Chasing the Lion by AJ Tata

The lion is Dariush Parizad and his hatred of America goes way back. As a farm child, the family plot was the staging ground for the failed attempt at rescuing the American hostages in Tehran. In the process, his father was killed by the Americans. Afterwards, the Ayatollah himself visited and called the young boy The Lion of Tabas (looks like the Ayatollah knew the value of a good photo op). Dariush grew to become an Olympic class boxer who especially enjoyed pummeling any American opponent. Next was the military where he rose in rank and eventually became head of the Quds Force when an American drone attack took out his boss and mentor.

 Intel from a trusted Mossad agent sends Dagger into a cave in the Gaza Strip. Dagger is the call sign of CENTCOM’s strike team. In the cave are dozens of dead captives who’ve been sequestered via mind control that combined cold war era drugs and cellular technology. Parizad is testing something. Evidence in the cave sends Dagger to Germany where they find the same thing. Parizad again. Next stop is Japan. Same thing, only this time Dagger is wounded.

 The head of Dagger is Lt. General Garrett Sinclair. His 6-man team has been together for decades. Sinclair was a West Point alum and carved out a career as a soldier skilled and wise enough to handle any mission, so far. But he’s a wounded man as his wife Melissa recently died of cancer. A death he missed due to a mission. How many ways can you spell guilt?

In the Japan assault, a crossbow arrow brings Sinclair down. The arrow is laced with Demon Rain that affects the central nervous system. He is whisked away for medical treatment. One of this team is killed, another gets lost in ‘the system’ and the rest are in hiding.

Taken to an Army base hospital? Nope. How about Ft. Dettick in Maryland where all the chemical warfare research goes on. During his ‘recovery’ he learns enough to fire up his rage. For example, during an earlier mission, wife Melissa had been taken to Dettrick and interrogated. Five Akula-class subs that Iran bought from Russia have slipped under the net and are creeping up on both US coasts. The upcoming inauguration of our first female president (college bestie of Melissa) is a couple weeks away and to keep some semblance of continuity, she will be keeping the current SecDef, SecState, and CIA Director in place. All three were West Pointers a year ahead of Sinclair and the air around them is beginning to stink. The Pointer's goal is simple: they want a ground war with Iran.

Parizad’s plan is careful, intricate, and planned to strike within the US to both shock the country and cripple the economy. While Sinclair continues to have issues from the poisoned arrow and the ‘treatment’ he was receiving at Ft. Dettrick, he still has to find out more about his wife’s death, protect his two kids, find Parizad, and convince the incoming president of the threat to the country.

 That’s a mouthful. Sinclair has a ton on his plate and not a lot of time to stop Parizad. The story is complex, told over maybe a month at best, and enfolds at a breathtaking pace. A very satisfying thriller told by one who knows of what they speak. AJ Tata is a former Brigadier General (a 1-star) with command stops with the 82^nd Airborne, the 101^st Airborne and the 10^th Mountain Division. His last tour was in Afghanistan. Now he writes books (14 so far) and hits the news shows for expert commentary when asked. Earlier book series were the four 'Threat' books, the six-book 'Jake Mahegan' series, and the three 'Reaper' books. I read one reviewer who said that Gen. Sinclair was a combination of Jack Reacher and Jason Bourne. That sounds about right. Apparently, this is the first in Tata's latest series.

 While I liked the book and read it in just a few sittings, I did have a few issues. First, how likely is it that a Lt. General (3-stars) will be a boots-on-the-ground leader of this small team? A 3-star slicing throats, cutting off fingers, jumping out of a helicopter while in pursuit, being the first through the door? Just wondering. Second, the use of cell phones (stimulated by a mind control drug) to control the population seems a bit of a reach. Conspiracy-wonks will say, ‘that’s absolutely possible’. Third, the drug, Demon Rain, is a failed cold war remnant that the Iranians have somehow figured out how to combine a variant of LSD with cell phones to trigger mass mind control and population manipulation. I may be naïve, but that seems to be a bit of a stretch. Fourth (and this might actually be true), is Ft. Dettrick still studying Cold War drugs? Got a neighbor who used to work there. Maybe I’ll ask. Finally, how important, really, was it to wrap covid-19 into this story? Maybe just to keep it current. No matter. They all kept the story hopping.

 Regardless of my minor story telling issues, this is a cracking read. As breakneck paced thrillers go, this is first rate. Suspend a few realities and hang on. The Reaper series is about a sniper. I may see if the local library has any.

Available June 1, 2021.