International
terrorism, arcane scientific breakthroughs, Ayn Rand, and Native
American mysticism collide in Ghost Dancer by John Case. When a
brilliant scientist with a justifiable grudge against the United States
uncovers the secrets to create a potential doomsday device from the
notebooks of legendary Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla, his mission is
crystal clear: "to stop the motor of the world."
Jack
Wilson has been an outsider from the day he was born. The orphaned
offspring of a Caucasian and Native American, Jack was literally found
on a Nevada doorstep. Named after the Northern Paiute spiritual leader
who founded the Ghost Dance movement, Wilson grew up to be a virtuoso
mathematician. But when he tried to patent a groundbreaking invention,
the U.S. government not only claimed eminent domain but also set him up
and threw him in jail for conspiracy to commit murder. Now free -- and
allied with an al-Qaeda offshoot -- Wilson has traveled to Slovenia
and, after much research, uncovered secrets from Tesla's notebooks to
create a harmonic resonance device with enough power to destroy entire
cities. (In 1908, Tesla allegedly tested the imperfect electromagnetic
pulse beam with disastrous results: hundreds of square miles in Siberia
obliterated.) Now, with an operational doomsday device in his hands,
the vengeance-obsessed ex-con sets his sights on America. With the U.S.
government too busy -- or too inept -- to properly monitor Wilson, the
only person that can stop him is an Irish-American photojournalist who
has no idea just how dangerous he is…
Although
the full history of the
real Jack Wilson and his Ghost Dance movement isn't fully explored,
fans of Native American–fueled mysteries by authors like Tony Hillerman
and James D. Doss should thoroughly enjoy Case's thriller. Paul
Goat Allen (Barnes & Noble)
Case (The Murder Artist, 2004) pens breathless
conspiracy yarns that marry politics, history, and technology. Here, he
delivers a swift plot and a cast of nefarious characters, from peevish
government bureaucrats to shadowy operatives with connections to
al-Qaeda. It's a chiller of a thriller that seems all too feasible in a
post-9/11 world. Allison Block (Booklist)
[A]
gripping contemporary thriller with an intriguing concept... high
quality prose. (Publisher's Weekly)
