Hosing down "Wild Fire"....

"There is no great genius without some touch of madness."

Seneca (Roman philosopher and statesman)

This week, braving the snow storm, our book club got together to discuss this month's selection... "Wild Fire" by Nelson DeMille. Most enjoyed it, although it wasn't as much of a thriller or cliff hanger as some of his other works. It was more of a mental torture chamber. I disliked it... really, really disliked it. Ok, I hated it. And I read it cover to cover.

"Wild Fire" describes what could happen if a handful of wealthy, powerful Americans managed to get their hands on a few Russian suitcase nuclear weapons of mass destruction and brainstormed a plot to use them.

It's based on several key facts:

* Nuclear bombs are missing and unaccounted for. No one knows where they are.

* Certain secret government plans already exist, should a nuclear attack occur on American soil or anywhere in the world.

* Certain anti-terrorist extremist organizations already exist, which are ready, willing and able to take matters into their own hands. They are not going to trust our own government to act in our best interests. They are cunning and wealthy beyond our wildest imaginations. They are well connected with foreign nuclear scientists (paid handsomely under the table) and high-powered Washington officials who have access to top secret information. They are angry, they are insane and they are not unlike Osama Bin Laden in their objectives, but instead of Islam, their religion is power.

Nelson DeMille says in his introduction: "Indeed, this is a scary book for scary times; but it's also a cautionary tale for a post 9/11 world."

What troubles me about this book is that it exists. I could see a twisted mind somewhere latching onto DeMille's brilliantly detailed plan, tweaking it, funding it and destroying all of us. There are those who have speculated that two Tom Clancy novels "Executive Orders" and "Debt of Honor" might have inspired some of the terrorist plans that were executed on 9/11.

So perhaps my fears are justified.

And so what terrifies me most about "Wild Fire" is the potential it holds for inspiring a "copy cat" crime of horrific proportions. Nelson DeMille became a top-selling author for his ability to thrill his readers. Is it reckless and irresponsible to mastermind these horribly evil, incredibly researched, massively destructive story lines and put them out there for all the world to see?

I don't know. But maybe I'm completely wrong... consider THIS view.

"Knowledge is power. Information is power. The secreting or hoarding of knowledge or information may be an act of tyranny camouflaged as humility." Robin Morgan

It makes sense. I guess that if the right people in "Homeland Security" are reading novels like DeMille's, it could assist them in matters of prevention and defense.

As for me, no more novels like this for me... never again.