Superspy Derrick Storm faces off against a mysterious group who is downing planes with an advanced laser weapon. Derrick Storm thought his flight back to Washington D.C. was going to uneventful. But when something happens to the plane's wing, he does what comes natural and climbs out onto the wing and fixes the problem with some duct tape. But every flight that day is so lucky and several other planes mysteriously crash, killing everyone on board. Those events cause Colonel Jones - the head of the CIA's National Clandestine Service and Storm's boss - to assign Storm to the case.
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After examining some of the wreckage, Storm suspects the attacks were caused by a super laser weapon. He discovers a retired laser expert in Oregon has gone missing and he suspects the man has been forced to build the weapon. He tracks leads to Panama and later Monaco, where he's drugged by a sexy operative working for billionaire shipping magnate Ingrid Karlsson. He wakes up on her massive ship and discovers that Karlsson's lover and best friend was killed in one of the attacks. She is offering a $50 million reward for the capture of the terrorists and offers up some hints to Storm to follow. He teams up with CIA agent (and former love interest) Strike and they travel to the deserts of Africa in search of the rare material used to power the laser weapon.
They track the shipments to an archeological dig and Storm discovers the material is being secretly mined by the lead archeologist and sold to the highest bidder. He reveals the conspiracy and tracks the last shipment to the secret headquarters of the organization buying the material for the terrorist. It's only then that he discovers the person behind the attacks is Ingrid Karlsson. She downed the planes to get rid of rivals, including her friend, who was headed to the U.S. to report on her activities.
Storm sneaks onto Karlsson's boat in the midst of a monster storm, releases the hostage and ultimately captures the rogue billionaire. Since she had already cut a deal with the U.S. government and because Storm worried the U.S. might get its hands on the weapon, he turns Karlsson over to the Hague and arranges for the supply of the weapons material to be accidentally destroyed.
Best part of story, including ending:
As much as I wanted to like the book, it was predictable and often trite. There's nothing wrong with pulp genre fiction, but it doesn't have to be this poorly written.
Best scene in story:
The relationship between the kidnapped scientist and his wife was incredibly tender and sweet. I hope every relationship is that strong after 50 years of marriage.
Opinion about the main character:
Derrick Storm is a cartoon character in this book. Which is frustrating, because the character is one originally introduced on the TV series Castle, which is very well written and nuanced show.