Operation Hebron

The implications are immense; the power brokers are scurrying. Who is Hebron- and will he pull off the most audacious mission in the history of espionage? More daring and damning than Watergate and Irangate! It's an election year and political tension and media hype are mounting fast. Israel has launched a high-risk covert operation to have its top operative- a prominent U.S. Senator- elected President of the United States. The womanizing American Ambassador to the European Union is found dead in his Brussels mansion. The Iranians and Iraqis are suspected. Heads are going to roll. Meet Brenda Straus and Jackie Markovic, two of the most determined women you'll ever encounter- one, a whiz-kid Special Agent for the FBI, the other a lethally-seductive, moist-mouthed assassin- as they battle it out in a geo-political chess game that just may change the balance of world power. Written by a former top-level U.S. spy, Operation Hebron takes you from the thickly-upholstered nerve centers of Washington D.C., the spartan quarters of Jerusaleum's brain trust, and a secluded dacha outside of Moscow, to the seedy bars of Brussels and a sun-drenched hide-away in Mallorca. Across time-zones and secret satellite transmissions author Eric Jordan offers a thrill ride through the corridors of power, and uncovers the most sensitive operations of the FBI, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, ( SVR, ex-KGB) and the mythic Israeli Mossad. As the threat of international terror edges closer to home, Operation Hebron reveals the type of operations that international spies conduct daily in Washington D.C. and other world capitals to influence and control the White House, the Congress, and public opinion. Jordan offers an unprecedented glance through a private window on which the shades are usually drawn!

There's an intriguing premise buried inside this first thriller by an acknowledged former U.S. spy and adviser on terrorism to President Reagan: an Israeli plot to have one of their paid agents elected president of the U.S. Readers will have to dig through layers of stiff writing to get to it, thoughAas in this early moment, when the prime minister of Israel pops a painkiller and washes it down with half a glass of seltzer: "He would need all his wits to launch the most daring covert political action considered by any Israeli government since the nation's foundation." A page later, the harried leader takes his mind away from his many troubles by watching trees swaying in the breeze outside his Jerusalem office: "'A tranquilizing sight befitting the Holy City,' he thought. 'A sight that belies the harsh reality of a land torn by violence.'" Readers who can ignore moments like this on virtually every page will find that the basic plot contains a lot of suspense, as a believably conflicted FBI agent named Brenda Straus has to find out which of the three leading candidates for president is in fact the Israeli agent. Straus's opponents include another well-sketched female character: Jackie Marcovic, a sexy assassin. Of course, the Russians get involved: a Russian president who swills vodka recruits a secret agent named Yuri, who thinks, "Another shadowAthat of the Russian bearAis now about to join the dramatic events building around Operation Hebron." This book has the makings of a good novelAstrong characters, a solid plot and an air of authority about its subjectAand some of the exposition is adequate. But its dialogue? It makes you want to pop a painkiller and swill vodka. (Aug.)
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