Force 12: A Novel [Large Print] [Hardcover]

James Stewart Thayer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2001

In the chilling tradition of The Perfect Storm, an ocean yacht race contested, literally, to the death. Rex Wyman, a world-famous software billionaire, is determined to win the world's longest and most challenging yacht race, from San Francisco to Japan via the Alaska -- through some of the roughest seas imaginable. He sets out onboard the Victory, a 75-million-dollar racing yacht designed and navigated entirely by computer. Wyman desperately needs this triumph: his business empire is crumbling, his assets dwindling, and only a public-relations coup like this can save him. But not even his girlfriend, a beautiful and gifted computer programmer, realizes the lengths he will go to in order to win. Meanwhile, he must evade a long list of secret enemies intent on making this ocean race his last one. So, when an enormous sub-arctic storm engulfs the Victory, the stakes become not just win-or-lose but a matter of life and death.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After Terminal Event, Thayer's well-received air-crash novel, this altogether amateurish, irritatingly overwritten techno-thriller imagining the Pacific Winter Challenge, an international sailing race from San Francisco to Japan on a northerly course, disappoints as it sinks in an ocean of technobabble and pulp romance. In a last desperate effort to keep his software empire afloat, Rex Wyman, CEO of Microsoft-like WorldQuest, comes up with the idea of a perilous world-class sailing event, intended as a publicity stunt. The craft he plans to help crew himself, the $50 million Victory, is a totally computer-automated yacht. WorldQuest VP Gwen Weld, the womanizing Rex's current sex kitten and a savvy programming prodigy, is key to the CEO's plans she will run the Victory's computers. Toby Odell, Rex's ex-partner, is also along for the ride, and tensions on board are evident immediately. The mayhem begins when, almost before the boat sails out of sight of the Golden Gate Bridge, the infallible software onboard shows an alarming glitch, then computer problems proliferate as a "storm of the century" engulfs the Victory. Up to her monitors trying to stay afloat on the deadly sea, Gwen receives help by e-mail from Capt. Jess McKay, a dashing parachutist with the rescue squadron of the Alaska Air National Guard. Jess, haunted by the role he believes he played in his older brother's death, is grateful for this chance to redeem himself. Wave by wave, clich? by clich?, the soggy saga sloshes toward a foreseeable finale. (Mar.)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Faced with obsolescence in an ever-changing industry, software magnate Rex Wyman bets his company's future on a technology that he hopes will give the company new life. He has built the world's first fully automated boat. The racing yacht, armed with powerful processors and decision software, can run without a crew, adjusting speed and course based on currents and weather conditions. As a publicity stunt to unveil his technological marvel, Wyman organizes a long and dangerous race across the Pacific, goading the best mariners from around the world to enter. As the race progresses, unseen glitches in the yacht's systems confound the programmers on land and threaten the few crew members. When the boat plunges toward a severe storm that its computers fail to recognize, simmering fear and suspicion erupt and the crew struggle for their lives against the fury of the storm and the unseen hand that guides their destruction. Although the ending is somewhat predictable, the momentum of the plot nonetheless keeps the reader turning the pages of this thoroughly enjoyable and worthwhile read. Gavin Quinn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 547 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786234245
• ISBN-13: 978-0786234240
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,183,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I served as a physician in the British Army during the Boer War. Wait. Sorry. That was Arthur Conan Doyle. I was raised in Spokane, and went to school in Pullman and Chicago. My wife Patti, our two daughters, and I live in Seattle. I'm trying to learn to play the tenor saxophone, but Coleman Hawkins needn't be looking over his shoulder. I teach novel writing at the University of Washington extension school, and maintain a blog about fiction writing (www.novelpro.net), where I discuss writing techniques each day.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars exciting thriller that tries to be too much for everyone., February 15, 2001

By 

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

This review is from: Force 12 (Hardcover)

Following the successful test of his new ship Victory, information technology billionaire Rex Wyman announces the yachting race to end all races. His ship will challenge the best to race from San Francisco Bay to Tokyo Harbor via the 5200-mile rhomb line that consists of the shortest nautical distance. This Pacific challenge will occur in the winter making it that much more hazardous.

What makes the Victory different than its competitors is that it is a "ghost ship" whose crew is a computer. On board during the race will be Rex, his girl friend Gwen Weld (the coding genius behind the ship), and former partner and software guru Toby Odell. The world class rivals seem pale compared to the climatic conditions that places everyone at risk. However, more perilous to one's survival is Rex's need to win at all costs because his company is crumbling, but how far is he willing to go to claim victory?

FORCE 12 is an exciting thriller that tries to be too much for everyone. The story line involving the pre-race and the race is fantastic as readers feel the wet wind on their face. That plot easily could have carried the tale and turn this into a must read great novel. The subplot of a deviously dangerous Rex takes front stage and actually slows down the great race. Still FORCE 12 is a very refreshing novel that proves James Thayer (see TERMINAL EVENT) is a talented author. However, though fans will gain pleasure from the book, many readers will believe that it came in second to what it could have been: a modern day humanity armed with technology vs. nature story.

Harriet Klausner

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thayer Has Written Better, March 7, 2003

By 

Tim Smith - See all my reviews

This review is from: Force 12 (Hardcover)

FORCE 12 is a fairly exciting and thrilling story of a billionaire soft-ware magnate who creates a computerized sailboat and enters it in a gruelling and dangerous yacht race from San Francisco to Japan through the Bering Sea. He believes the publicity about the boat's software, which pilots the 155 foot Victory (which has a 30 foot beam and 75 ton keel) and replaces a 20 man crew, will increase revenue and sales in his other companies.

Initially the trip is flawless, but gradually accidents occur on the boat and sabotage is expected. Since there are several video cameras on the boat, every movement is witnessed by millions of viewers from around the world and the persona of a forceful man of wealth and power begins to disintegrate.

Besides a mystery, the highlights of the book are the descriptions of being in a boat at the mercy of the sea. It rivals THE PERFECT STORM for its descriptions of the waves and feelings of helplessness while caught in the power of the open ocean.

FORCE 12 is worth reading if you're a James Thayer fan but he's certainly written better. The plot was a little too unrealistic for me but the sailing scenes made it worth the time, especially if you enjoy seeing powerful men in hopeless situations brought down to earth.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Arrogant yuppie billionaire gets comeuppance at sea, May 7, 2002

By 

M. A Michaud "michael_michaud" (Dulles, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Force 12 (Mass Market Paperback)

This action novel stretches the reader's suspension of disbelief past the breaking point. Software billionaire Rex Wyman, apparently bored with his wealth, his multiple homes and private planes, and his serial girl friends, challenges international sailing rivals to an extreme ocean race that passes through the Bering Sea. By means that strain credulity, he succeeds in creating a global media event. We learn that this race is Wyman's device for saving his company, a dubious theory. Then things begin to go wrong aboard his highly computerized yacht. Wyman's former computer geek partner is taking his revenge. The outcome is predictable; the principal female character is saved, but Wyman is not. He is so despicable that you wish him dead. The most intriguing males, an air rescue expert and a fishing boat captain, play only supporting roles. The female lead comes across as a victim who should have bailed out long before. What happened to the French woman sailor who was in second place? There was a lost opportunity for a more interesting end.