Red Storm Rising » (~)

Known for originating the techno-thriller genre, Tom Clancy writes complex novels dense with hardware and international intrigue. Perhaps the strongest indication of his power as a writer is the fact that he is often treated by the media like a character in one of his books, asked for opinions about military readiness and the subject of rumors about being debriefed by the Pentagon. Not bad for a former salesman who was rejected for service because of bad eyesight.

"Allah!"

With that shrill cry, three Muslim terrorists blow up a key Soviet oil complex, creating a critical oil shortage that threatens the stability of the USSR.

To offer the effects of this disaster, members of the Politburo and the KGB devise a brilliant plan of diplomatic trickery - a sequence of events designed to pit the NATO allies against each other - a distraction calculated to enable the Soviets to seize all the oil in the Persian Gulf.

But as this spellbinding story of international intrigue and global politics nears its climax, the Soviets are faced with another prospect, one they hadn't planned on: a full-scale conflict in which nobody can win.

Library Journal

A second contemporary international thriller from the author of The Hunt for Red October. One of Russia's biggest oil refineries is destroyed by a Muslim terrorist group. Facing an oil shortage that would leave their country open to economic and political disasters, the Russian leaders decide to seize the oil in the Persian Gulf. They instigate a ground war that surprises NATO and the U.S. and threatens to eliminate them as political and military forces in Europe. This long, long novel is a detailed chronicle of the air, sea, and land battles that erupt as a result of ``Red Storm''the Russian plan of attack. The Russians are clearly the bad guys herefrequently frightened, inept, or evil. The Americans are always the heroic victims of unjustified aggression or the smooth skilled winners. Frighteningly realistic. Polished. Technical. Primarily for military novel buffs. Jean B. Palmer, Phillips Acad. Lib., Andover, Mass.