Quantico, by Greg Bear

When reading almost anything, half of my mind is focused on the political slant. I always wonder if the author has an agenda that can be construed as right or left. Greg Bear tries very hard in Quantico to include politics, but at the same time leave the narator completely neutral. It is remarkable and essential that he has succeeded in doing so.

The characters, as one might expect from the type of people depicted, often express notions about this party or that movement. At one point a character expresses chagrin at the U.S. letting down the people of Iraq (the novel supposes a U.S. pullout), while other characters are upset at the mainline faiths and denominations. But all of this is periferal. The real point is that all of the bickering between intelligence services and parties is inhibiting the U.S. from dealing with the real danger to the world...the easy access to biological weapons to anyone with a gripe. Equipment, strains of germs, and the ability to alter them are even available in high schools! To go into any further detail on this tack would be a plot spoiler.

Greg Bear is a master at plotting intrigue. "Quantico" is a page-turner in the grand-tradition of such works. The characters are well-defined and have depth. I like the fact that the President is a female without making her a "Hillary". (She may be a Dem, but she was a military pilot before a meteoric rise in politics.) William Griffin, the lead character, is your determined "everyman" in a tight spot who rises to the occasion. Yet he has a pedegree, and his father "Griff" (also an FBI agent) is actually more interesting in his actions and outlook. The leading female protagonist, "Rebeccah Rose", is tough, even steely, some might even extend that to frigidity. Yet the heated force of her will coupled with her experience makes her an astute and effective agent.

It is interesting that the extremism of the major religious sects and their hatred of one another (and human kind in general) plays a part in the plot. Bear does make some effort to show that this extremism is not the main force of any of the religions. However, some adherents will find themselves offended. By the same token, the villains might not have be quite villainous enough to rouse the reader into a page ripping frenzy to get at bad guys themselves. Nevertheless, the villains are bad enough, and perhaps closer to reality than the typical thriller's evil mastermind.

An intersting backdrop to the book is the technology which becomes ever more amazing because the reader knows that much of it is either in use today or soon will be. Characters are wired with devices that communicate information to other agents and protect the agents themselves. The weapons used are what one might expect from a techno-thriller, but in the end it is human perception and human character that play the parts. This is not a James Bond novel.

"Quantico", by Greg Bear turns out to be more than a mere thriller. It entertains with insight, making the reader ponder the future of mankind and wondering just what the FBI should be doing about it!