'Animus' ventures into nightmare territory

Southampton author Phil Keith defines “animus” as a noun that means “a feeling of ill will arousing active hostility.” In his first novel, “Animus,” published recently by Booksurge, hostility quickly escalates into virulent superlatives: rage, fury, kidnapping, rape, murder and terrorism.

In this fast-paced thriller, an Al Qaeda cell hiding in an abandoned bunker at Camp Hero in Montauk trains for a suicide bombing mission. While the forces of law and order begin to smoke them out and try to foil their deadly plot, familiar, peaceful Hamptons locales are transformed into frightening battlegrounds.

Mr. Keith’s story opens with the murder of a young Navy reserve officer in Southampton’s Emma Rose Elliston Park—normally the most placid, family-friendly enclave imaginable. The victim is found to have been sexually violated, then killed with sadistic cruelty. (The author writes in his preface that this event was inspired by an actual crime, “as yet unresolved, that happened many years ago … the rest of the story is pure fiction.”)

After the town police have secured the scene, Chief of Suffolk County Detectives James Griffin, Mr. Keith’s main narrator, is called in. A tough, crusty veteran, he begins the story in his own words. “After 32 years in the business, you’d think I’d have seen it all. Much to my ultimate regret, today would prove that I hadn’t.”

What complicates Chief Griffin’s job and saddens him personally is that the young victim was a member of the Navy Reserve unit that Griffin commands. He was “a clean kid, from a good family—‘one of my boys.’” Griffin vows that “somebody’s going to pay.” At this point, the link to the terrorists is still unknown, but it soon becomes clear that the murder is only the first ripple in a wave of violence calculated to wipe out not only East Hampton’s business community, but one of its spiritual centers, the synagogue, as well.

A second murder. which looks like a “copycat” crime at first, turns up more disturbing leads and realities. How did an Al Qaeda cell manage to infiltrate the East End? Mr. Keith alternates chapters on the terrorists’ activities with others, some flashbacks, that detail the detective team’s hour-to-hour efforts to track down the criminals and their sponsors before they can commit further outrages. This device enables the reader to predict the villains’ next move just one step before the police expose it. Mr. Keith is good at creating breathless, frustrating situations and keeping the suspense taut.

The evil forces include a half dozen young Iraqi fanatics, devout extremists bent on becoming martyrs; a depraved mother-son duo; and a megalomaniac restaurateur who has, surprisingly, been a respected member of the community so far.

Mr. Keith’s characters are well drawn, with considerable attention to their backgrounds and psychological complexity. Though sympathy is impossible, the reader can gain a modicum of insight into brainwashed or drug-crazed minds.

Chief of Detectives Griffin, the main “good guy,” is likable despite his cynicism and profanity. He served in Iraq as a Naval Intelligence officer and is familiar with the darker side of human behavior, such as interrogations “with extreme prejudice.” His toughness is balanced by his warm relationship with his lady friend, Gracie, a professor of criminology, and by his love for his young son, Kyle.

As the action moves swiftly forward, Griffin acquires a powerful ally, straight from the Pentagon. General Achmed Chalabi is an Iraqi who was born on the grounds of the American Embassy in Bagdad, and thus has dual citizenship. Passionately anti-Saddam, he chose to serve with the American Army. He was Griffin’s superior in Iraq. With the help of a special Delta Force team sent by Chalabi, the plot of the suicide bombers is brought to light, but it has gone too far to be entirely prevented.

Since the back cover of the book offers a summary, it is not giving away the plot to reveal that the terrorists have been hired by the unstable billionaire Milos Rubino, a wealthy restaurateur, in an insane bid for attention. Violence spreads as children in a private school are held hostage, and advances relentlessly toward the criminals’ ultimate target, the synagogue in East Hampton. Griffin and Chalabi’s crack team close in with equal determination, culminating in a terrifying, and very bloody, final chase.

The author’s exact descriptions of local streets and buildings add to the horror of the story. It is deeply disturbing to imagine familiar neighborhoods as war zones—to envision Town Pond and see not its picture-perfect swans, but shrieking, razor-billed monsters.

Mr. Keith’s prose style is straightforward and blunt, a requirement for authenticating his characters. Much of the dialogue is written in military-speak—a language that contains a limited number of words, most of them beginning with the letter “f.” Sexual acts are described in a highly graphic and explicit manner, with passages that may strike some as pornographic. Readers made queasy by detailed depictions of violence—bodies ripped apart by explosions, wild animals mutilating a corpse—will need to skip sections.

“Animus” is a page turner. But a few words should be said about the pages themselves. The book’s type size is larger than usual in a paperback, with double line-spacing between paragraphs. This is easy on the eyes, but pushes the total number of pages past 600. The resulting volume is nearly two inches thick and weighs 28.5 ounces.

Before this book goes into a second printing, the author might also ask his copy editor or proofreader to settle an ongoing conflict between plurals and possessives. Sentences like “His father … had dropped dead of a heart attack in his mistresses’ bed …” are bound to stop the reader short, to the detriment of the story line.

“Animus” received an Amazon Breakthrough Novel award, an honor given to promising first-time novelists, but Mr. Keith is no novice writer. He holds a degree in history from Harvard University, and is a regular contributor to Hamptons Online, Vox Magazine, and The Southampton Press. He has collaborated with his friend Nelson DeMille on the bestseller “Night Fall,” and is working on a second novel of his own.

Readers who love tales of suspense, danger, and political intrigue will enjoy “Animus.” Readers prone to nightmares: proceed at your own risk.