Book Description
A GRIPPING STORY OF IMPERIAL AMBITION, SWASHBUCKLING ADVENTURE, AND THE KAISER'S OWN JIHAD.
An acclaimed historian tells, for the first time, the full story of the conspiracy between the Germans and the Turks to unleash a Muslim holy war against the British in India and the Russians in the Caucasus. Drawing on recently opened intelligence files and rare personal accounts, Peter Hopkirk
skillfully reconstructs the Kaiser's bold plan and describes the exploits of the secret agents on both sides-disguised variously as archaeologists, traders, and circus performers-as they sought to foment or foil the uprising and determine the outcome of World War I.
Book Description
The author of the New York Times bestsellers Dune: House Atreides and Star Wars: Darksaber delivers the first book in an all-new epic science fiction adventure trilogy.In our galaxys distant future, humans are one of three known intelligent races. Having had the ability to navigate star travel for only a few centuries, we are considered the new kids on the block in a long- established universe. The second intelligent race is the Ildirans, who are ruled by their Mage-Imperator; and the third race, the Klikiss, seems to have vanished and left behind a world full of artifacts and remarkable technology, which humans are now beginning to find and utilize. One such piece of technology is a device that has the power to turn a gaseous and useless supergiant planet into a small sun, thereby creating a new solar system in which humans can live. But when the device is tried for the first time, it awakens the wrath of a previously unsuspected fourth race, the Hydroguesand a galaxy-spanning war that threatens all life begins.
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In our galaxy's far future, humans are one of three known intelligent races. We are the "new kids on the block," having had star travel for only a few centuries. The other races consist of the Ildirans, ruled by their Mage-Imperator, and the Klikiss, which seem to have vanished, but left behind worlds full of artifacts and fabulous technology that humans are now beginning to find and exploit.
One such piece of technology is a device that can turn a useless gas supergiant planet into a small sun, thereby creating new living space for humans. But when the device is tried for the first time, it awakens the ire of a hitherto unsuspected fourth race, the Hydrogues-and a galaxy-spanning war that threatens all life.
Set against this background are multiple subplots involving a large cast of fascinating characters: a married couple whose archaeological discoveries can save humanity; a young man kidnapped to take over the kingship of the vast Trade Federation; travelling communities of gypsy-like Roamers, one of whom becomes humanity's champion against the Hydrogues; and many more.
Customer Reviews:
Good start.......2007-08-13
The first novel in Anderson's new original series is well done, with an intriguing premise. Mankind has gone to the stars, but we may not be ready for what awaits us there. Hidden within a gas giant planet is a race of powerful and destructive beings. When we inadvertently awaken a sleeping dragon, a war that will consume the galaxy erupts and we must trust in allied who have their own agendas.
The story is very good, however the writing style takes some getting used to. The Saga of Seven Suns is writtem in an alternating narrator method. A chapter or two is told by one person, then the next chapter or two is told by another. Sometimes they are views of the same events, sometimes events that are taking place concurrently but across the galaxy. This can be jarring at first as a reader gets involved with one character and is abruptly jerked to a new one. I still don't like the style as much as standard third person point of view, or even first person, but it does lend itself to this plot.
Not for adults and/or fans of science........2007-07-16
This book should have a big Day-Glo "Fantasy - Young Adult" sticker on the cover and be shelved in the children's book section. Anderson has some great ideas, but executes them poorly with vapid prose, irritatingly stupid (as in clueless) characters and junk science. For example, it is generally accepted that one cannot raise pigeons on the open-air deck of a habitat orbiting a gas giant planet. It is also improbable that humans would use a fusion-drive mode of interstellar transport when they are able to generate wormholes with the ability to suck up a neutron star and deposit it anywhere they choose. Why not just vacuum up a Wal-Mart and some birds and stick 'em in orbit around some distant star's version of Jupiter? Also, humans would probably not need to rely on the quantum telepathy of alien trees to communicate instantaneously across the galaxy.
It is also unlikely that a fusion powered engine would have a turbocharger.
