Ted Bell, Spy

Spy

Ted Bell

Atria, August 2006, $25.95

ISBN: 0743277236

Alex Hawke knew immediately that his vessel the Pura Vida on the Rio Negro was destroyed by the explosion killing many of his colleagues, including marine biologist Dana Gibbon. He had to let go of her hand to reach shore. He made it to land only to be caught and sold as a slave worker to the Xucurur who guard the work camps of the Muhammed Top. Alex serves on a road contraction crew, and as a human target in case enemy combatants attack; life expectancy is zero. Though death looks more welcoming than life, Alex, wondering about this Al Qaeda army in the middle of the Amazonian jungle escapes.

He realizes the American government leaders are preoccupied with re-elections, which mean fake temporary concentration on the Mexican border; though real issues abound involving masse illegals and the Mexican army crossing into American territory and young females kidnapped from border towns. Alex turns to trusted friends Ambrose Congreve and Stokely Jones to help infiltrate the Las Medianoches Al Qaeda cell, because he believes they plan something spectacularly jihad against the United States, probably at that suddenly prominent line in the sand called the Mexican Border.

In his fourth appearance (see ASSASSIN, HAWKE, and PIRATE) Alex is at his best as he suffers survivor guilt, though he also believes those like Dana are better off dead. Yet the premise of Mr. Bell's work is that the "terrorists in the jungle scenario" is based on the immigration of Hezbollah operatives from Lebanon during the 1970's civil war. Fans will appreciate the fast-paced and action packed thriller; as readers join Alex and his teammates on a quest to prevent the jihad from happening, with the odds heavily favoring the terrorists in their plan to devastate North America.