Gauntlet

As the world unites against the threats of global extremism, nefarious forces hatch an ingenious plan to attack the West. The former terrorist state of Libya has decided to rejoin the community of nations by relinquishing it's huge stockpile of Semtex plastic explosive. The terrorists' stock and trade is to be destroyed in the desert. All is well until US intelligence wonks discover that a large batch of the Semtex has been hijacked by unknown forces. Now the chase is on to recover the missing explosives before they can be used to wreak devastation and destruction on the US. This fast paced cautionary tale is well written and moves along briskly. Unlike many other novels in this genre, Gauntlet doesn't get bogged down by excessive preface and instead jumps right into the story feet first. The characters, well developed and three dimensional, are interesting and believable. Aaron spends considerable time and effort introducing the reader to the other side of the equation, the extremists bent on global destruction. We meet a terrorist mastermind who views himself as a businessman merely providing a service to an angry half blind Emir who hates the West. An autistic and emotionally unstable computer genius is the unlikely hero as he matches wits with the bad guys. Aaron does and excellent job ratcheting up the action as the story races toward an exciting climax. The chapters become shorter and more succinct. As I read the last few pages I was eager to find out how the author would tie up the loose ends. What I discovered on page 488, the last page, was that a more appropriate title to this tome would have been Gauntlet I. Total cliffhanger! I want answers! Quill says: Gauntlet will pull you in and leaving you wanting more.

Gauntlet by Richard Aaron is a first novel by a Vancouver maritime attorney who is certain to become recognized as one of the top intrigue and espionage thriller writers of our time. Gauntlet has compelling, fully actualized characters on several continents, whose lives and actions the reader follows in thrilling, horrifying detail through this page-turner. The plot is that 660 tons of Semtex is destroyed in the Libyan desert to prevent its world devastating potential, but en route to the desert one shipment is high jacked, providing enough explosive to kill millions of people. The USA is warned that the most horrific terroist attack of any is eminent within 30 days, but no one knows where or when the strike will come, but the newly formed TTIC agency is determined to prevent this attack. The hero is a computer geek who is autistic and provides the only chance of tracing the Semtex and stopping the attack, but few take him seriously. The secret agent planted in the MIddle East to infiltrate wealthy drug rings there is discovered with disastrous consequences. The book will keep you on edge all the way to its astonishing conclusion. I can hardly wait for Aaron's second book to be published in the near future. The father of an autistic child, he wrote this one to show his child that he recognizes the hero in him.

Reviewed by Jeneke Lesak for RebeccasReads (2/09) "Gauntlet," by Richard Aaron, is an incredible, multifaceted suspense novel about a new terrorist attack on the United States. Following previous attacks, America is once again the target of global terrorism. When a significant amount of Semtex, a highly explosive material, is confiscated by terrorists, a complex plan is set into motion. The US and Canadian authorities are only steps away from uncovering the scheme and the masterminds behind it. But will they make it in time? The suspense is almost painful. Aaron writes a realistic account of how the terrorist world intertwines with international drug smuggling. He certainly has a knack for this type of writing. With accurate and convincing characters and situations, I found myself on the edge of my seat, biting my nails, praying the character would get out of that tight situation in time. The torture scenes are heinous. The explanations of government protocol, political and cultural matters, and computer language are vast, but understood with little difficulty from the reader. Written from every possible angle, Aaron designs all of his characters with more than an ounce of humanity, both protagonist and antagonist. Instead of portraying the bad guys as faceless monsters, they are treated as real people with backgrounds and history that brought them to their present day circumstances, many of whom have second thoughts about the path they have chosen (but is this the realistic nature of a terrorist's feelings?) A character that I came to love was Turbee, the "highly functioning autistic" genius, frequently misunderstood, but with a brain like no other, able to sort through, calculate and organize massive amounts of data as one of the employees for the US homeland security organization, TTIC. Then there is Yousseff, the excellent businessman and drug smuggler. Money is not enough for him; he wants power and turns to terrorism. Greed, corruption, and heroism in all senses of the word are recurring themes in this astounding first novel. Frighteningly close to home, the events held within could very well be a reality. The only nit-picky thing I can think of is that, at times, resolutions occur predictably easily. But this does not hold true for the entire book, and it does not in any way apply to the exciting, unpredictable ending. If international suspense is your thing, you will not be disappointed with Aaron's "The Gauntlet." This novel is intense!

The United States thought they had come up with the perfect way to dispose of six hundred tons of Semtex. They would denote it out in the desert of Libya. Shortly after the big explosion, CIA agent Richard Lawrence learns that some of the Semtex was high jacked enroute. Then an "Emir" televises that he plans to blown up a major landmark somewhere in the world. The only other piece of information that the Emir provides is that he plans to attack within the month. To hide the disaster that the USA has on their hands, the president issues a cover up. Now the president and the rest of the world are relying on the Terrorist Threat Integration Center, otherwise known as TTIC to help locate these terrorists before it is too late. The TTIC was founded on May 1, 2003 due to attacks on American soil. Hamilton Turbee, a mathematician and programmer is the newest member to join TTIC. He also happens to be very brilliant. He has found a way to track the Semtex. Unfortunately these terrorists are lead by a very rich and smart man. He has come up with ways to evade the US and stay one step ahead but how long will he be able to keep it up? Let me first start off by saying I am enthralled by Mr. Aaron. Gauntlet is his first novel and the first in a series. I was barely a third of the way into this story and already I was thinking about how much I really wanted to pick up the second book in this series. Each character in this story played a piece of the puzzle. Richard Aaron's writing was so vivid it was like I could feel the grit of the sand. Plus talk about an adrenaline rush. This story spanned across many different continents from the Middle East to the US, to Canada. Gauntlet is not for the faint at heart. If you are looking for a solid, best-seller then do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this book today.