4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Counterspace, a fast-paced Sci-Fi thriller, February 5, 2010
This review is from: Counterspace: The Next Hours of World War III (Hardcover)
COUNTERSPACE: The Next Hours of World War III
By William B. Scott, Michael J. Coumatos and William J. Birnes, a Forge Book published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 352 pp., $29.95
Counterspace is the second book authored by this troika of highly qualified sci-fi authors. It continues the story started in their first book, Space Wars: The first Six Hours of World War III, published in 2007. While a sequel, Counterspace serves well as a stand-alone story. The book opens in March of 2011 with North Korea launching a crude nuclear warhead into space over the Pacific Ocean. They detonate the weapon at high altitude to "fry," blind and otherwise immobilize a wide variety of space observation and communications satellites operated by the United States, other countries, and commercial entities.
The early chapters take the reader on a wild ride into the inner workings of the major U. S. space agencies, including the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the U. S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), "and most of America's spook agencies. . ." The story of how the U. S. reacts to this provocative action by North Korea is told through the eyes of high-ranking space commanders and technicians. The authority with which the scenes are described gives the reader an insider's view of the stressful environment these senior officers function in as they scramble first to confirm that the Korean missile is not lofting a nuclear weapon at a Pacific Rim target and second to assess what damage the high altitude detonation has wreaked.
It soon develops that the military and commercial communications satellites covering the Pacific Ocean, as well as the extensive network of reconnaissance and signals intelligence satellites, have been severely degraded, leaving the U. S. with little real-time information on what was happening in the increasingly tense Pacific theater of operations. This further exacerbates tensions between the U. S. and China as the two nuclear powers jockey for position in the Pacific Rim power struggle. Officials in both governments suspect the other is using the communications and reconnaissance blackout as a screen to cover preparations for preemptive strikes.
The authors add another dose of realism by injecting Hamas terrorists from Iran into the mix, which further confuses the picture. Which enemy or enemies are attacking the U. S. and is there a connection?
War-gaming, in reality sophisticated brainstorming sessions by top-level military analysts and theoreticians, figures heavily in the evolving Counterspace drama. Experienced military strategists use these and high-powered computers to sort through myriad "what-ifs" to determine who is doing what to whom and generate effective counter-measures.
The three authors, Scott, who retired after a distinguished career with Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine; Coumatos, U. S. Navy retired and former U. S. Space Command Director of War Games, and Birnes, co-author of two New York Times best sellers, bring a combined expertise to the task of weaving the intricacies of twenty-first century defense operations into a plausible, fast-moving novel that has a cliff-hanging ending.
Donald E. Fink, Jr.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Frightening Real, November 25, 2009
This review is from: Counterspace: The Next Hours of World War III (Hardcover)
This book is excellent!! Any real student of military affairs needs to read this book. It talks about things in a way that will open your eyes like nothing else.
It really is spell bounding in many different ways. This book is a mix of "how to" technology description with a mix of Tom Clancy like story telling. The story reads like it comes right off of CNN or some other news source. This book picks up from Space Wars by the same author last year. It continues in the same way that book went.
The book has something most people will miss. The secret ingredient says on the title page:
"Although the characters and actual events depicted in Counterspace are fiction and bear no relationship to actual person living or dead the action and weapons depicted herein are based on actual technologies and war gaming strategies used by the United States military and civilian war planners in preparation for the types of events depicted"
The book talks about things that you will not see listed anywhere else. The book talks about space plans, counter satellite capabilities, ground based satellite technologies with a sprinkling of strategy and tactics. The stories of these technologies is worth the price of the book alone. Many of these stories about the technologies will remind you of many of a UFO story you see in other sources.
The story of the book is icing on the cake. This story does communicate well how fast things in the world can go to pieces literally over night. The book has the North Koreans detonates a nuclear device in space. That explosion creates a EMP pulse that seriously damages America's space capacity. That makes America semi-blind. This blindness effects decisions. That event mixed with other events pushes the world to the brink of WWIII. The story line will get the reader thinking about how things aren't what they seem at first glance. The book also makes one think about the damage collusion among America's enemies can create.
This book is very enjoyable. It reads like a movie. In fact it would make a real good movie someday too. All people will enjoy this no matter what your background is.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Counterspace: The Next Hours Of WWlll, November 24, 2009
This review is from: Counterspace: The Next Hours of World War III (Hardcover)
The sequel to "Space Wars: The First Six Hours of World War III," this book (Counterspace) is a MUST READ for our military and political leaders, as well as all military/political techno-thriller buffs. It opens with North Korea detonating an atomic device on the fringes of space, which 'fries' many military and commercial satellites, literally blinding the nation and leaving decision makers in the dark as to what the bad guys are up to. This is complicated by a host of other nations, such as Iran and Venezuela, creating nightmares both in orbit and on the ground. Two horrific terrorist attacks in the U.S. are exacerbated by Strategic Command's inability to recall a B-2 bomber headed for a target in China, bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war. Probably the scariest part is that all of these fictional events are chillingly possible. The authors write from real-life experience as Mr. William B. Scott and Mr. Michael J. Coumatos have outstanding military credentials, and Mr. William J. Birnes has authored books that made the N.Y. Times Top 10 list.
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