The Gun Runner's Daughter

Allison Rosenthal, the 27-year-old daughter of wealthy arms dealer Ronald Rosenthal, is one of the most fascinating characters in recent fiction. She is brave, conflicted, and--as we soon discover in Neil Gordon's tough and highly moral thriller--determined on a devious course that delights and surprises as it unfolds. It begins with ambitious young federal prosecutor David Treat Dennis (known as Dee) being offered "the sweetest arms export violation since Edwin Wilson did business with Qaddafi"--the prosecution of Ronald Rosenthal for selling arms to Bosnian Muslims, even though the deals were apparently made with the full knowledge of the Clinton administration. It's not until he's accepted the plum job that Dee realizes that the 16-year-old girl he coupled with on the beach at Martha's Vineyard 12 years before was Allison. Of course he should recuse himself immediately, even if quitting means damaging not only his career but his relationship with his father, White House counsel Edward Treat Dennis, who was largely responsible for bringing the case to prosecution and getting him the job. But first Dee decides to spend Labor Day weekend on the Vineyard, where he accidentally on purpose runs into Allison again. They begin an affair that seems genuine but also--without revealing any of Gordon's dazzling plot twists--serves their seperate needs. Allison (who was in fact born Esther, a biblical connection to the daughter of King David that Gordon uses to dramatic advantage on several occasions) has many reasons to doubt and distrust her father, including the death of her younger brother several years before, but she is also very much this stern, pragmatic man's dutiful child. Another important character is a high-minded muckraking journalist, Nicky Dymitryck, who has motives of his own for trying to make the Rosenthals squirm. Gordon's first thriller, Sacrifice of Isaac, earned him favorable comparisons to John Le Carré and Graham Greene, all of which now seem fully justified. --Dick Adler