thinking outside the box" – for everyone involved in this most critical mission. We all owe thanks to DeMille for the lessons – and our CT folks should take the lessons "for action" ASAP for all our sakes.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
wickengel
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Member: Wilson F. Engel III Ph.D.
Location: Nashua, NH
Reviews written: 260
Trusted by: 30 members
About Me:
Thinker, Writer, Editor, Inventor, Novelist: The Virtue of Baseball (www.puff-adder.com), Poet
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