This debut by Jonathan Patrick takes some time introducing the wide cast of characters, but then it really starts avalanching as the plotters attempt to put their hugely ambitious scheme into operation. Patrick obviously has some solid knowledge of government bureaucracy, of world affairs, and of military and nautical protocols and technology. He also has what I'd call an engineer's mind as he meticulously sets up what some enemies of America work to perpetrate on the U.S. It's a good thing he isn't working, in real life, for the aggressors he so fiendishly "helps" construct mass destruction in the offing. But to find out the details of said plot or whether it succeeds or fails, you'll have to read the book.
Patrick chooses to write from the perspectives of a number of characters as the novel progresses, and he does so quite convincingly. Even those who are sworn (or coerced) enemies of the U.S. are shown as human beings for whom one can often feel empathy or even, in certain situations, sympathy. And in the case of the two attractive women who play a pivotal role as software creators for a government ocean "listening" project, the author injects some light humor along with his portrayal of some unfortunately too typical office harassment. The "girls," as Patrick calls them, are super intelligent but in the context of some of the mayhem that inevitably occurs, their story sometimes seems a little too lighthearted, especially when matters really come to a head.
Generally though, Checkmate is a quite a nail-biter, that, given the state of the real world, makes one hope the author is not too prescient. Also, its mostly short scenes which jump nimbly all over the geography, are cinematic -- one can see this becoming a movie... maybe even a blockbuster.
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