In each of the 115 chapters in this 441 page book (each 2 to 3 page chapter boldly labeled with the character it is about to chronicle, ostensibly to aid any reader with very poor short-term memory,) most of the nouns and verbs are modified with an adjective - 'deeply aware' 'beloved forest' 'beatific face' "soft mists, green gases, and swirling currents' 'indelible tatoos' 'carefully potted' etc. - leaving the impression that Anderson consulted his Creative Writing 101 textbook and a thesaurus several times per sentence. His character's experiences are similarly modified in a 1950's B-movie poster 'thrill of panic' style that quickly becomes tedious and tiring to read. The reason this book is getting one star instead of none is because it has an end, and upon further contemplation it should probably not be in the children's book section, where it might give some aspiring young writer the idea to pen something as equally irritating, although that would be quite a feat.
Did I mention the stardrives have turbochargers?
Good book but way too shallow characters.......2007-04-25
In the book Hidden Empire by Kevin J. Anderson, humanity is preparing to test a device which will convert a gas giant into a sun. The test is successful but before the gas giant finishes its conversion into a star, diamond-hulled ships fly out of the newly forming sun. The book then cuts to about a hundred pages of interstellar politics. Suddenly a Roamer skymine is attacked. The skymine falls into the gas giant leaving no survivors. Numerous other skymines attacked including one of the few remaining skymines used by the Ildirans. There an Ildiran battleship rams a warglobe destroying it. Then a hydrogue emissary goes to Earth and demands that all skymining operations stop. The emissary then blows "himself" up. Afterwards, a task force is sent to forcibly allow the extraction of hydrogen for ekti production. The task force is clobbered. Simultaneously, two archaeologists learn about the history of the Klikiss race. The robots assisting them suddenly turn on them and kill of the archaeologists. The other escapes through a teleportation device and the book ends.
What happened to the ending? I thought the ending was a bit "unfinished" as it could have used a bit more polish. Overall, the book was good not delving into too much unnecessary detail but vague in certain areas, especially areas key to the plot. However, I found that it didn't detract all too much from the book and some people who don't read a book every two days might enjoy it. However, the book is the first one in a series and you really have to read the remaining books in order in order to get a good understanding of what's going on.
Interesting SF epic.......2007-02-24
Kevin J Anderson is a solidly established SF writer, having written several award-winning novels and also writing an update to the prestigious 'Dune' series with Brian Herbert.
The saga of Seven Suns is an SF epic, which begins with a rapidly expanding and confident starfaring human civilisation living some four centuries from the present. The story begins with the discovery of mysterious alien artefacts by xenoarcheaologists belonging to a dead civilisation known as the Klikiss, insect-like beings whose civilisation mysteriously dissapeared some 10,000 years ago. As the story unfolds we learn of the other main alien race, the Ildirans, who gave humans FTL spaceflight but whose civilisation appears to be in decay.
Humans are divided into three main groups, the Terran Hanseatic League, a loose conglomerate of planets whose power and wealth lies mainly through free-market trade in an interstellar economy, and governed by a puppet-king who obeys Basil Wenceleas, the chairmain of the League. There are also the Romas, a loose grouping of humans who spend their lives in space or on comets, and the Green Priests, who serve as a FTL communications system of sorts.
Thing seem to go well until Wencelas decides to set off a device called the Klikiss Torch, which turns gas giant planets into minature suns by creating nuclear fusion reactions at their core, on a planet called Oncier, so humans can colonise the Moons. Mysteriously, several spherical bodies appear to depart the planet at high speed after the Torch is set. Soon after the test is declared a success however, the colonies and research stations around Oncier are utterly annihalated by an overwhelming and mysterious alien attack.
Things get worse as these aliens begin to attack human colonies, ships and installations through the Hanseatic empire until these aliens come to Earth itself. Declaring themselves to be the hydrogues, aliens of liquid crystal who live in the deep cores of gas giant planets, they say humans have declared total war by destroying one of their main planetary homes, Oncier, with the torch. They demand humans pull away from all gas giants, the source of FTL fuel, or face total destruction.
The series unfolds across five books and the conflict widens to include not just humans and the hydrogues but also new alien races, and also new allies fighting with the hydrogues. The result seems to be a looming cosmic battle that will not only possibly end in the extinction of humanity, but also the redefinition of life as we know it in the galaxy.
The epic is well written, fast paced, and well executed. The focus is more on action rather than character and plot, which makes this book somewhat more hollow than a greater epic such as Dune. But, it is an entertaining and intruiging story you find hard to put down, so, four stars for this one.
