Karna Small Bodman
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Karna Small Bodman’s first thriller,
Checkmate, was praised for its compelling authenticity and page-turning
plot. Now Bodman, a former director of the National Security Council, returns
with another gripping thriller that reads like tomorrow’s headlines.
American planes are being shot out of the sky, and no one knows how or why. Three commercial jets have gone up in flames. In each crash, nobody reported seeing anything in the sky and nothing showed up on the radar. No planes. No missiles.
Dr. Cameron Talbot, a world-famous expert on missile-defense systems, believes that a new stealth technology is being used in these attacks. With the country in a panic and the economy taking a nosedive, the White House orders the beautiful young scientist to protect America’s endangered airways. The assignment places Cammy in mortal jeopardy as she finds herself stalked by nameless assassins.
Who is behind the threat? Islamic jihadists? The big drug cartels? None of the usual suspects have claimed responsibility for the crashes. As Cammy races against time to develop a defense against the mystery weapon, she comes to suspect that the downed planes are only the opening gambit in an ambitious campaign of conquest that could change the world’s balance of power forever.
Bodman, a deputy press secretary and later senior director of the National
Security Council under Reagan, comes up with a cool premise for her debut
thriller. Computer genius Cameron "Cammy" Talbot of Bandaq Technologies
has developed a program whereby she's able to hack into the guidance system
of an incoming cruise missile and redirect it back against whoever fired it.
Meanwhile, a Muslim terror group bent on taking over Kashmir has stolen three
Pakistani cruise missiles, one of which it has fired into India in an effort
to provoke a nuclear response against Pakistan. Lt. Col. Hunt Daniels of the
Air Force becomes involved with Cammy after someone tries to kill her, and
romantic sparks fly: "She could feel the hard muscles of his arms encircling
her in a velvet vice." Insider info can be invaluable, but knowing the
color of the drapery in the Oval Office (gold) doesn't make up for a thriller
that keeps dipping back into romance for its source of suspense.
Karna also joined us to talk about the Mumbai terrorist attacks, strangely
predictd in her books
