Balefire [Mass Market Paperback]

What can one terrorist do against an entire police force? You'd be amazed...

"Balefire" is a cuningly crafted look at what a well-planned, patient terrorist assault can do to the average American town. Predictably, the town circles the wagons -- but The Terrorist simply attacks from the middle and watches as the citizens turn and fire upon themselves.

This novel is as well-crafted and well-paced as any I've ever read. It fixes itself on the mind and bores itself into that danger zone that says "My God, this could really happen..."

Notably, this book was brought to my attention by a manual on terrorism prevention I was assigned to read while in the U.S. Navy. It was the only fiction book on the list, but it was included alongside the scholarly journals on terrorism for its unflinching look at the havoc a well-trained insurgent could wreak upon an unsuspecting city.

This novel quickly transformed me into a page-turning automaton. Ignoring the car that needed to be washed and the lawn that needed to be mowed, I read "Balefire" from start to finish on a Saturday afternoon.

A few of the cops on the Huntington Beach Police Force are psyched because in a little over a week they will pull plain clothes duty at the 1984 Summer Olympics in LA - "an eighteen day vacation from traffic stops, puking drunks, the uniform and the goddamned rain!" Senior Patrol Officer Daniel Branchowski, a long time department veteran and his partner Jake Farber are raring to go.

Then an armed robbery is called in, and when it is over Jake is dead, along with three suspects, Branchowski is down and out for the count, and the action has barely begun!

A professional terrorist has been sent to destroy the city of Huntington Beach. His plans involve taking on the entire police force first...and winning! He is deadly, mind-boggling efficient, and has been trained to do things the police have never dreamed of. (This novel was written well before 9/11, and is probably more relevant today than when it was first published).

A " balefire" is a large outdoor fire; a signal fire; a funeral pyre. The ultimate goal of this terrorist, and the organization that sent him, is to ignite the evening sky so that the Olympic Games' audiences all over the world will receive the signal that the US "could no longer inflict agony and suffering upon other nations and then run home to sanctuary." A flame would be lit "to warn others that the massively powerful United States of America could not protect even one of its cities from a single man."

As one reads this chilling thriller and envisions how one single terrorist is able to manipulate a population and wreak havoc through extreme violence, threats, intimidation and coercion, the impossible becomes a done deal, and a large force of trained law enforcement officials, unprepared for a terrorist attack, can, in fact, be brought to their knees. One major dilemma the author presents is about choices and priorities. When one's immediate family is threatened, as well as one's community, and one's own life, which becomes first priority? Who does one defend first?

In a recent interview author Ken Goddard stated that, "Balefire" was my first published novel, and it remains my favorite to date, (although "Double Blind"comes in a close second...").

I found "Balefire" difficult to put down. It really is an exciting read. The writing is OK. Nothing offensive about the prose style. There is little character development, of course - but this is not the kind of novel where one looks for developed characters. The action is nonstop and the villain is everywhere at once, seemingly. Scary!!
JANA