Review – The Kiloton Threat

In an assembly in Qom, Iran, Colonel Farrokh Nassiri hears his president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, announce what amounts to the beginning of World War III with a planned nuclear attack on Israel. But Nassiri is not an ordinary officer. He is the nuclear engineer who planned the Iranian system of warhead and launchers. He is also a recent convert to Christianity who wants to defect to the West in order to prevent the nuclear holocaust.

            The task of getting Nassiri out falls to CIA operative Blake Kershaw, with another Iranian defector as companion. But the companion dies during the insertion by parachute, and Blake is left to make contact with Nassiri’s underground Christian network on his own. From that point, complications arise. The military guards for the Nassiri compound, together with their suspicions, have been increased, so that Blake and his companions have to improvise new plans. And with each complication, the plans grow more complex and more difficult. The stakes grow higher as it becomes evident that President Ahmadinejad intends to launch his nuclear strike against Israel soon, so it becomes even more imperative to get Nassiri out of Iran in order to prevent World War III.

            From this point, the authors add complication after complication, increasing the novel’s tension and building to a satisfying climax.

            Since one of the authors is Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William G. Boykin, it is not surprising that the novel rewards the reader with a convincing amount of minute detail on almost every page. (This is done, however, without slowing the narrative.) This information includes details of operational techniques, weaponry and other equipment; large and small details of Iranian history and culture; and accurate descriptions of geography and terrain. These pervade even the most casual observations, such as the change in pitch of an approaching helicopter’s sound as it passes overhead and departs (the Doppler effect).

            By including an abundance of these details, the authors ensure that their readers will emerge from the reading much better informed as well as enthralled by an exciting suspense narrative.