Balance of Power — Warren Murphy; Richard Sapir

THROWN FOR A LOOP

Remo and Chiun must focus on the dizzy series of event connecting the banana republic of Hispania, the Peaches of Mecca, and a luscious blonde named Gloria X. The missing link lies in the tequila-soaked brain of Barney Daniels, an ex-CIA agent who is spirited away to a mental hospital when he tips a few wild stories to the press.

Under the influence of an intoxicating woman, the groggy sot becomes a hired assassin and gets into some tight situations. Every cutthroat in New York City is plying him with drinks to find out what he knows, and Daniels is having a high time...until someone slips him a mickey.

It all comes back to his staggering memory in a dream: it's not the U.S. but the Russkies who are pouring missiles into the lush jungles of Hispania. Unless Remo and Chiun act fast, Washington, D.C. is likely to get blasted.