Zero Day

This is a suspense/msytery/nuclear terrorist novel, written by David Baldacci. Our hero, John Puller, is an investigator for the Army's Criminal Investigative Division. He earned a chest full of medals for combat duty in various parts of the world before becoming more of a detective. But he can still handle himself in the field - dispatching bad guys right and left. This isn't great literature, of course, but it's well written and I love this kind of book. He is sent to West Virginia to investigate the murder of an Army officer and his family and becomes involved in a much more sinister plot involving nuclear materials. The rural town where the murder took place is in a region where coal is king and there is a lot of discussion about coal extraction methods and the environment. It's always seemed wrong to me that beautiful places like West Virginia have to be destroyed - along with the health of the people who live and work there - in order for the rest of us to have electricity, heat, etc. Should be a better way!