The Red Syndrome (Dan Gordon Intelligence Thrillers)

Fact: The attacks of September 11, 2001, brought terror to our doorstep. Fact: Suicide bombers, attacks on mass transit, the leveling of hotels and nightclubs followed elsewhere. Fact: Terrorists' endgame is maximum civilian casualties through minimum effort. Question: What's next?Haggai Carmon's timely new intelligence thriller, The Red Syndrome, describes a plausible and frighteningly simple terrorist conspiracy: Introduce a lethal biological weapon into the nation’s food supply in a way never before imagined. Which Americans belong to the Iranian-backed Islamic fundamentalist splinter group that threatens the U.S. population? Can they be stopped?This exciting sequel to Haggai Carmon's Triple Identity again features ex-Mossad agent Dan Gordon, who now works for the U.S. Department of Justice. Like Triple Identity, The Red Syndrome begins with Gordon on the trail of what appears to be straightforward case of money-laundering.But in the Byzantine world of dirty money and offshore accounts, multiple layers are the rule, not the exception. Crime breeds strange mutations. Here, you sleep with one eye open. Always. Gordon's investigation of dubious Russian mob money transfers is now assigned to the CIA. The plot quickly turns to a hunt for a devastating bio-terror weapon, a hunt that features murder, coded messages, kidnapping, breathtaking desert chases, and betrayals along the way.With fast-paced action on three continents, good guys may not always have the upper hand. Problem is: who is good and who is bad? This insider intelligence thriller rivets the reader through to its surprising end.

From Publishers Weekly

Carmon's fictional alter ego in his somewhat disappointing second Dan Gordon thriller (after 2005's Triple Identity) is also an Israeli-born attorney working for the U.S. Department of Justice; Gordon is pursuing a money laundering and terror financing ring linked to the Russian mafia. A chance sighting of a missing person poster in New York City leads him to crack a code and suspect that Islamic terrorists are targeting the U.S. with a lethal blend of E. coli and hemorrhagic fever. Carmon's real-world experience with legal intelligence gathering lends authenticity to many details, but the author falters with some unlikely plotting. For an experienced ex-Mossad agent, Gordon makes a number of amateurish mistakes (e.g., revealing top-secret information to a sexy but untrustworthy federal agent) that imperil his life and mission. Still, those who aren't sticklers should enjoy the ride. (July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Dan Gordon, the former Mossad agent now working with the U.S. Department of Justice, returns in this altogether superior sequel to the author's first novel, Triple Identity (2005). Where that one had a plot-holey story and almost comically bad prose, this one is tight and fluidly written. While investigating what appears to be a routine money-laundering scheme involving the Russian Mafia, Gordon stumbles on a plot to unleash a bioweapon on the world. The Israeli-born Carmon, who (like Gordon) works with the Justice Department, obviously knows whereof he writes. Readers who were disappointed by Triple Identity should give this one a try. David PittCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Booklist From the Hardcover edition.

"Tight and fluidly written.... The Israeli-born Carmon, who (like Gordon) works with the Justice Department, obviously knows whereof he writes."

About the Author

Haggai Carmon is an Israeli-born international attorney sharing his time and practice between the United States, Israel, and the rest of the world. Since 1985, he has been assigned by several federal agencies with worldwide responsibility for asset recovery and legal intelligence-gathering outside the United States in complex, multimillion dollar cases, most involving money laundering, which have required sensitive investigative work in more than thirty foreign countries. He has also been representing the U.S. Department of Justice in its Israeli litigation for the past two decades. Although his Dan Gordon thrillers are inspired by his work for the Justice Department, they are not autobiographical; they are fiction. He currently resides in New York and has nearly completed Chameleon, the next Dan Gordon intelligence thriller.

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