Mission Compromised

August 26, 2002
It's hard to figure out just what North has in mind here: a little payback, perhaps, for some of the controversial ex-Marine's treatment by the Beltway establishment? A Christian tract disguised as a topical thriller? An attempt to use every single governmental abbreviation—from AmCits (American citizens) to WHDB (White House Data Base)—in one book? This giant novel (the first in a projected series of three) fits every one of those criteria, and also has a plot so convoluted that a snake might get motion sickness and characters so thin they make Tom Clancy look like Jane Austen. After flashbacks to three sets of killings in 1986, the narrative skips to 1994, when a career Marine Corps officer, Maj. Peter Newman, arrives at the Clinton White House to head a special projects office that hasn't been manned since another Marine—Oliver North—was booted out in 1987. "Look, if you think I'm going to accept a job only to go down in flames like he did, you'd better think again. I'll resign my commission first," Newman growls. But the major, who lost a younger brother in the military disaster at Mogadishu recounted in Black Hawk Down, takes the job when he realizes it will let him go after the warlords (including a rich Saudi called Osama bin Laden) responsible for that debacle. In a preface dated December 14, 2001, Fox News reporter North writes from aboard a U.S. warship with troops bound for Afghanistan, thanking coauthor Musser for his "gift for words" that "has made my military phraseology comprehensible to civilians." Perhaps those thanks were premature. (Sept. 1)Forecast:
Mission Compromised indeed—Ollie champions will read this, but even they may find it a slog. Author tour.

November 1, 2002
North's debut thriller, the first of a three-novel series, is set in the mid-1990s and revolves around Maj. Peter J. Newman, a U.S. Marine assigned to a top-secret National Security Council staff position at the White House. (Guess whose old job and office Newman occupies.) Newman is ordered to coordinate a covert operation to eliminate a group of international law breakers including Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. When the mission is compromised, Newman and his personnel are left hanging, and a series of events unfolds exposing God's hand in Newman's life. While there will be strong demand from North's legion of fans and where T. Davis Bunn is popular, this novel is an irritating act of hubris. By having his character conveniently discover evidence that proves North acted with the full authority of the White House in the Iran-Contra scandal, the author uses fiction to clear his muddied name and get his version of the truth out to the public.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.