scorpion betrayal

My wife gave me this book to read. She just finished it, and went to look up more by Andrew Kaplan, but our library didn't have any. So its on to inter-library loan! This book, Scorpion Betrayal, is actually the second in the series about the Scorpion; not your run-of-the-mill superspy. This guy's got chops! The first book is called Scorpion, and the next one is called Scorpion Winter.

According to his site, Kaplan "is a former journalist and war correspondent covering events around the world. He served in both the U.S. Army and in the Israeli Army during the Six Day War and worked in military intelligence." It certainly sounds like he talks the talk; there's even a glossary in the back to help with the terms and acronyms. Which is good for me, being acronyminally challenged.

Superspy Scorpion obviously has a counterpart who is a superterrorist. Natch. What's nice is that this guy isn't the typical gun-waving, keffiyeh-wearing, cartoon of a man that often shows up in pop culture. Kaplan has carefully crafted a fully developed character whose personality and belief systems just don't match up with his western counterpart. The storyline then, follows a kind of tennis match format: we follow the action back and forth between these two characters as they both work to realize their personal plans and stop the other from doing the same.

The writing is easy-to-read and the story moves incredibly fast, keeping the tension in the story constantly twisting forward. There are hard choices both men have to make and Kaplan does a good job helping the reader to understand how these choices are weighed by his character. There's sex and violence, brutality and tenderness, humor and horror; all in a well planned story, from beginning to end.

My wife is right, lets get those other Scorpion books...

Read this book. And the other ones too, I bet.