The apparent intelligence snafus that led up to the Iraq War provide the backdrop for this intricately plotted thriller from bestselling British author Ryan (The One That Got Away). Sarah Scott, a Cambridge University graduate student conducting nuclear research, goes missing just before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Her father, Nick Scott, a former SAS trooper who was captured in the first Gulf War and tortured in Saddam's dungeons, and Sarah's boyfriend, Jed Bradley, a current SAS member, join forces to find her. Naturally, Nick and Jed despise each other, but a lovely and extremely devious female intelligence agent makes sure they cooperate. Ryan, himself an SAS veteran of the first Gulf War, makes his two heroes' actions and motivations credible. The book offers an ingenious answer as to why Saddam was “really” overthrown, though those who know their armor may have a few nits to pick with how the author describes the way a Russian T-55 tank works. (Feb.)

When a fiction writer concocts a plot in which the fate of the world is at stake, the reader becomes a confederate, suspending belief in the expectation that plenty of fun will result. The author has an obligation as well: He or she can’t go too far. As the hero or heroine saves the world, implausibility is acceptable; inanity isn’t.

Think of the plots of Alistair MacLean, for example, whose thrillers also made popular movies. They are improbable but entertaining, for the most part, as in Where Eagles Dare. In Ice Station Zebra, however, the clumsy, silly climax ruined everything.

In Ultimate Weapon, Chris Ryan unleashes a tight, fast-moving, and violent yarn worthy of MacLean at his best, only to have the whole thing skid to a thudding climax with some story twists that probably would have MacLean cringing in his grave. It doesn’t help that he occasionally employs clichés and his characters hiss rather too often.

Ryan’s strength is lean, muscular prose and the ability to keep the plot moving without stopping for breath. He also has an obvious grasp of, if not love of, the weaponry and techniques of the techno-thriller. Ryan was a member of the British Special Forces in Iraq during the Gulf War. His first-hand knowledge gives the story authenticity.

Iraq is the primary setting here, and Saddam Hussein is the sinister bad guy whom readers will have no trouble hating. Ryan’s two main characters are both Special Forces survivors. Nick is retired, aging, and somewhat broken. Jed is young, tough, resourceful, and able to kill on a moment’s notice. Nick’s daughter Sarah happens to be an erratic but brilliant nuclear researcher who mysteriously vanishes. As Sarah’s father sets out to find her, Sarah’s boyfriend Jed is involved in secret missions in Iraq that represent the best parts of the story and some of Ryan’s best writing.

It will give nothing away to say that everything comes to a head in and around Iraq. In, you might say, the Nick of time, the ultimate weapon is snatched from Saddam’s hands quicker than any weapon of mass destruction. The final plot twist arrives with one of the characters spending a lot of time explaining motivation. Ryan dispatches this baddie with a particularly gruesome goodbye. Call it a good example of ending a story with a bang. (February) Dick Cady

A bestseller in the UK now makes it stateside. Battered during the first Gulf War, Nick Scott struggles to stay sober and build a relationship with his daughter, Sarah. Her boyfriend, Jed Bradley, is a Special Ops soldier heading into a secret mission in Iraq. The two men despise each other, but when Sarah disappears, they must work together to find the woman they love. Though the ending is never in doubt, the realistic main characters and the all-too-real setting of the Iraq War make this a worthwhile endeavor.

—Jeff Ayers

The ultimate weapon in this gritty, violent, and action-packed novel is the secret of cold fusion, an almost mythical source of cheap energy that the oil barons would like to suppress. A young and brilliant female scientist has apparently discovered the secret and is kidnapped by Hussein's men in the days leading up to the 2003 Gulf War. When her father, a former member of Britain's elite Special Forces, the SAS, and her sometime boyfriend, also SAS, find out, the chase is on to rescue her and the secrets she may have discovered. Their search takes them to war-torn Iraq, where they have to fight their way in to save her and then fight their way back out. Complicating matters, the two men hate each other. This U.S. debut by Ryan, a former SAS member and author of numerous thrillers published in England, is a readable and fast-paced thriller, despite an implausible plot premise and some action that's way over-the-top. Recommended for larger collections.—Robert Conroy, Warren, MI