An attempt to build an epic.......2007-02-17
Having read Peter Hamilton's Night's Dawn Trilogy and Commonwealth Duology (and a host of other science fiction), and knowing Kevin J. Anderson has written a lot of well-reviewed books, I had high hopes for this book.
Unfortunately, things didn't turn out so well. Sadly, this book was unnecessarily lengthy, simple, and insultingly predictable.
To use an analogy, if Mr. Hamilton's space operas are better-than-average steaks, this book is.. well, fast food hamburger. Without cheese. Just the patty and bun. To be fair, it's not canned meatloaf. It could at least have been Salisbury steak, but alas it's not.
I'm hoping the rest of the series will make-up for this bland start (I've already bought the first 3 books and queued them in my to-read shelf before I started reading this).
Although the story does have enough "unused potential," - at least enough for me to want to read the rest of the series and see how it turns out. Of course, with hopes that the series will greatly improve.
Book Description
In June 1792, amidst the chaos of the French Revolution, two intrepid astronomers set out in opposite directions on an extraordinary journey. Starting in Paris, Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Delambre would make his way north to Dunkirk, while Pierre-François-André Méchain voyaged south to Barcelona. Their mission was to measure the world, and their findings would help define the meter as one ten-millionth of the distance between the pole and the equator -- a standard that would be used "for all people, for all time."
The Measure of All Things is the astonishing tale of one of history's greatest scientific adventures. Yet behind the public triumph of the metric system lies a secret error, one that is perpetuated in every subsequent definition of the meter. As acclaimed historian and novelist Ken Alder discovered through his research, there were only two people on the planet who knew the full extent of this error: Delambre and Méchain themselves.
By turns a science history, detective tale, and human drama, The Measure of All Things describes a quest that succeeded as it failed -- and continues to enlighten and inspire to this day.
Customer Reviews:
The Measure of All Things.......2007-04-01
"The historian owes the dead nothing but the truth." Quoting Delambre in this instance, Ken Alder makes it known that he is conscious of the ethical responsibility that historians are required to uphold. As a historian himself, I have little doubt that he has intentionally wavered from this oath, nor do I believe that he ever attempted to suppress information. He is bound by his profession to seek and give truth. However, anyone who as gifted as he is, is certainly capable of persuading his audience, especially an audience who has no intent to seek out inconsistencies. In this book, I believe that Alder may be over-dramatizing the importance of some of the information presented. I also think that the context, organization and generalization that Alder expresses can also mislead the common day reader or the critical reader for that matter. In this historical account I find myself confused by many of the messages that he is sending forth. Here I feel it is necessary to quote the following paragraph, taken from the prologue, to express several of my viewpoints:
"Together, these documents reveal a remarkable story. They reveal that Mechain-despite his extreme caution and exactitude-committed an error in the early years of the expedition, and worse, upon discovering his mistake, covered it up. Mechain was so tormented by the secret knowledge of his error that he was driven to the brink of madness. In the end, he died in an attempt to correct himself. The meter, it turns out, is in error, an error which has been perpetuated in every subsequent redefinition of its length, including our current definition of the meter in terms of the distance traveled by light in a fraction of a second."
Starting from the beginning, we first see Alder use his words to imply that his error was a mistake and by covering it up was something even worse. I would argue that Mechain did not commit an error at all. In fact, it was his keen attention to detail that produced observational inconsistencies. If he had subscribed to Delambre's methodology, he would have checked his measurements according to two stars, which would have agreed, and he would have been on his way. In fact, the first three stars were in agreement, it was a fourth star, Mizar, an obscure star located on the horizon, that put him in disagreement. If simple statistical theory existed during this time, it would deduce Mizar's observation as an outlier. Covering up this so-called error is another shadow that Alder casts at this early juncture at Mechain's expense. We know from Delambre and Mechain's dialog that Mechain consistently told his colleague of this error. We are also made aware that Delambre said the following in regards to Mechain, "if he dissimulated a few anomalous results which he feared would be blamed on his lack of care or skill, if he succumbed to the temptation to alter several series of observations...., at least he did so in such a way that the altered data never entered into the calculation of the meridian." Finally, Alder chooses to lead into a statement explicitly stating that the meter, as we know it today, is in error. If this were true and Mechain did botch the survey, how would this error get translated or `perpetuate' to the distance traveled by light in a fraction of a second?
