Ray Derby The Shadow Government

The Shadow Government

Ray Derby

iUniverse, 2002, $14.95, 288 pp.

ISBN: 0595234682

After an incident with US Senator McBride, Norm Shepard left the marines to become a railroad brakeman and fish in the Potomac. While heading to a spot to fish, he notices two other fishermen, but when he walks past them, they shoot him in the back. He manages to escape to the nearby road where Major General McKay gets him to a hospital.

McKay is concerned where this shooting occurred so he assigns long time civil servant Ross Chambers and his emergency management team to investigate. Evelyn Pace and Jim Woods interview Norm; they return to their superior Ross with grave concerns that the two wannabe killers were monitoring weather conditions, which could mean an NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) attack on the capital. While Norm is recalled to active duty, the response team begins activation of Project Bluelight, THE SHADOW GOVERNMENT project to keep the government operational during a crippling emergency. However, first they must stop rogue terrorists from causing a pandemic incident of mass destruction.

Though terrorists employ clever deadly ruses as they value life less than radioactive waste, THE SHADOW GOVERNMENT highlights what is a major fear of many people: weapons of mass destruction (ask the President and his psychological advisors). The story line is a powerful thriller that looks at what a government can do to continue to lead even when calamity reaches biblical proportions. Though the small insets focusing on the terrorists seem more distracting than revealing, readers will feel they won the Triple Crown with Ray Derby's compelling tale of counterterrorism.

Harriet Klausner