This book was published in 1989, so imagine a crisis in the Middle East, a Soviet invasion of Iran, and a clash of US and Soviet naval forces. The US has the Nimitz battle group stationed in the Arabian Sea, the Soviets have the Bresnev battle group in the adjacent Persian Gulf, separated by the Straits of Hormuz. Imagine further a US space station, the "Silver Tower," and a new beam weapon needing to be tested for the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) program. The space station is also capable of moving its orbit to map and track every ship in the battle theater and transmitting the map to the Nimitz carrier group, giving that fleet a massive edge. The Soviets don't like it one bit and, in addition to adding a new carrier group into the mix, Arkhangel, they decide to take the "tower" down.This is the setup for a great story idea, full of skirmishes, sea battles, air battles, and space battles. The biggest problem with Dale Brown's writing style is that it's excrutiatingly detailed. Just about every technical device used is decribed down almost to it specifications, and, since we're exercising our imagination, you can imagine how much such descriptions slow down the flow of the story. Add into it an unlikely romance which seems to blossom a little too suddenly and you end up widening an already huge credibility gap.Despite its faults, the story will keep you reading to the end if you can get past its slow, detailed beginning, and overlook its slow, detailed final scene, and I recommend it to the more technically-inclined readers. Because of the strength of the story idea, the convincing technical expertise of the writer, and the well-depicted battle scenes, I rate this book at 4 out of 5 stars.
This book ought to be tossed out and started over. It's set in the 1980s and features a Soviet invasion of Iran and a US space ship in (scientifically impossible) orbit. POTUS micromanages worse than LBJ and Obama together. I think that the tactics might be all right; that's Brown's forte and the interaction of the missile with it's guide rails is discussed. I guess that only Navys fight wars for Brown. The crowning incredulity was when SECDEF called a 1 star general in orbit -- promoted him to 3 stars and made him work for a 2 star. That's when I skipped the middle 3/4 of the book and read the [weak] ending.
