Ruskies run riot (Red Storm Rising - Tom Clancy)

Member Name: KizzyJames

Product:	Red Storm Rising - Tom Clancy
Date:	13/06/01 (52 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: technically ace, 800 pages

Disadvantages: techno-babble

A chance meeting at a games convention between two authors,Tom Clancy already on the Techno-thriller top shelf with The Hunt for Red October and Larry Bond a whizz at war game design resulted in this ultimate 'what if' novel Red Storm Rising.
The book plays out the events around the world up to and including the outbreak of World War III as seen through the eyes of a handful of characters who exprience through war every possible emotion from love to hate,revenge the desire to get the job done whatever the cost and the basic human instinct to simply live to see another morning.
Starting with an act of religious vengeance that strips Russia of most of her oil supplies and ending with the whole world staring over a chasm into the abyss of all out nuclear war.The plot revolves around the cash and oil starved Russians contriving a plan to overwhelm NATO with a knockout blow leaving them free to invade the Middle East at their leisure. However luck,fate and the powers that be intervene with their plan turning a knockout blow into a twelve round boxing match with the greater part of the western world going to the victors.
The strong characters give the book a good depth from the politicians and generals who send men and women to their death with as much thought as a spider has for it's fly
to the soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians caught up in the gruesome reality of a modern day battle field filled with mass slaughter acts of immense stupidity and incredible bravery the loss of close friends and the loss of individuality suffered by all in an environment so often over romanticised by Hollywood. The book confronts the realism of World War III with a fear so great it lead Iceland to review it's own defence policy after reading it!.
All in all a very good book full of suspence action and drama. Non-techno fans may struggle with some of the jargon but if you are a tech fan then this is a must for you. Enjoy.

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