Dark Zone (Stephen Coonts' Deep Black, Book 3) [Mass Market Paperback]

Stephen Coonts (Author), Jim DeFelice (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2004

In a secluded headquarters on the other side of the globe a terrorist mission is underway-a plan to set-off an underwater explosion so great, and with such hellish force, that it could shift the very foundation of the earth's surface causing untold calamity and world-wide disaster. The terrorists call it God's Revenge.

A nuclear warhead has gone missing. Small in size, it packs up to ten times the kilotons that exploded over Hiroshima. It's now in the wrong hands, ready to detonate a world war of unfathomable proportions.

In the top secret headquarters of the National Security Agency, a small cadre of special agents form Deep Black, designed to bring a techno edge to covert operations and eliminate the cyber threats to world peace. This is Charlie Dean's world-an NSA ex-marine sniper now enlisted to stop the unthinkable. But when his suspicions of a traitor in his shadow become frighteningly true, Dean's race against time could mean the end of the free world.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Deep Black, a super-secret subagency within the National Security Agency (and a figment of Coonts' and DeFelice's imaginations), is intended to give NSA some field capabilities. Operatives Charlie Dean and Tommy Karr appear in the process of rescuing an ambassador's daughter and are soon on the trail of an Algerian terrorist who possesses extensive knowledge of France, some sophisticated chemical explosives, and the plutonium from a miniature A-bomb. In the wake of an ordeal of her own in Korea, colleague Lia de Francesca soon joins Charlie and Tommy, while their boss, Reubens, fends off legal challenges that could endanger Deep Black's security. The suspense, action, knowledge of weapons and methods, and characterization are all up to par and frequently better, and the opposing sides are fairly well matched. The outcome remains uncertain right up to the final death duels on the Eiffel Tower and in the Chunnel, and for once a reasonably balanced depiction of the French is given to the often Francophobic thriller audience. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"The Master Of The Techno Thriller." -Publishers Weekly

"Move Over Clancy...Readers know they can count on Coonts."-Midwest Book Review

"[Coonts] is a natural storyteller [with] a rare gift." -USA Today

"Coonts delivers some of his best gung-ho suspense writing yet."-Kirkus Reviews

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; 1st ptg. edition (November 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312985223
• ISBN-13: 978-0312985226
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #445,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent techno-thriller, October 31, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dark Zone (Stephen Coonts' Deep Black, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

Deep Black, a section of the NSA, works mostly with communications; the agency spies through satellites and other devices that are so technologically advanced that their operatives are rarely placed in danger. Retired French agent Denis LaFoote informs former marine sniper and Deep Black operative Charlie Dean that his friend Mr. Vefoures is missing and that he was going to work an assignment for his former master.

Vefoures built an explosive more powerful than anything in use today. The Americans know that a French warhead is missing also, but remain unaware that the lost man and bomb are part of a plot designed by the Arab terrorist Mussa Duoar to blow up the Chunnel and cause a series of devastating shock waves to destroy coastal England and France. Deep Black is putting the pieces of the puzzle together into a cohesive plot, but time is running out to prevent this calamity from happening.

Nobody writes techno-thrillers better than Stephen Coonts does as his action-packed tales grip readers from start to finish with ever growing knuckle biting suspense that takes his audience to the edge and beyond. His latest tale DEEP BLACK: DARK ZONE does that and more with a host of heroes who just feel they are doing their job and some sly vile villains who have no compunctions about killing the innocent under the auspices of a "patriotic" cause. Chilling yet exhilarating, readers can count on Mr. Coonts for riveting entertainment.

Harriet Klausner

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Who actually wrote this thing?, March 1, 2005

By 

Karl Seidl "bookhound" (Green Bay, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Zone (Stephen Coonts' Deep Black, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have never written a review before but i just had to so others would not feel the same pain. I have read almost all of Coonts other books and bought this with anticipation. What a boring bunch of junk this was. It was obviously wriiten by the co-author and then had Coonts name put on it by the publisher to give it some credibility. Save your money and look elsewhere.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly Entertaining, February 19, 2005

By 

FireWolf (Princeton, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Zone (Stephen Coonts' Deep Black, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

This was book was a page turner. Took me 2-1/2 days to complete it, it was the type of read that sucked you into the story. The characters were well developed, and the scenes had an almost "zen" like flow between them. Personally I felt this book was almost a cinema for the mind.

It's worth the money.