[close] Charles Jaco was one of CNN's intrepid reporting stars during the Gulf War, and he's turned that experience--plus hundreds of other risky missions--into a lively debut thriller full of the kinds of details other writers would die for. When GTV reporter Peter Dees arrives in Saudi Arabia to cover the war with Iraq, he's briefed by a Marine on how to inject himself first with atropine and then with an animal tranquilizer (to slow down his heart rate) in the event of a gas attack, after which he must take the needles and bend them over his belt. The marine adds casually, "The medics have orders not to treat anyone with three of the needles bent over their belt. They figure if you've had to give yourself three shots of atropine and three shots of animal tranquilizer, you're dead even if the nerve agents didn't get you." But Dees has even more serious problems: somebody high up in GTV management is tied to a company selling nerve gas to Saddam Hussein, and every time Dees tracks down a clue his source winds up dead. A strong story, deftly told, from a writer who undoubtedly has many more in his duffle bag. --Dick Adler [close]