Political Thriller Watches Clock Count Down to Nuclear Meltdown

March 20, 2009

Suspenseful New Book Captures Seeming Possibility of Nuclear Facility Sabotage in Iran

In the heart of Bushehr, Iran's nuclear reactor facility, a fire has broken out and a desperate CIA saboteur has barricaded the only alternative control room with access to the reactor's coolant system, threatening a political disaster for the West and nuclear Armageddon in Iran. In David Lucero's riveting new thriller, "The Sandman" (published by AuthorHouse), a deadly collision course is set in motion by three chaotic explosions.

The saboteur, working under the alias of The Sandman, has worked tirelessly for many years to become the best undercover agent that the CIA has ever produced, but now he wants out. Seeking to lead a different life, the Sandman takes on the mission in Iran with the assurance that it will be his last. But even if it is not his last, he and his US employers know that he will live and die by the principle ingrained into him: the mission always comes first. His mission is to destroy the reactor in such a way as to leave no doubt that the consequent meltdown was the fault of human error, and not calculated political reasoning. What has unfolded has gone against all of his experience.

The Sandman's explosives detonate prematurely, leaving him stranded in the facility to protect the goals of his mission. As the technicians and physicists on hand realize the dire nature of their situation, they begin to flee in panic, only to be arrested by the presence of the head of the military in command of protecting the nuclear reactor, Colonel Kharum Benghazi. Colonel Benghazi deploys soldiers to infiltrate the control room while brainstorming with the stupefied leading nuclear physicist, Dr. Kashir Balim, and the Russian nuclear physicist sent to advise the Iranians, Dr. Anatoly Pushkin.

When the soldiers fail to break into the control room after a devastating gunfight, Colonel Benghazi and the physicists must come up with other options. Little do they know that there are other forces and players secretly at work in the facility. Elena Netanyahu is an Israeli agent that has followed The Sandman in order to confirm the success of the mission, but if The Sandman is not successful she is under orders to signal an air strike. On the opposite side of that signal are Israeli operatives from the Mossad, including Eleazar, the ultra-secret Mossad agent who is impatient and passionate about his cause to the extent that he would disobey a direct order if need be.

As the clock ticks down to meltdown and the threat of political disaster becomes ever more imminent, these key players must engage in a dangerous, precarious battle of wits to determine the fate of Iran and the world. Full of plausible scenarios which lead to realistic suspense, "The Sandman" is an action-packed page-turner sure to keep readers guessing until the very last page.

David Lucero is a veteran of the United States Army and lives in San Diego with his wife, Martha, and son, Carlo. "The Sandman" is his first novel and he is currently working on his second. For more information, please visit: http://www.DavidLuceroSandman.com.