Honor Among Thieves

Here, from the author of such monumental bestsellers as Kane and Abel and As the Crow flies, is an ingeniously plotted thriller that is as up-to-the-minute as today's headlines. In Washington, D.C., in the spring of 1993, it is the dawn of a new political era - but six thousand miles away in the impoverished streets of Baghdad, there is a growing disillusionment with the unelected president. Sensing the mood of the people, Saddam Hussein moves boldly to settle scores with the United States. Using $100 million as bait, Saddam gathers into his web three key players: a powerful American Mafia boss; the world's greatest forger; and, most crucially a special assistant to the President of the United States, Bill Clinton. Saddam's goal is to embarrass the U.S. by stealing part of its history - then destroying that symbol in front of the world's media. With the help of a sophisticated criminal underworld that exhibits Swiss-watch timing, and a skilled actor who is transformed through plastic surgery into a stand-in for Bill Clinton, he sets about his brilliant scheme. As the countdown begins to July 1993 - potentially the most humiliating day in U.S. history - two lovers, a beautiful Mossad agent and a dashing American professor who advises the CIA, turn out to be a far more formidable weapon than any Patriot missile. In what is sure to be hailed as the suspense novel of the year, master storyteller Jeffrey Archer reminds us that the things worth dying for are sometimes to be found in the words that define our historic values.