by Robert & Arnaud de Borchgrave Moss ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 22, 1983

Is the Castro regime the secret instigator of racial violence in the Miami area? And is there worse to come? Those are the implied questions in this new novel by the authors of The Spike--who again, in a less effective, more melodramatic thriller, suggest that we're not aware enough (thanks, in part, to the duped media) of the real, ruthless Communist threat. Washington journalist Bob Hockney is vacationing in Puerto Rico with wife Julia when Julia's boss--conservative US Senator Fairchild--is abducted (with fatal results) by terrorists. Puerto Rican freedom fighters? So it seems at first. But Hockney--one of journalism's few non-dupes--suspects that the Senator, chairman of the Internal Security Committee, may have been silenced because of his investigations. And the newsman tracks down the Senator's recent secret source of information--a Miami policeman who alleges that Julio Parodi, a rich Cuban ÉmigrÉ/drug-dealer with CIA connections, has been secretly making trips. . . to Cuba! Is Parodi a double-agent, then? He is indeed--and, while Hockney slowly sleuths (with a trip to Cuba that ends in Mm being framed as a spy), the authors let the reader in on the whole Cuban scheme, of which Parodi is only a small part: ""the paralysis of the United States through a social revoit"". . . to be triggered by ""catalytic acts"" of Cuban-saboteur terrorists, coinciding with another wave of misfit-refugees from Cuba to Flodda. (Furthermore, the clever Cubans have decided to take advantage of a CIA scheme to assassinate Castro--arranging for a fake Castro to be killed, thus fomenting anti-Washington feelings!) Back from Cuba, Hockney tries to get more concrete evidence from Maguire's informer, Parodi's mistress Gloria. The Miami violence begins; both Julia and Gloria are brutally murdered; the fake Castro-assassination ensues; and Hockney, now spurred on by vengeance, heads north to N.Y.--where bombings and an attempted assassination of a black leader (by the Cubans) have nearly created chaos--just in time to expose the scheme and save America. (In the final pages, Hockney also seeks personal revenge on Parodi.) The suspense here is minimal, since virtually all of the secrets are revealed at the start--and since the authors' future-doomsday scenario is largely unconvincing. But, while less plausible or exciting than The Spike, this does have some of the same secret-scheme appeal--especially for those who share the authors' political orientation.

Pub Date: April 22, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1983

Categories: FICTION