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Pictures from Baikonur

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Pictures From Balkonur

Author: William B. Trescott

Review by Tom Ness

I was pretty sure I was not going to care much for PICTURES FROM BALKONUR. My brother-in-law (author William Trescott) and I have very different political opinions, and from the cover art I expected a typical glorification of militaristic ideals. Instead, I was gripped from page one as the book precisely described the horrors and suffering endured by US Air Force pilots and crew engaged in the early testing of nuclear weapons. PICTURES FROM BALONUR tells the tale of a reconnaissance mission over the USSR which goes terribly wrong and brings the world to the brink of nuclear annihilation. The book is thoroughly researched and utterly convincing from a historical point of view. But even more interesting was the philosophical debate about the nature and paradox of threat-versus-security presented through the characters' dialogue. In the end, I learned a lesson: that conservatives hate war as much as liberals like myself. PICTURES FROM BALKONUR is a fascinating look at the early days of the Cold War, and will be enjoyed by everyone who looks to history for lessons about how nations might learn to peacefully coexist. TN

-- William B. Trescott ...

As a life-long B-36 junkie, I was frankly a little excited at the thought that someone had written the Great B-36 Novel. Mr. Trescott certainly tried. He had a good plot idea, created credible characters (for the most part), and had done his homework on the hardware. But the narative has all the impact of wet wash. Inept imagery abounds (comparing the sound of a B-36 takeoff to a horde of lawnmowers is not the worst), the stowaway character (seriously injured) is connived on board the plane as it takes off from Thule only to disappear from the narrative as if the author didn't know what to do with her next, and the female MIG pilot takes off to intercept with Pushkin in her head and cracks up conviently near a passerby driving a Russian trioka (in Central Asia). Not to mention bizarre typos ("I'm serious," said the character!), and a pretentious use of foreign language statements (with footnote translations). Dreary. Doesn't work. Which is sad--VERY sad--because there is here and there will be found some very credible character interaction and some powerful situations. My advice to the author: LEARN HOW TO WRITE. My advice to the would-be reader: this thing has it moments, but Harry Potter is a lot better.