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Overview
The bestselling novels of David Poyer have been read by millions around the world, and The New York Times Book Review has proclaimed: "Poyer knows what he is writing about when it comes to anything on, above or below the water." Now he unleashes a heart-pounding new novel combining the thrilling elements of military intrigue, Pentagon politics, Chinese espionage and human drama in his finest work to date.
It was a missile that would change the world. He was the man at ground zero.
Once Lieutenant-commander Dan Lenson had a ship and a family. Now he is on his own, deep within Washington's military industrial complex. His task: shepherd a controversial weapon through the Navy's testing process to deployment. But powerful forces are lined up against the Tomahawk missile-- and against Lenson. For Dan Lenson, separating his enemies from his friends is the beginning of the most dangerous war of all...
Synopsis
The bestselling novels of David Poyer have been read by millions around the world, and The New York Times Book Review has proclaimed: "Poyer knows what he is writing about when it comes to anything on, above or below the water." Now he unleashes a heart-pounding new novel combining the thrilling elements of military intrigue, Pentagon politics, Chinese espionage and human drama in his finest work to date.
It was a missile that would change the world. He was the man at ground zero.
Once Lieutenant-commander Dan Lenson had a ship and a family. Now he is on his own, deep within Washington's military industrial complex. His task: shepherd a controversial weapon through the Navy's testing process to deployment. But powerful forces are lined up against the Tomahawk missile-- and against Lenson. For Dan Lenson, separating his enemies from his friends is the beginning of the most dangerous war of all...
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
The latest in Poyer's popular series about the modern U.S. Navy (after The Passage, 1995) continues tracing the career of Lieutenant Commander Dan Lenson, a 30-something Annapolis grad who is earnest, hard-working and, considering the life he leads, surprisingly dull. Tapped in the Reagan years to work on the new Tomahawk missile program, unhappily divorced Dan falls in love with a peace activist, struggles in a crisis of faith (Are nukes necessary?), gets very drunk a couple of times and joins AA, loses the girl to murder on Washington's mean jogging paths, almost loses his own life in a Canadian blizzard (retrieving a failed missile), does yeoman duty in the cynical world of Congressional deal-making, nearly dies (again) in an FBI sting against Chinese spies, hands in his resignation from the Navy, changes his mind about it and works his tail off to save the Tomahawk missile program during an action against Libya. Everybody here sounds like everybody else except top brass, who tend to boom. Lenson's depth is apparently indicated by his care for his young daughter, who's in faraway Utah with his ex-wife, but he manages to speak to the girl only once in the book. His agonizing about nuclear weapons is sporadic and forced, while the book's relentless globe trotting and heavy jargon will be meaningful mostly to devoted Navy buffs. (Apr.)Kirkus Reviews
Poyer (The Passage, 1995, etc.) once again juggles a mix of storylines with varying degrees of success as his introspective Naval officer, Dan Lenson, battles a succession of personal and professional demons. The Reagan era's paranoia regarding terrorism and the so-called Evil Empire is in full bloom when Lenson is assigned to shore duty in Washington. After years at sea, he plans to relax, do some postgraduate work, and rekindle his relationship with his young daughter. But if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans, as Lenson soon discovers when he learns he's to be part of a new team workingþunder extreme pressureþon the troubled Tomahawk cruise-missile development program. At first, Lenson immerses himself in the project. But it all changes for him once he falls in love with Kerry Donavan, a member of the peace activist group Plowshares. Under her influence, he begins to question his lifelong faith in a strong nuclear defense, and also to confront his alcoholism. But then in a shocking turn of events Kerry is murdered, presumably by gang members who may or may not have been hired by Chinese spies trying to convince Lenson to sell them classified documents. His life in a tailspin, he's pushed to the limits of his conscience, courage, and sense of dutyþthough unfortunately heþs surrounded along the way by Poyer's caricatured and clich‚-spouting peace activists, selfish politicians, and voracious media types. Nevertheless, guilty of said boilerplate or not, Poyer finds his sea legs quickly enough when describing the action and intricacies of life on military bases, missile test ranges, and aboard ship. Poyer deserves credit for examining serious moralissues within the narrow confines of a military thriller. On balance, though, his hero's fifth adventure is a disappointing jumble of stock characters, acronym-laden jargon, soul-searching platitudes, and convoluted plot twists.From the Publisher
"There can be no better writer of modern sea adventure around today."-- Clive Cussler
"This demanding, excellent novel is probably the best so far in a major contemporary seafaring saga."-- Booklist
"An imaginative, thought-provoking premise rich in possibilities."-- USA Today