A well-researched post 9/11 thriller with Middle Eastern jihadists sending dirty nuclear bombs toward American ports while being hunted down by an Israeli secret agent, an FBI operative, and a 30-something, good-looking female reporter all operating outside legal channels. Red Sea is Benedek’s first novel and it isn’t anywhere as smooth as the more accomplished masters of the genre like LeCarre and Crichton, but she’ll get better with time and the book is still a decent enough page turner. April 2008.