Kilo Option [Hardcover]

Sean Flannery (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1996

Can one man trigger a nuclear war? Military intelligence analyst Bill Lane is about to find out. When the National Security Agency assigns him to investigate a mysterious commando raid on Iran's Persian Gulf submarine installation, Lane fears the worst--that terrorists have stolen the technology they need to ignite a full-scale nuclear war in the Middle East.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nuclear terror threatens the Mideast in an action-packed thriller that boasts all the energy and thrills of a classic James Bond novel?and that requires a Bond-sized suspension of disbelief. Thanks to a second Gulf War, Saddam Hussein has been kicked out of Baghdad. Now he's plotting to regain his seat of power with the help of the secret plan of the title, which involves stolen nuclear missiles aimed at Tel Aviv. The only obstacle: NSA analyst and superspy Bill Lane, returning from Flannery's Winner Take All, who has the uncanny ability to put stray facts together (a Russian spymaster's multi-national sightings; the misleading clues of a double agent; the erratic behavior of a submarine commander) and arrive in the nick of time to thwart disaster. Through set pieces that crackle with excitement, Flannery invigorates a complicated plot that involves a Russian Kilo-class submarine in Iranian hands, a soulless Russian killer and a body count worthy of a Schwarzenegger movie. His writing is brisk and compelling, allowing readers to skate over a number of potholes?the payoff doesn't quite justify the buildup; Lane is rarely wrong; and the woman in the hero's life, though capable, ends up as a damsel in distress. Flannery's world, which prizes gutsy professionalism above all, is one in which the woman may be spunky but the men have all the fun?of which there's plenty here.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Military intelligence analyst Bill Lane must discover whether Iranian terrorists now own nuclear weapons for their submarines. Valeri Yernin, a Ukrainian "penetration agent," is on the loose in the United States, armed with critical data used by U.S. submarines. As the two men move closer to their fateful showdown, Lane must also confront his own conscience: "Knowing what we know now, should we have assassinated Hitler in 1930 before he became chancellor?" There are corpses a-plenty, plus traitors in high places, and just enough topical detail to remind us that our planet is filled with opportunities for mayhem. A serviceable example of the secret agent thriller from the author of Winner Take All (LJ 2/15/94) that promises to become a series. For large popular collections.?Elsa Pendleton, Boeing Information Svcs., Ridgecrest, Cal.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 383 pages
• Publisher: Forge; 1st edition (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312852568
• ISBN-13: 978-0312852566
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #930,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Average Effort, April 11, 2002

By 

John G. Hilliard (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kilo Option (Mass Market Paperback)

Pull back the reigns on this one, there is a lot going on and I just do not think the author had the skill to weave it all together in a tight, convincing way. Sure this book is interesting to read now given the state of American politics, but that is about the best I can say. And why the love interest from the past? I am convinced that long ago some book publishing executive wrote a set of rules which dictated that all action thrillers need some kind of sub plot love story. Then one just seemed to me to be thrown in by the author to placate someone other then the author thinking it was an intricate part of the story. I did find some of the detail of the Middle East interesting and the story does have its moments of fast paced action, but overall and average effort.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Action Book!, September 5, 2001

By 

Melvin Hunt (Cleveland,, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kilo Option (Mass Market Paperback)

This book had nonstop action from the start to the finish.You
have Bill Lane as the hero of this book. The very evil villain in this book is Ukranian agent Valeri Yernin. Frances Shipley rounds out the cast of characters in this book. You are on the vege of war with Iraq being aided by the Ukrain. Because of evel deeds by the Ukrain nation Saudi Arabia and Iran are about to go to war. Bill Lane is in a nonstop shooting war with Valeri Yernin
on all corners of the world. Saddam Hussein even has a role in this story. Add all of these characters together together and
you have an exciting story. After reading this book I have already purchased Achilles Heel. Buy and read this book. It is good.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars just keeps going and going and going an....., December 20, 2000

By 

Rottenberg's rotten book review (nyc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kilo Option (Mass Market Paperback)

For those who know their military hardware, "Kilo" refers to a class of Russian built electric-powered (non-nuclear) submarines. Though shorter-ranged than nuclear subs which can remain submerged for months, the electric-drive is inherently quieter than nuclear power (which relies on pumps and piping), making boats like the kilo harder to detect, and thus deadlier. Add late 1980's technology to increase efficiency, throw in some deep-pockets clients from the sunnier (and less-stable) regions of the globe (where they watch C-span with a laugh-track) and the kilo becomes the cheap answer to submarine warfare - fast, deadly and impossible to find.

Strangely, the plot of "Kilo Option" similarly escapes detection, but that doesn't help things. Instead, "Option", in which charachters load up on plots and counterplots, goes beyond incomprehensible. Describing what the book is about is impossible, though it's safer to say what's in the book - Saddam Hussein plotting; fanatical Iranian mullahs; rogue Russians selling their hardware and services to the highest bidder; lots of shooting; lots of hardware; a hunky hero who never manages to get the bad guy (it's hard yto like a hero who fails to bring an end to this interminable book); and a Russian agent whose less a charachter than an engine of doom with dialog (even Darth Maul had funnier lines than this guy). with the plot so murky, there's never any sense that Flannery is working up to a climax, as if he can sustain a climax from an early shootfest thruought the length of his book. Thus, we only have a dwindling number of pages to mark the passage of the book (and even that can't always convince).

The weirdest thing about this book is the way it parallels the nonesensical "Crossfire" written by David Hagberg - Flannery's alter-ego. Throwing in some stuff about subs (sunken U-boats), a hunky (though retired) intelligence agent, some misunderstood Iranians..., mercenary Russians (with planes instead of subs), a Russian agent turned killing machine who seems to eliminate life out of compulsion, and no coherent plot to arrange them in, Hagberg has essentially written an earlier version of "Kilo Option".

What little that can be understood is annoyingly unoriginal, and the ... fundamentalist muslims, scheming Russians, rogue nukes, hunky heroes and Saddan Hussein lack the slightest hint of any development, as if they were off-the-shelf components for some cut-grade weapons system. If you come upon "Kilo option", I'd suggest another choice.....