Sudden Threat-A. J. Tata

Sudden Threat
A. J. Tata
Variant, Oct 2010, $9.99
ISBN: 9781935142089

9/11 will go down in infamy, but behind the scenes before, during and after, powerful forces have taken advantage to further secret agendas. Japanese Prime Minister Mizuzawa sees an opportunity in Pacific Asia with the Americans totally occupied with Afghanistan and seemingly Iraq. His New Japan has allies in DC especially with the "The Rolling Stones" who see the terrorist attack on American soil as a chance to redo the world in their image.

In Pakistan CIA Agent Matt Garrett hunts down Al Qaeda top level authorities closing in on bringing home the head of Bin Laden on a platter. As he gets closer to his target working his way through a series on concentric circles protecting Bin Laden; he is abruptly pulled from the region and sent on what seems to him as a minor mission in the jungles of the Philippines. However, once there he finds who should not be there: a dead American soldier. As Matt digs deeper into this anomaly, he begins to realize that Muslim extremism is being used by Japan as a ploy to conceal their ambition to refight WW II with a different outcome.

This is a fast-paced alternate historical thriller that hooks the audience throughout as General (retired) Tata provides an intriguing conspiracy premise. The action never stops coming whether it is in the Middle East, the eastern seaboard or the Asian Pacific. Although readers will feel the New Japan scheme and several inside the White House power moves are over the top of Mount Apo, conspiracy fans and military buffs will enjoy this post 9/11 one-sided tale that clearly shows the American military living up to its values.

Harriet Klausner