Thy Kingdom Come »

Don Helin had a career in the U.S. Army and he worked as a lobbyist for the chemical industry. He lives outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Colonel Sam Thorpe, a member of the anti-terrorist task force, must go undercover and train the Patriots, a homegrown militia in central Pennsylvania. His job: get close to self-appointed general Quentin Oliver and uncover the core of evil. Oliver, a disgruntled ex-Marine colonel, plans to steal cesium-137 from a local university and construct seven dirty bombs. During training sessions, Sam also uncovers a link between Oliver and the French Separatist Movement in Quebec. The world is in trouble, and Sam is isolated with only one person in his corner: FBI covert agent Alex Prescott, a kick-ass woman with spiked blond hair and a personality to match. Will she be enough? Or is the world about to realize its worst nightmare?

Publishers Weekly

Helin brings together an international cast of terrorists, from white supremacists to the Quebec Liberation Front, in this disorganized and casually misogynistic debut thriller. Retired Col. Sam Thorpe infiltrates the training camp of the Patriots, a well-armed militia group led by disgruntled ex-marine Quentin Oliver. Their goal is to steal nuclear material and construct a dirty bomb. Aided by sexy undercover FBI agent Alex Prescott (whose professional skills get far fewer mentions than her breasts) and CIA agent Bob O'Brien, Thorpe plays a dangerous game, training the militia members while secretly feeding intelligence to his government contacts. Despite a timely and topical threat and Helin's knowledgeable descriptions of military training and antiterrorism procedure, the uneven plotting and superficial characterizations fail to generate suspense. (Mar.)

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