China Attacks (Paperback)

~ Steven W. Mosher (Author), Chuck DeVore (Author) "Major Chu Dugen remained motionless in the predawn calm, the moon lay low in the west to his right..." (more)
Key Phrases: civilian ferries, motorized hang gliders, air mobile division, Colonel Flint, United States, Colonel Chu (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a page-turning flurry of the point-counterpoint world of military invasion and international political brinkmanship..." -- The Hong Kong iMail, February 13, 2001, by Peter Barker

"...the authors set up the global chessboard and raise the stakes higher and higher..." -- Writer's Digest

"...a page-turner for those interested in Sino-American affairs... ...this commonsense approach to foreign relations couldn't be more timely." -- Human Events, May 7, 2001, by J. Curtis Lovelace

...a page-turning flurry of the point-counterpoint world of military invasion and international political brinkmanship... -- The Hong Kong Standard, February 13, 2001, by Peter Barker

...a well-told piece of art imitating life: will the Asian dragon triumph...? -- The Strategy Page, August 6, 2002, by Adam Geibel

China Attacks is an astonishing novel... ... realistic and bracing... (it) provides us with looming threats of immobilizing tactics. -- Armor Magazine, Sept-Oct. 2002, by 1LT John P.J. Derosa

Product Description

China Attacks is an exciting, entertaining, yet informative novel that explores the international politics that may be leading the world to war, describes America's and China's vast military capabilities and plans, and posits a riveting scenario of catastrophic conflict as superpowers collide over the island nation of the Republic of China on Taiwan. Told through the eyes of five main characters: a young, brash and beautiful CIA analyst; a rock-solid Marine Corps colonel; an Army National Guardsman; a Chinese commando officer; and a member of China's Communist elite, China Attacks, leads the reader through deception, betrayal, brutality and triumph.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 415 pages
• Publisher: Infinity Publishing; 2nd edition (July 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0741404303
• ISBN-13: 978-0741404305
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #241,822 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting premise but flawed, December 19, 2003

By	Robert D. Merkamp "Robert D Merkamp" (San Mateo, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was looking forward to this book as I had not read many simulations showing a war between China and Taiwan. The scenario is fascinating and daring and is a generally fluid read. The beginning of the book moves quickly and pulls you effortlessly along. Of course events of the last two years have made this scenario a bit more unlikely but these guys don't claim to be seers, they're writing a story that among other things gives a good idea of how alot of military equipment works.

Yet, the book contains several flaws that grate. First, the characters are generally bland, one dimensional people that are hard to relate to. The "good guys" are pure good, they do everything right all the time and always seem to know what is actually happening. The "bad" guys are pure evil, always plotting and schemeing. The good characters are almost flawless while the bad have absolutely no redeeming virtue whatsoever. Not only is this fairly unrealistic but it gets tedious. Many people are not black and white and to have a book full of them gets old fast. When you start a scene with Character X, you pretty much know what they're going to be up to and what they're going to be about. The dialogue coming from their mouths was also quite predictable.

Second, the book seems to have been written by a pair of Clinton-haters. While never calling him out by name, the author spends no little time doing everything possible to show that Bill Clinton was an utter traitor and despicable human being on all levels. Say what you want, think what you want, but this book went way over the top on that angle to the point of silliness and yes, tediousness. I began to think that if Clinton were really this bad then the military was run by fools for continuing to obey him.

The book skipped around in time in a rather herky-jerky fashion. For instance, the first few chapters focused on a meeting that lasted a few days. Then all of a sudden months pass but you're not told this immediately, you have to figure it out from the reading! Then the Chinese invade Taiwan and it almost gets down to a minute by minute play by play, and then speeds up again and the authors skip over a few days in the space of a paragraph! While wasting time on a boring & tepid romance (between a 27 year old CIA analyst and a 51 year old father figure general) the Taiwanese were marshalling a counterattack and the Cinese nuked them with neutron devices. That however got a small mention as there was "love" in the air. C'mon! I didn't read this for a poorly worded, implausible, and boring romance!

The authors would focus on the nitty gritty of certain things (like the love story) that offered little but then offhandedly refer to major events happening in the background. The Marine Unit that fought to defend Taiwan for several days gets evacuated, but we don't get the details, we just happen to hear about it. No word on how (since the authors told us there were no US Navy surface assets nearby) or why or anything like that, just that one day, they were gone! They started an interesting thread about an LA class sub sinking some shipping in the straits between Taiwan and China but then stopped mentioning it. Did it get sunk? Was it recalled? Where did it go? One minute the sub has half the Chinese navy after it and then they just stop discussing it. What about the XO of the Marine unit (a stereotypical "bad" guy who was given no redeeming qualities)? He started out as a regular character but then vanishes halfway through. Did he die? Did he do something right? Was he relieved? What happened?

I did finish the book and in spite of the flaws I did enjoy much of it. But the flaws are major and the writing is generally poor. If you can look past that or aren't looking for much complexity this is fine but you're not getting Tom Clancy here, nowhere close.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast read -- mixes history, reality, and action, August 18, 2000

By A Customer

This print on demand book took less than 2 weeks to arrive after I ordered it. I devoured it in three days. (Who needs sleep anyway?) Good character development. Fun plot line with many surprises. Kind of like other techno-thrillers, but with more of a human face. In this book, not everything the U.S. does works and not everything the bad guys do fails. The ending was certainly a surprise.

Maybe we'll hear more from Devore and Mosher in the future -- if this effort is any indication of how they write, I hope so.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and Provacative, August 23, 2000

By	Lars K. Staack (San Diego, California USA) - See all my reviews

China Attacks is an entertaining, action-packed and provocative novel of the techno-thriller genre that bucks the current groupthink relating to China/Taiwan/United States relations.

Is Chinese aggression against Taiwan and the US unthinkable? You may wonder why they haven't attacked yet when you finally put this book down. Chuck DeVore, a respected Army Intelligence Officer, and Steven Mosher, a well known author of Chinese culture, weave high-tech military action and insightful human drama into an engrossing story that challenges your notions on Chinese strategic goals, culture, and even the use of modern military technology.

This book is a fast page-turner and just plain fun. I would recommend it to anyone interested in Tom Clancy-type books, as well as people interested in China and/or Taiwan. Good reading!