Call to Duty
by By Herman, Richard
Category: Fiction , General

A gang of brutal modern-day pirates kidnaps a group of wealthy young Americans on a cruise to the South Pacific. Before long, one of them - the beautiful daughter of a U.S. senator - finds herself the virtual slave of a diabolical Southeast Asian drug lord.High above the English Channel during the early, desperate months of World War II, American pilot Zack Pontowski is almost shot down by a German fighter ace. His first test in the crucible of battle is about to begin.With these two violent events, separated in time by nearly half a century, Richard Herman opens his most ambitious novel to date. As readers of Firebreak already know, Zack Pontowski was to survive his brush with death over France. He would go on to fly many more missions - and ultimately would become Commander in Chief.The kidnapping of Senator Courtland's headstrong daughter is only the latest crisis that confronts President Pontowski. In the New World Order, American military might must be constantly vigilant to the threat of terrorist attack. When the blow falls, it rarely comes at a convenient time, and is likely to strike halfway around the world.And the resolution of the dilemma won't necessarily be easy. Allies must be informed and reassured, fighting forces must be placed in readiness and prepared for insertion. The formidable rivalry between Pontowski and Senator Courtland is a dangerous complicating factor because the scheming senator is quite prepared to further imperil his own child in order to further his political ends.The lights in the Situation Room of the White House will blaze day and night, as the President and his advisers ride the crisis, anticipating each development, squabbling over each conflicting piece of new intelligence, readying their own force for attack.As the dangers escalate, the President will more than once return to thoughts of the time long before, when he was at the cutting edge of a battle, facing his own demons, his own dangerous choices - knowing that the life of one near and dear hung in the balance.Call to Duty is Richard Herman at his best: unrelentingly suspenseful, packed with authentic military action in the air and on the ground, surprisingly insightful about America's role in the New World Order, and the living, breathing humans who must operate by this revised set of rules.