THE PAPER BULLET

...""an aimed lie."" Aimed in this case by the American Press, at a struggling South American government whose head, one Ernesto Ruiz, is accused of everything from dictatorship to discrimination. This lack of sympathy on the part of the press turns out to be one more coup in a devious Communist plot and this novel effectively and all too realistically shows how deadly ""opinion subversion"" can be. Ernesto, once a young rebel, now aging, but a forceful leader and anti-communist, no longer has the sympathy or the confidence of the ""beloved United States."" As anti-Ruiz demonstrations culminate in a disastrous fire, Ruiz is labeled and libeled. His wife, Monica, an American, returns home in an effort to win the car of the Washington higher-ups. Her candid comments on American foreign policy plus the unsolicited backing of a California ""super-patriot"" group bring ruinous publicity and the capitol scuttle-butt is hands off . Besides, the United States is quietly backing a nice ""moderate"" for Ruiz job. When it is discovered that the replacement is really Communist-backed, the ""policy"" is too well established and it is too late. A solidly written novel that gets its point across.