The next paragraph continues to make shocking revelations. When Alder stated, "the meter calculated by Delambre and Mechain falls roughly .2 millimeters short", I passed over it with some caution. However, by the time I finished the book I was thoroughly perplexed by this conclusive statement. Is Alder suggesting that Delambre and Mechain are the ones who calculated the meter? As I recall in Alder's own words, "the single factor that made the greatest difference to the final determination of the meter was based on the very data they had been sent to supercede." Moreover, what is Alder implying by falling short? Do we now know the correct distance from the equator to the pole and it is an unchanging fixed measure? What is Alder's source or foundation in making a statement like this or any of these haphazard remarks?
My reaction to the prologue, as I am sure most readers might be, is that the meter being in error is a very significant discovery, and without equivocation - Mechain is to blame for this discrepancy. I can only hope that it is not written by Alder himself. Even if it is not, he is responsible for the fabric of this ballyhoo. If I had not read this portion of the book, I may have not had anything critical to say about it. I think it is an accurate historical account of what took place and I enjoyed seeing some of the incipient stages of globalization come into view. I was also intrigued by the world's perception in this time period and how the revolution marked the demise of some predominant theocentric misconceptions, which, in my mind, precipitated the end of the `savant' and gave rise to the scientist.
All things considered, I was disappointed that the book did not fulfill its promise. I think it is degrading to promote a book about science in such a way as to trick readers into thinking it's something that it's not. Some who read this book may gather that it is about a "hidden error that transformed the world", for me it was a book that did not live up to its billing, and kept me second guessing myself and the author's intent throughout.
It helps if you're a surveyor or geodesist, but good for everyone.......2005-12-29
I greatly enjoyed this book. While there have been complaints about a lack of example calculations and discussion of details of how it was done, there is enough in here for someone familiar with this type of work to figure it out. And if you don't know this material, you may not want to be faced with the math (believe me)!
The discussion on the repeating 'theodolite' was great, as were the trials and tribulations of triangulation. If you've ever measured angles on a mountain top, you'll know just what the author is getting at. A great achievement for an historian, who, we presume, may not have done this kind of work.
There are two other really good parts of this book. The first is the discussion on the search for a 'universal' system of measurement. It places the metric system in a context, not as the be-all and end-all, but as a serious effort to solve a serious set of problems. The discussion of the 'error' is fascinating. This part hasn't changed in nature, just the current details.
The second is the analysis of the personalities of the two central characters. Alder does bring them to life. Having worked in Antarctica for a year and seen people dealing with the stress of isolation, the story was very real to me: I almost knew those guys, albeit in different times and guises. And the stress was real: these guys ran the risks of close encounters with Madame Guillotine, wars, disease, politics, the works. This was quite apart from the normal risks of the job, such as falling off cliffs and towers, exposure, unhappy locals, etc. Thank heavens for GPS, a technology that is possible only because of the foundation work of geodesists like Mechain and Delambre.
Enjoy this book, as a history of measurement and geodesy, a history of a major surveying achievement, and a vivid study of personalities under real stress.
Measure, but no details.......2005-10-23
I have no hesitation in recommending this book to just about any interest or level of scientific knowledge or background. There is a wealth of information that is generally little known. How many of us knew that metrication was a unifying factor beyond simply the impaired meter measurement? How many of us knew that the most advanced nation in the world, the USA, is one of few hold-outs in the world (along with N. Korea, for instance) that have not accepted metrication -- and screwed up a very expensive Mars landing expedition as a consequence?
Why only three stars? I'm sorry Mr. Alder, but I bought your book primarily because I wanted to know how the two guys did it -- but you didn't tell me in any detail! OK, so this was not intended as a text book and if it had been packed with all the geometry it would not have sold as well. But even so, surely we should have been provided with some access. An appendix with some example calculations would have been welcome. How about a web site reference to the detailed mathematics? It is a great wonder to me how these guys managed to do all these detailed calculations when all they had was stylus and paper. And the precision to which they worked was very great, requiring either reams of trigonometric tables or very tedious calculations for every trig function they used.
It took me a long time to read this book, because I spent a lot of time on the Internet trying to find references to how they performed their calculations. Surprisingly I found nothing significant. So Mr. Alder, having researched all the original papers, missed an oportunity to enlighten us. I think how they did the calculations to the precision they were able would have been at least as interesting a story.
