The Fires of Gehenna
George S. Vlachos (Guest reviewer - Martin Smith)
1998 Bar-Jonah Press, Ltd.
ISBN: 0966448294 Amazon's price is: $16.95
An Arab terrorist assassination attempt on the life of the Israeli Premier at West Point during a football game between the US Army Military & US Air Force Academies.
Guest Reviewer Martin Smith writes:
Terrorists on a mission of mayhem, death & destruction; not in the Middle East but right here at home in the Hudson Valley Region of New York State.
Only one man can stop the assassination attempt, Sam Brahamn, a former Viet Nam era CIA operative. He is chosen as overall head of the local law enforcement component as well as coordinator of all the other law enforcement contingencies: the FBI, CIA, Secret Service & the New York State Police.
Toss into the mix a disgruntled Israeli Mossad, & Achmed, a world-class terrorist with international ties & experience, & you have The Fires of Gehenna.
George S. Vlachos comes by this hair-raising story honestly. When he accepted a civil service job he toiled away until a life-changing event took place. A group of 1960s radicals, whose leftist leanings had led them down the mad pathway through communism into a ragged band of terrorists bent on the violent overthrow of the government of the United States.
To finance their “cause” they planned & committed numerous thefts & bank robberies. In October 1981 their plans led them to Nanuet, New York in the quiet, suburban county of Rockland. It was the bucolic atmosphere of this area that marked it for a bloody & violent running gun battle with the Brink's guards & local police agencies. A battle that left two of the overwhelmingly out-gunned police, dead, along with a Brink's guard cut down at the inception of the bank robbery.
It was here, as the intake processing officer at the Rockland County Jail, that George S. Vlachos got his firsthand contact with professionally trained international terrorists, home-grown ones at that. Out of that incredible night, the first spark that was to become The Fires of Gehenna was lit.
Years later, while working as a part-time police officer in HIghland Falls, New York, he gained his knowledge of the US Military Academy at West Point. Add to this a small news item about an unidentified mini-submarine spotted sailing up the Hudson River & The Fires of Gehenna took off.
In our post 9/11 world, George S. Vlachos' exciting thriller has taken on a more direful cast.
Editor's Note: While The Fires of Gehenna is fraught with technical errors both simple & complex -- typos & muddled continuity -- I recommend it because it is a gripping military/terrorist thriller, rich in detail, with some timely & telling ideas, & because of the author's illness, this may well be the only version we'll ever see. Buy it while you still can! It is a thrilling read, inspite of its flaws!
(12/08/02)
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