General Patrick McLanahan's new Aerospace Battle Force has grown into a full-fledged task force based on the Armstrong Space Station. Providing almost instant access to space and every corner of the globe using the Black Stallion spaceplanes, the ABF's powerful network of satellites and unmanned aircraft controlled from space can not only attack any target anywhere on the planet within hours but can even invade any computer network as easily as making a phone call.
But the program has its critics and doomsayers, including Russia, the United Nations, and the American press. Wealthy, Western-educated, and sophisticated Russian president Leonid Zevitin uses a combination of top-secret anti-spacecraft weaponry, fearmongering, and new U.S. president Joseph Gardner's own egotism in an effective plan to eliminate all support for the space program. Gardner and his allies in Congress and the Pentagon will stop at nothing - even destroying one of their own - to get what they want.
Yet McLanahan and his forces refuse to allow the Russian aggression to stand. McLanahan ignores directives from the White House and Pentagon to stand down and orders the ABF to attack secret Russian bases in Iran.
President Gardner orders McLanahan's immediate arrest. But before authorities can throw him in jail, they have to figure out how to retrieve him from the space base orbiting the earth. Currently in control of the Aerospace Battle Force from Armstrong Space Station, McLanahan closely watches Russia's movement of weaponry while defending himself against the President's attempts to discredit him. In a race against time, McLanahan must outmaneuver his own countrymen, defeat the Russians, and expose the truth...or die trying.
It is 2009. Is this the year a military coup will occur in the U.S.? And does the American Aerospace Command intend to use its access to the Space Station to protect the United States--or do its leaders have other intentions? Phil Gigante's characterizations of Presidents Gardner and Zevitin, of the United States and Russia, clearly reflect their personalities, the tension between their countries, and the mind game that Zevitin is winning. The other primary characters are also vividly presented. The suspense is thick, although sprinkled with interludes of levity, which Gigante makes the most of. Overall, the premise of the book is a bit farfetched--or at least the listener will hope so! J.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
About the Author
Dale Brown is the author of numerous New York Times bestsellers, starting with Flight of the Old Dog in 1987. A former U.S. Air Force captain he can often be found flying his own plane over the skies of Nevada.
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