China Attacks [Paperback]

Steven W. Mosher (Author), Chuck DeVore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2000

China Attacks is an exciting, entertaining, yet informative novel that explores the international politics that may be leading the world to war, describes America's and China's vast military capabilities and plans, and posits a riveting scenario of catastrophic conflict as superpowers collide over the island nation of the Republic of China on Taiwan. Told through the eyes of five main characters: a young, brash and beautiful CIA analyst; a rock-solid Marine Corps colonel; an Army National Guardsman; a Chinese commando officer; and a member of China's Communist elite, China Attacks, leads the reader through deception, betrayal, brutality and triumph.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a page-turning flurry of the point-counterpoint world of military invasion and international political brinkmanship..." -- The Hong Kong iMail, February 13, 2001, by Peter Barker

"...the authors set up the global chessboard and raise the stakes higher and higher..." -- Writer's Digest

"...a page-turner for those interested in Sino-American affairs... ...this commonsense approach to foreign relations couldn't be more timely." -- Human Events, May 7, 2001, by J. Curtis Lovelace

...a page-turning flurry of the point-counterpoint world of military invasion and international political brinkmanship... -- The Hong Kong Standard, February 13, 2001, by Peter Barker

...a well-told piece of art imitating life: will the Asian dragon triumph...? -- The Strategy Page, August 6, 2002, by Adam Geibel

China Attacks is an astonishing novel... ... realistic and bracing... (it) provides us with looming threats of immobilizing tactics. -- Armor Magazine, Sept-Oct. 2002, by 1LT John P.J. Derosa

From the Author

This book, now in its second edition, is a fictional treatment of how China might seek to attack Taiwan in the near future. Steven Mosher and I put a year of research and writing into this effort. We're pleased that the book has been translated into Chinese and sells in Taiwan. We hope you buy our book, read it, and find it hard to put down! --Chuck DeVore, Irvine, California

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 415 pages
• Publisher: Infinity Publishing; 2nd edition (July 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0741404303
• ISBN-13: 978-0741404305
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #343,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting premise but flawed, December 19, 2003

By 

Robert D. Merkamp "Robert D Merkamp" (San Mateo, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: China Attacks (Paperback)

I was looking forward to this book as I had not read many simulations showing a war between China and Taiwan. The scenario is fascinating and daring and is a generally fluid read. The beginning of the book moves quickly and pulls you effortlessly along. Of course events of the last two years have made this scenario a bit more unlikely but these guys don't claim to be seers, they're writing a story that among other things gives a good idea of how alot of military equipment works.

Yet, the book contains several flaws that grate. First, the characters are generally bland, one dimensional people that are hard to relate to. The "good guys" are pure good, they do everything right all the time and always seem to know what is actually happening. The "bad" guys are pure evil, always plotting and schemeing. The good characters are almost flawless while the bad have absolutely no redeeming virtue whatsoever. Not only is this fairly unrealistic but it gets tedious. Many people are not black and white and to have a book full of them gets old fast. When you start a scene with Character X, you pretty much know what they're going to be up to and what they're going to be about. The dialogue coming from their mouths was also quite predictable.

Second, the book seems to have been written by a pair of Clinton-haters. While never calling him out by name, the author spends no little time doing everything possible to show that Bill Clinton was an utter traitor and despicable human being on all levels. Say what you want, think what you want, but this book went way over the top on that angle to the point of silliness and yes, tediousness. I began to think that if Clinton were really this bad then the military was run by fools for continuing to obey him.

The book skipped around in time in a rather herky-jerky fashion. For instance, the first few chapters focused on a meeting that lasted a few days. Then all of a sudden months pass but you're not told this immediately, you have to figure it out from the reading! Then the Chinese invade Taiwan and it almost gets down to a minute by minute play by play, and then speeds up again and the authors skip over a few days in the space of a paragraph! While wasting time on a boring & tepid romance (between a 27 year old CIA analyst and a 51 year old father figure general) the Taiwanese were marshalling a counterattack and the Cinese nuked them with neutron devices. That however got a small mention as there was "love" in the air. C'mon! I didn't read this for a poorly worded, implausible, and boring romance!

The authors would focus on the nitty gritty of certain things (like the love story) that offered little but then offhandedly refer to major events happening in the background. The Marine Unit that fought to defend Taiwan for several days gets evacuated, but we don't get the details, we just happen to hear about it. No word on how (since the authors told us there were no US Navy surface assets nearby) or why or anything like that, just that one day, they were gone! They started an interesting thread about an LA class sub sinking some shipping in the straits between Taiwan and China but then stopped mentioning it. Did it get sunk? Was it recalled? Where did it go? One minute the sub has half the Chinese navy after it and then they just stop discussing it. What about the XO of the Marine unit (a stereotypical "bad" guy who was given no redeeming qualities)? He started out as a regular character but then vanishes halfway through. Did he die? Did he do something right? Was he relieved? What happened?

I did finish the book and in spite of the flaws I did enjoy much of it. But the flaws are major and the writing is generally poor. If you can look past that or aren't looking for much complexity this is fine but you're not getting Tom Clancy here, nowhere close.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Explosive, fast-paced, detailed and scary, December 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: China Attacks (Paperback)

Once I got into it, I couldn't put it down! The battle and weapons descriptions are just right, while the character development is deeper than the usual techno-thriller (I love that one of the lead characters is a young, female CIA analyst.) The plot twists are fun too. At every turn the authors insert a bit of real history and current fact, just enough to add credibility, but never too much to be boring.

The authors seem to really know what they're talking about, and that's the scary part!

Interestingly, the book is on sale in Taiwan and Hong Kong; that's how I first heard about it.

Co-author Steven Mosher's most recent non-fiction book on China, "Hegemon" makes a good companion to this book. I read them both in a week.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing read of what might be tomorrow's headlines, August 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: China Attacks (Paperback)

"China Attacks" takes the reader onto the front lines of what may be the world's next major war: China's invasion of Taiwan. Exploring the themes of China's singleminded purpose in "recovering" its "renegade province" while America's global distractions keep it busy elsewhere, "China Attacks" is an engrossing read. If China invades Taiwan in the near future, as the authors' obviously contend may happen, the world may be shocked but the readers of this novel won't be. The book shows how the Chinese can do the job -- and makes it an edge of the seat adventure. It also looks at many of the intagible or unexplored issues of modern conflict: morale, deception, unconventional tactics, and domestic politics.