Review: action-packed thriller
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 21, 2011
US forces conduct a raid of an Al-Qaeda compound in Pakistan.  The Special Forces unit captures laptops that contain plans for terrorist attacks using all types of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) on any or all of Washington, New York, Dallas, Chicago and Los Angeles on Election Day.Department of Homeland Security Special Terrorism Activity Response Team is assigned to find the terrorists, especially the cell leader art history Professor Miraj "Kalakar" Khan, and their WMDs.  The mission is like finding a needle in a haystack, but also must be done in two days or else.  The DSH Director adds his top field agent Derek Stillwater to the unit.Besides the timeliness with the Bin Laden death, the fourth Derek Stillwater thriller (see The Fallen, The Devil's Pitchfork and The Serpent's Kiss) is an action-packed tale that has readers running alongside of Derek and his mates.  The story line is fast-paced as the clock ticks away.  Although with the exception of his on and off nuclear expert girlfriend Cassandra, the unit is somewhat shallow (then again this is Derek's story), fans of a thrill a paragraph will relish The Valley of Shadows.Harriet Klausner