- Mass Market Paperback: 289 pages
- Publisher: Tor Books; Reprint edition (Oct 1989)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0812500253
- ISBN-13: 978-0812500257
- Product Dimensions: 16.5 x 10.2 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,451,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
Secrets are dangerous, top secrets fatal.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Project Skydancer was the brainchild of the Ministry of Defence. Beautiful and terrifying in its simplicity, DS29 had designed new warheads for Polaris missiles, warheads that with consummate ease could evade the new batteries of anti-ballistic missiles the Russians had set up around their prime military targets. For Aldermaston scientist Peter Joyce, it was the pinnacle of his career. Until his documents from the project turned up one chilly October morning on Parliament Hill, and the Ministry's prime suspect committed suicide leaving him with only two alternatives: write off a billion-pound project, or approve tests which could give Russia the power to wipe out the West at the touch of a button-. (20030623)
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Despite several problems I ended up really liking this book, and I expect to read more by Geoffrey Archer.
The story centers around a British scientist who is the chief designer of a new kind of cluster warhead for the submarine-launched Polaris missiles deployed by the British Navy. The Russians are out to steal this "secret" so they can design a defense against this new weapon. The story ranges from high-level political decision-making to the nitty-gritty of spy craft.
What makes the book especially good is that the plot has several unexpected twists and that the characters seem like real people with real weaknesses. There are plenty of "bad guys" and "mediocre guys", but no real heroes. There is also a lot of (presumably authentic) information about submarine warfare (shades of "The Hunt for Red October") and how spies entrap their victims. A highlight is an exciting description of a meeting between the British scientist and his Russian opposite number at the Berlin wall. (The story takes place just before the end of the cold war.)
My biggest criticism is that the kernel of the plot (the scientific "secret" and the attempted deception to hide this secret) isn't viable. However, this is a typical failing of international thrillers involving a struggle over some scientific gizmo, so you have to take the plot with a grain of salt and pretend that it works.
My second criticism is that this book starts very slowly, and the characters seem cliché-like at first. In fact, when I was a third of the way into the book I was considering dropping it! I'm glad I continued reading.
Finally, I found the moral conflict between the British scientist and his wife to be too strong to be realistic. If the wife really thought her husband, because of his job, was practically a mass murderer, wouldn't she have left him long ago?
Despite this list of negatives the book really appealed to me after I got past the slow beginning.
Rennie Petersen
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I purchased this as a gift and it is now in Queensland Australia. It arrived very quickly and well packaged.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a book about a person who is involved in allowing some missile tests to go ahead. He does it and the reasons appear as the plot progresses. This is not a great story and I think that a film has been made along simular lines some time in the past. It is however quite a readable and well written book, i just feel it falls down a bit on the storyline and is not in the Tom Clancy class.
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