STRIKE FORCE

Techno-thriller specialist Brown, who never met a weapons system, real or imagined, he could resist, piles them on in spectacular quantity, pitting his Air Force hero Patrick McLanahan (Air Battle Force, 2003, etc.) against everything Iran can throw at him and his gadgets.

Those dumb bunnies in Congress. Will they ever learn that Lt. Gen. McLanahan, with his laser cannons, space fortresses, robots, drones, killer satellites and fuels of the future, always knows best how to handle the Dark Forces that threaten America. Alas, no. As usual, the knuckleheads in the capital and subversive members of the president’s own staff are looking for ways to throttle funding for McLanahan’s latest and most fabulous gizmo, “The Stud,” a sleek aircraft capable of easing itself into outer space and orbiting while toting enough payload to incinerate several missile sites and God knows how many armies of terrorists. Who wouldn’t want a fleet of such swell planes? Well, the usual dunderheads in the Pentagon—dinosaurs wedded to their old oxygen-breathing subsonic bombers and slow-as-molasses carrier task forces, systems that show up days late and dollars short against the ballistic threats wielded by the Ayatollah’s loyal armies—that’s who. And Iran is at the boil. There’s a disgraced former head of the defense forces stirring up enough trouble that the Islamic Republic could erupt in civil war, and it’s making the mullahs crazy. They’re ready to fire off their secret supply of missiles at targets all over Europe, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean to defend their insane dreams. Fortunately for the free world, McLanahan never takes no for an answer, even when it comes from the top, and before the Persians blow up the free world, McLanahan sends not only several Studs, but a handful of wonderful two-story-tall Tin Men—big, tough robots containing real live soldiers—to kick ass to Kingdom Qom.

Equal-opportunity employer Brown’s warrior gals achieve near parity with the gents, and there’s a cute Persian princess. Oh, and Russians.