Author(s): Neal Stephenson & Frederick George

A gloriously prescient and satirically witty thriller of the first Iraq war, which suggests that Saddam was making biological weapons in Iowa, by the authors of Interface. The Gulf War is imminent and there's something mighty strange going on in the Agriculture Department of East Iowa University. When an Arab student turns up drunk - and dead - in the lake, redneck Deputy County Sheriff Clyde Banks gets a feeling he's on to something big. It's a suspicion shared by low-ranking CIA agent Betsy Vandeventer. Betsy's pretty big too - having once been a farm girl from Idaho. But before two great minds yell conspiracy theory, in steps top US policy-maker James Millikan. Here's a man well used to dictating the Middle East's future - from a comfortable seat at a top Paris restaurant. While shenanigans in the Midwest might not be exactly his style, there's a technique that serves America well in all matters of national security. It's called the 'Cobweb', and it backfires every time.