Perhaps you can add this as a sequel, Mr. Alder...
A story about science and scientists.......2005-02-22
This book follows a recent trend, which has produced some very good books, to take a relevant but poorly known scientific development and telling its story and the story of its main protagonists. Alder has chosen the story of how, in the late XVIII Century, the Royal Academy of Sciences in France was trying hard to reach the definitive measurement of the meter, and hence of all the metric system, the one which today dominates weights and measures around the world. The meter was supposed to be a ten millionth of the distance from one of the poles to the equator. The French proposed taking a sample of one meridian, the segment running from Dunkirk down to Barcelona, measuring it to perfection and then inferring the rest of the distance of the meridian. One ten millionth of that would be the meter. Two outstanding astronomers are chosen for the job, which was supposed to last no more than a year. But alas, the French Revolution comes to full gear at the beginning of the labors, and our scientists suffer all kinds of setbacks, prolonging the task for seven long and hard years.
Who were these gentlemen? Well, here is where the story gets all its fascinating features, illuminating the reader about how much the personalities involved in research can affect the scientific outcome of it. The first man is Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre. He is a man of humble origins, a Classicist who has become tutor to a noble and rich family. A late bloomer, Delambre has become a remarkable astronomer almost all by himself, as a disciple of renowned (a magnificent and eccentric character) Jerome Lalande. The other man is a professional astronomer, also a disicple of Lalande's. His name is Pierre Francois Andre Mechain, who lives in the Royal Observatory in Paris.
Delambre goes north of Paris to Dunkirk while Mechain goes south to Barcelona. In the early days of their quest, political events (the execution of King Louis XVI and the instauration of the Terror) impose severe setbacks to both scientists. So severe, that the original year of labor will stretch to seven years. This is where the book reaches high altitudes, when it describes the differences in personalities between Delambre and Mechain. Granted, Mechain suffers much more, including a terrible accident and exile in Italy. But while Delambre is patient, practical and business-going, Mechain starts developing a severe anguish, emotional imbalance and paranoia. All this is aggravated by a mysterious situation, which really becomes the axis of the story: while measuring up the latitude at Montjuich, south of Barcelona, Mechain seems to make a mistake which will torment him for the rest of his life. One of the meditions (each one related to a different star) simply doesn't fit with the rest. Delambre or any other practical astronomer would simply have dismissed the incongrous data as a mysterious distortion, but Mechain, a man obsessed with an accuracy impossible for his age, decides not to disclose the mistake, fearing it might destroy his reputation. And so, year after year, he carries along his guilt and his paranoia.
Somehow, the book has a happy ending I will not spoil here. Suffice it to say this a very interesting and well written story about a true and relevant scientific quest. Don't get bogged down in scientific detail if you don't get everyting right. The adventure and the human story are more than satisfactory enough.
The search for precision.......2005-01-26
Since the book 'Longitude', by D. Sobel, was published and became a best seller, there have been a number of books that have tried to follow the same lines. Some of these efforts have been successful. Unfortunately, I didn't feel that this book lived up to the task.
This story involves the quest for an accurate all encompassing unit of measure that can be agreed upon. During this period of time, the world does not have a standard unit of measure. Each town of province would have it's own standard for a unit of length, weight, and volume. Trade in that area would be based on this standard. This concept worked well until you left the area and tried to trade goods with a aneighboring town.
The neighboring town would have a different set of standards, which caused problems with setting unitary costs for goods. What a trader would pay per bushel of goods wouldn't mean very much when the size of the bushel changed from town to town.
The book goes into detail of the events regarding the determination of the standard meter. I enjoyed the race between the differnet countries, including the French trying to get the United States involved. Another interesting point was how the French Revolution played into the process. It was such a turbulent time and anyone hwo was part of the 'official' King's business were the enemy to the citizens.
The book gets a little long and drawn out regarding the measurements taken. It gets a little dry and, at times, difficult to keep ones interest. Not a bad book, but when compared to some of the better books, this one falls a little short.
