After the Rain
Chuck Logan
HarperCollins, Jul 2004, $24.95, 403 pp
ISBN: 0060570180

Evidence surfaces that bombs have been smuggled from Canada to the heart of Minutemen Country Langdon, North Dakota. Not trusting the Headquarters Pogues after 9/11, Army Major Nina Pryce, ex-Special Forces Colonel Holland Wood and Jane Singer go undercover concentrating on the activities of liquor smuggler Ace Shuster. Though married to Nam veteran and retired cop Phil Broker, Nina is to seduce the truth out of their quarry.

Phil arrives from Devil Rock, Minnesota to take their seven year old daughter Kit, used as part of the cover, out of danger. However, when he sees the Cold War dinosaurs and proof of the deadly intent of American terrorists, he concludes that his anger at his wife for jeopardizing their daughter is fruitless. If the terrorists can pull off their objective, Armageddon could arrive in the American Heartland unless Phil and Nina can stop them.

This exhilarating post 9/11 thriller will hook readers from the beginning and never let up until the climax. The story line makes the threat of terrorism so real that All the President's Men and woman will believe this could happen here. The solid cast, including the lead protagonists, eccentric local smugglers, a psycho, and a lesbian warrior who kicks butt, add to that genuine feeling that a catastrophe could occur. Readers will get so involved in the terse plot; they will open umbrellas to keep the deluge that drenches the heroes from soaking them as Chuck Logan provides another terrific stormy tale.

Harriet Klausner