THE LAST HIGH GROUND

Japanese criminals plot a deadly attack on an ailing US economy in this solidly crafted thriller by the author of The Sword of Orion (1993). Boeing Aircraft's newest plane, the 777, has been crashing with alarming and unexplained frequency. Moreover, the tragedies threaten to destroy the last major corporate player in America's last great competitive industry, aerospace. Terrorist bombs seem the likely culprits until Washington attorney Roger Case receives a letter from Lawson Wheelwright, a former quality-control inspector for Boeing. Wheelwright claims to know what's been going wrong with the 777s—and it's not bombs. Case contacts Brian MacHenry, once a pilot and now a freelance airline accident investigator. Meanwhile, across the Pacific, Shig Onishi, junior investigator in the Economic Crimes Section of the National Police Agency of Japan, is also preparing to pay Boeing a visit. He's investigating Japan's most powerful yakuza, who apparently has links to the prestigious Hibakusha Foundation, which aids victims of America's atomic bombing of Japan, and to the mammoth Nippon Aerospace Consortium, which is planning to purchase a major chunk of Boeing. Once their paths cross, Onishi and MacHenry team up. As the unlikely but appealing pair of sleuths divine the true cause of the crashes, things begin to pop. The announcement of the Boeing purchase is timed to coincide with the unveiling of the Enola Gay, which has been refurbished by the Hibakusha Foundation. Days before the scheduled ceremony, Wheelwright is dramatically murdered and Boeing's chief computer programmer dies in a suspicious accident, leading the investigators to believe a handful of missing computer chips hidden by Wheelwright may solve both their cases. Although MacHenry, Onishi, and a cast of assorted thugs provide a slam-bang climax, it is wily Roger Case who quietly engineers a deal that turns the tables on the plotters. A cautionary tale of the Japan-America trade war with goose- bumpy action and black and white hats evenly distributed.*justify no* Japanese criminals plot a deadly attack on an ailing US economy in this solidly crafted thriller by the author of The Sword of Orion (1993). Boeing Aircraft's newest plane, the 777, has been crashing with alarming and unexplained frequency. Moreover, the tragedies threaten to destroy the last major corporate player in America's last great competitive industry, aerospace. Terrorist bombs seem the likely culprits until Washington attorney Roger Case receives a letter from Lawson Wheelwright, a former quality-control inspector for Boeing. Wheelwright claims to know what's been going wrong with the 777s—and it's not bombs. Case contacts Brian MacHenry, once a pilot and now a freelance airline accident investigator. Meanwhile, across the Pacific, Shig Onishi, junior investigator in the Economic Crimes Section of the National Police Agency of Japan, is also preparing to pay Boeing a visit. He's investigating Japan's most powerful yakuza, who apparently has links to the prestigious Hibakusha Foundation, which aids victims of America's atomic bombing of Japan, and to the mammoth Nippon Aerospace Consortium, which is planning to purchase a major chunk of Boeing. Once their paths cross, Onishi and MacHenry team up. As the unlikely but appealing pair of sleuths divine the true cause of the crashes, things begin to pop. The announcement of the Boeing purchase is timed to coincide with the unveiling of the Enola Gay, which has been refurbished by the Hibakusha Foundation. Days before the scheduled ceremony, Wheelwright is dramatically murdered and Boeing's chief computer programmer dies in a suspicious accident, leading the investigators to believe a handful of missing computer chips hidden by Wheelwright may solve both their cases. Although MacHenry, Onishi, and a cast of assorted thugs provide a slam-bang climax, it is wily Roger Case who quietly engineers a deal that turns the tables on the plotters. A cautionary tale of the Japan-America trade war with goose- bumpy action and black and white hats evenly