Amazon.com Review
With occasional references to "the Kursk incident" and to Vladimir Putin's unpopularity with the Russian people, and with a plot centered around the antics of an ultra-nationalist Russian general,
Dead Hand positions itself as an up-to-the-minute thriller with significant political resonance--and even throws in a natural disaster for good measure. Ever wary of being caught off-guard by a nuclear strike, Russia has carefully cultivated a retaliatory system capable of launching its own missiles: mordantly dubbed Dead Hand, the system will activate without a central command. When an asteroid hits Siberia with enough force to trigger the system, Moscow finds itself faced with both unspeakable environmental chaos and General Likatchev's bid to subvert the disaster to his own anti-Western purposes.
Politics makes strange bedfellows, and Russia must ask the U.S., NATO, and the French Foreign Legion (to name but a few of the players) to invade its own borders and destroy the missiles before Likatchev can get to them. Confronted by mass destruction and a Russian squadron led by one of the general's former protégés, the motley group of Western soldiers races against the clock toward the bevy of silos--but at what cost?
Harold Coyle is anything but subtle: his characters can't cross a room without the author pausing to reflect on the glory of the soldier's calling. His pedantic asides often bring the plot to a screeching halt, and he has an unfortunate tendency to present his characters in the manner of an announcer at a beauty pageant: heavy on the platitudes and light on meaningful revelation. That said, Coyle has built up a loyal following, and these readers will no doubt be pleased with the obvious au courant sincerity of his latest offering. --Kelly Flynn
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Never one to spare readers his personal insights into all things military, Coyle (God's Children; Team Yankee; etc.) goes overboard in this uneventful, didactic thriller about a NATO-led assault to destroy Russia's nuclear missile silos. The title refers to an automated Russian doomsday system designed to retaliate against a first strike, even if the country's whole population has been wiped out. NATO launches its raid after an enormous asteroid hits Siberia. The resulting shock waves, whose seismic signature is identical to that of a nuclear explosion, activate Dead Hand, bringing the world to the brink of a nuclear exchange. The person who now has his finger on the button is renegade Gen. Igor Likatchev, who views the situation as his opportunity to throw the country into such turmoil that it will allow him to stage a coup. Moscow, fearful that Likatchev may be crazy enough to activate Siberia's network of nuclear missiles, dispatches its own contingent of commandos to assassinate the exiled general. NATO forces, on the other hand, aim to destroy the missile silos, neutralizing Likatchev and disabling Russia's nuclear capability. Coyle, who usually delivers gritty, hard-driving (and bestselling) war novels, founders with his latest. A former army officer who spent 17 years on active duty, he shows a deep understanding of power politics and fighting techniques, but his exposition-heavy plot spends far too much time describing commandos readying themselves for battle, explaining military procedures and examining the specific qualities of the soldier mindset. When the action finally begins about two-thirds of the way through the book its course is predictable.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
