SWORD OF THE SHAHEEN

Morris (The Iceman, 1988; Alpha Bug, 1986) now has loathsome Middle Easterners--armed by unreconstructed Soviets and assisted by the Cubans--bring their manias and a couple of compact nuclear bombs across the Atlantic to terrorize the Great Satan on his own doorstep. The overly careful ditching of a Soviet bomber near the Bahamas tweaks the interest of America's intelligence community--enough so, in fact, that it's necessary to rouse Latino-Hibernian CIA agent Davey Morales from his sexually sated snooze to go check out the bomber's cargo. Morales has just enough time to swim through the fuselage, as well as note a couple of mysterious metal pods, before the Soviets send in their own crew to salvage the cargo and blow up the plane. The pods proceed to Cuba and into the clutches of a gang of Palestinian and Iranian maniacs who use one of the bombs to blow up an American aircraft carrier--thereby demonstrating the seriousness of their business--before Morales, who has been smuggled into Cuba, can figure out what's happening. The terrorists slip off to the Yucatan and disappear, forcing Morales to team up in pursuit with a murderous Soviet spy. Blood flows and bullets fly all the way up Mexico to San Antonio, Texas--where the Palestinians plan to bring America to its knees once and for all. Fast-moving--but that's about it.