Book Description
In a brief period of explosive, top-secret innovation during the 1950s, a small group of scientists, engineers, businessmen, and government officials rewrote the book on airplane design and led the nation into outer space. Led by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, they invented the U-2 and SR-71 spy planes and the first reconnaissance satellites that revolutionized spying, proved that the missile gap was a myth, and protected the United States from Soviet surprise nuclear attack. They also made possible the space-based mapping, communications, and targeting systems used in the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Veteran New York Times reporter and editor Philip Taubman interviewed dozens of participants and mined thousands of previously classified documents to tell this hidden, far-reaching story. He reconstructs the crucial meetings, conversations, and decisions that inspired and guided the development of the spy plane and satellite projects during one of the most perilous periods in our history, a time when, as President Eisenhower said, the world seemed to be "racing toward catastrophe."
This is the story of these secret heroes, told in full for the first time.
Customer Reviews:
Worthwhile Read.......2007-08-16
I found the presentation of information in this book to be very thorough, and I learned a ton about some of the really advanced aerial and orbital systems that have come to shape the way America thinks of espionage. Definitely worth my time.
Fascinating Read.......2006-09-14
I stumbled onto this book (actually a MP3 audiobook) based upon a recommendation of a friend. Though I consider myself to be fairly well versed in the history of technology, I had no idea about the background of early American space-based espionage. I was just a child when America got serious about spying on the Russians.
This is a great book and blends story-telling with technical background information. I could hardly wait to get into my car and listen to more on the way to work and back. The book balances talking about the great triumphs of early American space efforts (U2, Blackbird, satellites) against the debacles and failures each program. You learn much about the actual people that made this all possible.
I highly recommend this book, particularly if you are new to this genre. BTW, I had no idea which famous American inventor and industrialist was so closely associated with early spaced based reconnaissance efforts. Enjoy!
Couldn't get away from it.......2006-02-26
This book is very good with balancing the technical, personal, and historical development of the US spy satelite program. I read it straight through in about 3 days. I only say very good because sometimes there was more details about the personal lives on the characters than I wanted; however, I tend to lean toward getting excited about the technical aspects of this topic.
Easy read for the beginner Space Age history buff........2005-11-09
The epilogue of the book brings the dramatic storytelling and allure of the initial years of high altitude spying to a screeching halt when the author makes a futile effort to connect the 1950's and 60's to our post 9-11 world. He believes that "terrorists are everything Soviet military forces were not," and that civilian and military intelligence analysts were crutched by the availability of high-resolution pictures vice experienced Human Intelligence operatives in the world's hot spots (pg. 361). This loosely formulated conclusion seems to be as cockamamie as blaming the "smart" bombs dropped from B-1's and B-52's for not homing in on and killing terrorists like Osama bin Laden.
Every technology has its place. But, it's like comparing apples and oranges when it comes to the intelligence disciplines. Human operatives have a different focus than imagery intelligence, and can really give a ground truth perspective of the political, emotional, and potential hostilities of a situation. If Taubman feels that the lack of CIA and other agents on the ground in places like Afghanistan and Iraq were the crux of the problem, then he could have addressed such in a different forum than this very comprehensive effort on the history of United States air and space-borne reconnaissance.
Excellent histroy book on US Strategic Reconnaissance 1950s.......2005-03-03
It is a clear, consecutive and exciting story which gives readers vivid description on what's going on with strategic reconnaissance on USSR in those cold war days.
For the sake of a free world, a small group of super smart Ph.D. engineer, ambitious military officer and brave pilots tried their best to unveil the attacking powers under the iron curtain, and finally they made it --- U2, SR71, and Spy Satellite.
I have to say this book changed my mind a lot on President Eisenhower, who overcomed various obstruct from USAF, Congress and so on, pushed the R&D of these reconnaissance craft. In this point, he is a sort of like President Reagan, who brought US a rebirth by speeding up the military race which directly or indirectly speed up the final crash of that "Evil Empire". Great men.
No idea why downstair guys gave such a low rating, IMHO, it is a definitly 5 pts book for cold war histroy.
btw, Philip was Times's Moscow bureau chief in the late 1980's
Average customer rating:
- The Hidden Empire
- in the tradition of Ian Fleming
- a great read in the genre
- Along for the Ride
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The Hidden Empire (Mallory Chronicles)
Howard Lawson , and
Ron Speers
Manufacturer: Pentland Press (NC)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1571973567 |
Book Description
Commander Deke Mallory, USN, an F/A 18 Hornet Squadron skipper, no sooner leaves the Navy to enjoy his family than his world is shattered by the murder of his wife. When he and his son visit the Central American Republic of Costa Verde as guests of Peralta, the immensely wealthy son of the former democratic president, Mallory's son is snatched by the ruling junta's goons. With the fate of his son unknown, Mallory is shanghaied by the President for an unprecedented return to active duty, and ordered to go underground in Central America to track down a renegade CIA agent. When Peralta and his beautiful sister, Elena, launch a counter-revolution, Mallory must choose whether to fly a mission for the freedom-fighters to cover a dicey attempt to rescue his son from an impenetrable jungle prison.
