Cooch — Robert Cook

Cooch is a special-operations, national security thriller. The protagonist, Alejandro Mohammed Cuchulain, called Cooch or Alex, became a Marine at sixteen and a CIA special-operations trainee at 17. His father is a wheel-chair bound former marine and Medal of Honor winner who gives Alex advice as to how to survive in a violent world. His mother is the daughter of a Bedouin sheikh who sends a young Alex off, during many of his summer breaks, to experience the Bedouin life. The combination of a very young start in learning the art and craft of violence, combined with a thirst for knowledge combine to help him to become both a noted designer and user of explosives and an expert in Islamic affairs. These experiences blend into a fast-paced thriller that moves from the CIA to south Asia to the Middle East, to Wall Street and back again, as Cooch matures. Violent, yet thoughtful, Cooch represents the best in fast-moving, popular thrillers.