Targets of Opportunity

By: Jeffrey S. Stephens
Publisher: Gallery Books: A Division of Simon & Schuster
Publishing Date: August 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4516-2432-8
Reviewed by: Mary Lignor
Review Date: September 2011

CIA Agent Jordan Sandor is back in the game.  In the author's previous book, Targets of Deception, when Sandor was first introduced to readers, he had recently retired from active duty with the Agency but, that was before the towers fell and terrorism was on everyone's mind.  In Targets of Opportunity, Sandor is pulled back into the work of ridding the world of terrorists.  

Jordan is in his Manhattan town house doing his daily exercises when he is called on by Deputy Director of the CIA Mark Byrnes. Byrnes wants him to go to a CIA safe house in Virginia and meet a top terrorist agent from Iran's Revolutionary Guard.  Said terrorist, Ahmad Jaber, has escaped his country by the skin of his teeth and is offering secret information to the CIA in exchange for his freedom.  Operatives in the Middle East, South America and North Korea are planning a horrendous terrorist attact.  Jabar does not know any specific details except the deadly strike will target the heart of the United States.  

An attack on a passenger jet and an assualt on a French intelligence installation is used by the terrorists to take all minds away from their main objective.  Sandor is thinking that these are just diversions to take the Agency's attention away from the first prize.  Using Jaber's information, Sandor puts together a small strike force to penetrate the borders of North Korea. The members of the strike team know they will not all return from this exercise, but the intelligence they must obtain is necessary to American security.  

What they finally discover sends Sandor and his team on a frantic race without a lot of time left.  They struggle to stop a master terrorist with a perfectly hidden plan to destroy the target.  Unfortunately, Sandor and company have still not guessed where or how the terrorist will strike.   

As a hurricane rages in the Gulf of Mexico, it is reported that two submarines have come into United States waters.  Because of the storm the military is held back so Sandor and a few Navy SEALS go after the enemy that they can't see.  They do know however, that there are two nuclear weapons aimed at a target of opportunity and the destruction of that target would change the world forever.   

Quill Says: A wonderful read, just like the first book, that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page.  Very fast-paced, with believable characters.  A perfect all day read.