58 Minutes

Let's see, this week my mornings will be taken over by another class as I work to renew my license (teaching) by November's end. How to spend my Monday as my wife watches a show about botched plastic surgeries? That's right, it is time for me to review another book used "loosely" as movie script fodder.

Today's dish is "58 Minutes" by Walter Wager. Who? What? How much time? you all ask. "58 Minutes" is the loose basis for Die Hard 2, and I do mean loose. How loose? Take a premise involving a terrorist group who destroys a major airport's air traffic  control system  on a snowy night and then the airplanes above losing fuel and the rest is open.

In this book, NYPD Captain Frank Malone is on his way to Kennedy Airport for two reasons: one is to take part in a security exercise and evaluate its effectiveness; two: pick up his little girl who is flying is from southern California. Frank is separated from his wife and is haunted by the memory of his slain police dad "Big Mike" Malone. Frank is focused on the job, respected by most everybody if not completely liked, and feared by the bad guys.

On the bad guy spectrum is a West German national named Willi Staub (the movie's equivalent was Colonel Stewart). Staub is respected by the world terrorist community and has banded together a small group of dedicated followers to strike a blow inside the United States. They do this by permanently knocking out Kennedy's microwave relays as well as Newark's and Laguardia's and totally obliterating the landing systems for all 3 airports. They also set up two jamming systems to interfere with control tower radio traffic: one is in a clothing factory in Queens and guarded by a Japanese terrorist, the other is in the cab of a truck driven by a Lebanese terrorist, both of whom work for Staub.

**SPOILER TIME**

It all lays out methodically as opposed to the twists in a John McClane film. Malone is in the control tower cab seeing to his security exercise when everything goes haywire. All communication with planes is jammed and the landing system is nonfunctioning. Within a fairly short amount of time, the female cab supervisor and a former love interest, Annie Green, who is now bitter toward Malone (passe I know) comes up with a plan to use the Coast Guard's search and rescue helicopter to locate the jamming source. Malone also contacts the Pentagon with a little PR blackmail to get a highly classified jet in action from Langley. He also contacts the FBI using a recorded tape of Staub's voice to learn who his adversary is.

When Staub called, he demanded the release of 7 terrorist prisoners, one of whom is merely a greedy arms merchant set to testify on matters such as Staub's employer. Staub gives no shit about 3 of them, held in New York, but the other 4 Federal detainees are who he is focused on.

In the air, a glimpse of a few of the planes is briefly exposed, such as a venerated British UN ambassador, an Arab Prince, a jackass kidney transplant supervisor, and of course Malone's daughter. A glimpse or two of the pilots is also given just so we know they are human.

Malone actually comes into contact with Staub, who is posing as a priest but thinks nothing of it. Staub later comes into contact with a priest in the men's room and a slip of the lip forces Staub to stab the man viciously and hide him in a stall. When his body is found and reported, Malone puts it all together. Another report of an abandoned police car, two dead cops, and a destroyed microwave relay makes Malone realize that Staub, who identified himself as "Number 1" on the phone, had always intended for the planes to crash, killing all of the lives up above, as a strike against America.

Soon, the Coast Guard, on a dangerous mission in the blizzard, locates the source of the jamming in Queens. Malone and a team of cops storm the factory, kill the Japanese terrorist, and destroy the jamming antenna with no lack of difficulty. Within minutes, they also find the truck with the second jammer and Malone kills the Lebanese driver with two shots from a flare gun.

Back to the airport, Malone learns that the true target Staub wanted, the arms merchant, was killed by the FBI after trying to escape following a car accident. No matter, the prisoners board the DC 10 that Staub demanded. Malone catches up to him at the plane and informs Staub that he has no leverage to make demands. Staub panics, tries to escape, and is killed by Malone and an exploding grenade in his own hands.

After that, the plane with Malone's daughter has a bumpy but safe landing thanks to the plane from Langley that he demanded (actually blackmailed) from a Pentagon general. Unfortunately, two of the planes had a midair collision due to bad visibility, so the story is not completely happy at the end. The preserved kidney, the British ambassador and his adoring assistant, the Arabian prince, and Malone's daughter come safely into the airport to see lots of media attention. Malone gets his daughter and makes a lunch date with his former love.

**SPOILER END**

Overall I enjoyed this story. It seemed a little simple at times, but Malone was fun to read about, hard as steel with the mission to get the job done despite his demons and the love for his daughter. The former love interest angle was just to give drama when it was not needed, there was enough tension in the book already. Hamilton, the Port Authority cops leader, is an able assistant to Malone in the airport. Staub was in some ways a cardboard cutout of every terrorist cliche involving hatred of everything American. He loves killing and death, and admittedly more than women or sex. A brief glimpse into his abusive childhood gives some clue as to why he is what he is, but the book doesn't bore us with a complete psych profile. This book is about action, pure and simple.

All right, all right, it's time for the movie comparison/contrast. Apart from the premise there are many differences.

Die Hard 2                                 58 Minutes
John McClane                            Frank Malone
Dulles Airport                           Kennedy Airport
Colonel Stuart                           Willi Staub
Leslie Barnes                             Annie Green
Carmine Lorenzo                        Ben Hamilton
Trudeau                                     Pete Wilber
General Esperanza                     Arnold Lloyd

All right, those are locations and names. In the book, Malone gets along with pretty much everyone. Even Annie Green works with him despite animosity over their previous relationship. We all know John McClane clashes with almost any authority he comes into contact with, that's the fun of the movies.

Also, McClane haphazardly learns of Stuart's evil plans via two of Stewart's men who McClane follows into the luggage area. Malone is right in the tower when the shutdown happens. Stuart has a whole squad of men, including reinforcements led by the turncoat Major Grant, while Staub has a team of 4. Malone methodically creates a plan to capture the terrorists and save the planes while McClane more or less Forrest Gumps his way to beating them.

The end fight is brief and logical: Staub tries to escape to fight another day but is shot by both Hamilton and Malone, while McClane does his "Yippee Ky-Yay Mother-Fucker" cliche as he sets the plane on fire via gas ignition...after being thrown off the plane by a physically superior Stuart.

Once again, the source material more pure and believable even if it is fiction. I highly recommend this book as a great action story!