When a call for a Holy War unites the Arab world, a politically and militarily weakened U.S. president dispatches a squadron of F-15 fighter planes to the volatile Middle East. Reprint. NYT.
From Publishers Weekly
Master of the techno-thriller, Herman ( The Warbirds ) moves from the tactical level to the strategic with this fast-paced novel of a Middle East Armageddon. In this near-future scenario, Iraq, incautiously allowed to recover fully from the Second Gulf War, joins Egypt and Syria to attack Israel, whose premier is ready to use nuclear weapons as a "firebreak" if Iraq employs its newest, deadliest nerve gas. The grandson of U.S. President Matthew Pontowski leads the 45th Tactical Fighter Wing on a desperate mission against Iraq's chemical plants. Herman's ground and air action, particularly in the book's final 100 pages, are as exciting as any in print, and the characters, including the President, his grandson and Shoshana Tamir, the disillusioned Israeli agent who is the young fighter pilot's love interest, are convincing. Herman is less successful, however, when he moves far from the fighter's cockpit--to, for instance, the Oval Office, where depictions of the infighting surrounding American policy-making seem like vignettes, interesting but incomplete. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
When a call for a Holy War unites the Arab world, a politically and militarily weakened U.S. president dispatches a squadron of F-15 fighter planes to the volatile Middle East. Reprint. NYT.
From Publishers Weekly
Master of the techno-thriller, Herman ( The Warbirds ) moves from the tactical level to the strategic with this fast-paced novel of a Middle East Armageddon. In this near-future scenario, Iraq, incautiously allowed to recover fully from the Second Gulf War, joins Egypt and Syria to attack Israel, whose premier is ready to use nuclear weapons as a "firebreak" if Iraq employs its newest, deadliest nerve gas. The grandson of U.S. President Matthew Pontowski leads the 45th Tactical Fighter Wing on a desperate mission against Iraq's chemical plants. Herman's ground and air action, particularly in the book's final 100 pages, are as exciting as any in print, and the characters, including the President, his grandson and Shoshana Tamir, the disillusioned Israeli agent who is the young fighter pilot's love interest, are convincing. Herman is less successful, however, when he moves far from the fighter's cockpit--to, for instance, the Oval Office, where depictions of the infighting surrounding American policy-making seem like vignettes, interesting but incomplete.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
The Middle East erupts in a red-hot shooting war--and the President's grandson is in the thick of it. Herman's prewriting career (The Warbirds, Force of Eagles) as an Air Force fighter pilot shows clearly and to advantage. President Zack Pontowski and his high-flying grandson Matt are at the heart of the heated political and military action stirred up by the resurgent Iraqis and their new best friends, the Syrians, and by Israel's clear intent to go nuclear if provoked. While the President copes with the intrigues of his Sununu-ish chief of staff, his wife's fatal illness, Soviet political disintegration, a blackmailing oil empress, and Israel's friends in Congress, his grandson seeks to erase his playboy past, renounce his grandfather's political influence, win the heart of luscious Sabra, and earn the respect of his Air Force colleagues. The brilliant, tubby, lustful chief of staff, who is in the clutches of the aged oil queen, very nearly cooks Israel's goose as he pooh-poohs the threat of war and tries to freeze out pro-Israeli intelligence. But the Israelis start channeling their messages through Matt, and the President wises up in time to get on top of the situation when the Arabs and Egyptians start shooting. As the Israelis rattle their nuclear weapons, the Iraqis shake their chemical weapons, and it becomes necessary for grandson Matt to zoom into the thick of the fray to let off a few of those amazingly intelligent weapons we have come to know so well on the TV screen. Good, generally intelligible military thriller--this one distinguished by credible political characterizations and hair- raising aerial shootouts. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.