The Lion
Nelson DeMille
Grand Central, Jun 7 2011, $14.99
ISBN: 9780446699600
Years ago Asad the Libyan “Lion” Kahil fooled the Americans into believing he was defecting only to begin a Jihad avenging vendetta for the 1983 deaths of his family by Reagan; he was somewhat stopped by then NYPD Detective John Corey and FBI Agent Kate Mayfield (see The Lion's Game), but escaped. A lot has happened in the ensuing years as 9/11 changed the security landscape, and Kate and John are married though she remains with the FBI and he is retired from NYPD. Both work for the Federal Antiterrorism task Force.
Khalil has returned to America using an Egyptian passport granted to a Hasheem. The outcome of his objective is either home or paradise as he begins round two of killing Americans in the United States for what they did to his family. In the Catskills, he attacks John and Kate while they were skydiving. Kate is severely hurt by a hard landing while John vows the family vendetta between Kahil and him has just been raised with one of them seeing their maker rather soon.
This exciting sequel hooks the audience starting with the skydiving incident and never releases us until the climax. Readers anticipate a final confrontation between two super heavyweights whose first match ended in a draw. Although the Corey wisecracking asides remains humorous, it feels out of place as the body count grows. Still fans will enjoy the rematch as Nelson DeMille writes an entertaining but very linear thriller that asks did the billions spent in security money make us safer.
Harriet Klausner
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