He can't prove it but Mallory has stumbled onto Neo-Nazi economic terrorists bent on controlling all Central America from their safe cover, posing as the archbishop and priests at the cathedral, protected by a mole at the Vatican. With Elena marked for death, and his son's fate unknown, only Deke Mallory can expose "The Hidden Empire" -- if he can just stay alive long enough.
Customer Reviews:
The Hidden Empire.......2004-04-20
I didn't want the book to end! It was fast paced, full of twists and turns. The topic and depth of knowledge by both Lawson and Speers gave it a very real and eerie context. I felt like I was in the airplane at the controls with the lead character. Not a normal place for me to be, but the way they wrote the dialogue I was right there with them. Deserves to be a best seller! Can't wait to see what these characters are up to in the next book! A must read!
in the tradition of Ian Fleming.......2003-12-19
This book has so much going for it, various characters, plots, sub plots, etc. It moved along and reminded me of the James Bond series of books written by Ian Fleming. The authors collective backgrounds made it not only a great adventure but truely showed their vast knowledge of subject matter.
A great read! I look forward to reading the next chapter of the Mallory chronicles!
a great read in the genre.......2003-10-30
First, to be fair, this is my kind of book. It's a guy book. Not that women would not enjoy it (strong female character), but it's about men- bonding, trust, flying, loving, losing, joy and despair. About being a man, a soldier, a husband and a father. Corny? Perhaps. Could I pick at the book because it's sentences are a little awkward or simplistic? And using flashbacks works well on the screen, but for me (read: village idiot) not too well in books with multiple characters. But that's like avoiding road racing because the harness wrinkles your clothes. I started this book on a Thursday night one chapter, Friday night, another, and woke up with the flu on Saturday. And read the rest of the entire book.
It's one of those books that once you are finished you begin to wonder how another book will hold your interest. All of a sudden all the books you were thinking of reading next become, well, tarnished.
I had a great time, thanks for the ride!
Along for the Ride.......2003-09-22
The Hidden Empire is a fast-moving, intriguing novel which combines the military, religious and political worlds in a fascinating way. The authors' extensive backgrounds with the military and intelligence communities are evident as they write a book which, throughout its complex story-line, evolves as a truly believable plot. Deke Mallory and the other characters become indelibly imprinted on the mind of the reader.
Books:
- Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
- Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or Shadow
- Midlife Mamas on the Moon: Celebrate Great Health, Friendships, Sex, and Money and Launch Your Second Life
- My War: Killing Time in Iraq
- New X-Men Vol. 1: E is for Extinction
- Offshore Sailing: 200 Essential Passagemaking Tips
- Old Soldiers (Bolos)
- Optical Waves in Crystals: Propagation and Control of Laser Radiation (Wiley Series in Pure and Applied Optics)
- Our Changing Planet: An Introduction to Earth System Science and Global Environmental Change (3rd Edition)
- Pathfinder: John Charles Fremont and the Course of American Empire
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Night
- God's Grace and the Homosexual Next Door: Reaching the Heart of the Gay Men and Women in Your World
- What We Talk About When We Talk About Love: Stories
- A Different Light
- America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
- Geoenvironmental Engineering: Site Remediation, Waste Containment, and Emerging Waste Management Tec
- Evaluation: An Integrated Framework for Understanding, Guiding, and Improving Policies and Programs
- Words for Pictures: Seven Papers on Renaissance Art and Criticism
- Yugoslavia President Vojislav Kostunica
- Agentes Comerciales Internacionales
Setting the East Ablaze: Lenins Dream of an Empire in Asia
The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia (Kodansha Globe)
Trespassers on the Roof of the World: The Secret Exploration of Tibet (Kodansha Globe)
Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia
Quest for Kim: In Search of Kipling's Great Game
