DEFCON One
-
-
3.5 • 4 Ratings
-
-
- £4.49
-
- £4.49
Publisher Description
From the acclaimed thriller writer, Joe Weber, comes a chilling novel of the Cold War.
The United States and Soviet Union are at the brink of war. Fearful of US plans for an anti-missile defense system that could defeat a USSR first strike, the Soviet General Secretary, the conservative successor to Gorbachev, conceives a plan to act first.
Russian Bear bombers violate US airspace, leading to a response by American F-15s. A US Navy battle group is attacked in the North Atlantic. And in orbit, a Soviet hunter-killer satellite attacks an American space shuttle.
As the world careens towards a nuclear conflict, only a lone CIA operative stands between peace and utter destruction. But can he act in time?
Vividly portraying the real world of military hardware and combining it with page-turning action, DEFCON One is the definition of a classic thriller.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A first novel, this gripping techno-thriller is set in the early 1990s, with the Soviet system falling apart and the U.S. about to take a commanding lead in the arms race, thanks to a combination of Stealth technology and SDI. The assassination of the Soviet premier brings to power a hard-liner with a daring plan: to force the U.S. to the brink of war--a state called Defense Readiness Condition Two, only one stage below maximum readiness, DefCon One--and then suddenly relax the pressure. If, as expected, the U.S. forces stand down, the U.S.S.R. will launch a surprise first strike. Weber, a former Marine fighter pilot, handles the military aspects of the developing confrontation convincingly, concentrating on air and naval operations. The novel's secret-agent aspect, a fast-paced escape-and-evasion trail through the heart of the Soviet Union, is only slightly less effective. The process by which responses to Russian provocation escalate to the limit is frighteningly credible, even in the age of glasnost. 100,000 first printing; $150,000 ad/promo.
