Log in to track your reading progress.
Overview
In a sparsely populated area north of Los Angeles, the police are summoned to a medical emergency. They arrive to find a man sprawled on the sidewalk with no indications of injury, or of life. What happens next sets off a deadly chain of events that takes the FBI on a desperate cross-country investigation. In Capitol Punishment, Special Agents "Frankie" Aguirre and Art Jefferson are in pursuit of a white supremacist - John Barrish - who has in his arsenal a nerve agent so lethal that the smallest amounts can cause mass death. Barrish has struck before - in the St. Anthony's shooting, when four black children were killed in cold blood on their way to church. Now he is bolder, and his plan for destruction goes far beyond simple homicide. Barrish plans to strike a blow to the heart of the American government in Washington, D.C.An electrifying new political thriller from the bestselling author of Thunder One and October's Ghost. In a remote area, police are summoned to a medical emergency and find a man sprawled on the ground with no indications of injury--or of life. His demise sets off a deadly chain of events that takes the FBI on a desperate cross-country investigation to uncover clues to a diabolical plot.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
This would-be techno-thriller initially appears to have the requisite action ingredients. While the Russians and Americans are at a delicate point in disarmament talks, a U.S. submarine vanishes. In Cuba, as an anti-Castro revolt nears success, Castro launches an atomic warhead hidden for 30 years. Then an FBI agent is gunned down in L.A. by Cuban hit men out to silence a defector. But almost immediately, Pearson's ( Cloudburst ) sprawling, overcrowded novel becomes mired in its own excesses. Events escalate at a barely manageable rate, as informers are chased, a boozing journalist survives one narrow escape after another, and the LA police try to solve domestic crimes with international overtones. In addition to an overwhelming number of poorly defined characters and turgid prose, the novel suffers from Pearson's incomplete mastery of present and past events as he mingles history with speculation. Some readers may also be short-circuited by all the techno-babble. Still, this partial misfire provides ample fodder for conspiracy buffs and military historians to chew on. (July)Library Journal
Pearson (Cloudburst, Morrow, 1993) delivers another riveting technothriller, using many of the same characters that appeared in his debut novel. A complex web of plots include a plan by Cuban rebel forces and the CIA to overthrow Castro in a modern Bay of Pigs (hence the title); a sensitive and vulnerable cooperative effort between the United States and Russia to modernize Russia's defense systems; and Castro's plans to launch a secretly held nuclear missile. Two FBI special agents become involved when a Cuban defector tries to warn the United States about the weapon. When the U.S. government finally finds out about the weapon, it prepares against a nuclear attack and warn Russia. The Russians are justifiably skeptical; while trying to convince them that the threat is indeed from Cuba, the CIA sends its Delta force to Cuba to secure and defuse the bomb. Actions and heroics build as the ``good guys'' win the day and Cuba gains a new leader. Highly recommended.-Stacie Browne Chandler, Plymouth P.L., Mass.Book Details
Published
August 1, 1996
Publisher
Avon Books (Mm)
Pages
352
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780380722280