GOOD FRIDAY BY ROBERT LAWRENCE HOLT

Copyright 1987

In the near future the Soviet Union decides to invade Saudi Arabia and seize their oil. A large air fleet has left Afghanistan headed for the oil fields at Dharan. Another fleet loaded with Cubans is headed for Riyadh from Yemen. The Saudi air force is completely helpless as their weapons are no match for the Soviets. The American President a history professor decides that America must invade Saudi Arabia first. With the marine contingent in the gulf, they stage a fake invasion with the reluctant consent of the Saudi king. Only elements of the Saudi military resist and decide to massacre a compound of westerners. Anyway the marines manage to set the airfields at Dhahran on fire which disrupts the operation. A Saudi prince leads his fellow countrymen on the airport tarmac at Riyadh with their cars to drive off the Cubans. Everything works out as the Americans use this to install a more pro-western government and drive the Iranians out of Kuwait.

A techno-thriller without any thrills. The whole setup of this kooky invasion is just ridiculous. The scene where they use cars to drive off the Cubans is absolutely hilarious. I get the feeling that the author really has no idea how a military operation works. He has the Soviets so overpowered that the Saudi’s lose over two hundred of their advanced fighters without losing a single plane. Yet they land on an airfield soaked with oil and burn up. I won’t even talk about the goofy car scene. Or the convoluted reasoning about having to invade first. I am pretty sure that the Soviets were aware of the importance to America of the Saudi oilfields.

Actually, rereading this when we have been involved in the region for decades was quite interesting. The Iranians invading Kuwait and being able to continue to occupy it is obviously something America wouldn’t stand for. The author has such a positive outcome in the region with a more liberal government for the Saudi’s. They even decide to confiscate their foreign reserves as punishment for the massacre and give it to the IMF to give out third world loans. Wow is this a globalist wet dream. Of course, we know the real outcome of our involvement and it was anything so successful. A strange book from a more simpler time that was mildly interesting.

AMERIKA THE TRIUMPH OF THE AMERICAN SPIRIT BY BRAUNA E. POUNS

Copyright 1987.

In the near future the Soviet Union comes to the conclusion they are losing the cold war and drastic measure must be implemented. They detonate nuclear explosions over America and the EMP knocks out America’s communications and nuclear defenses. America has no choice but to surrender. They are to disarm the military, destroy the dollar and in effect become a client state of the Soviet Union. Ten years later America is divided into regions and the puppet government controlled by the People’s Progressive Party(PPP) maintains a Communist style economy and political structure. The nation is also occupied by the UNSSU(United Nations Special Service Unit) comprised of Warsaw Pact and other Communist forces.

Now that the Soviets control the world things are not doing well. Rebellions all over threaten to unravel the victory. The Politburo wants to detonate nuclear explosions over select American cities to demonstrate their power to the world. The general in charge of the occupation comes up with a less extreme plan. The congress will be destroyed in a staged terrorist attack and the regions will declare their independence. In effect the country will be several smaller client states.

The story follows three men in the Central Administrative Region in the Mid-West. Devin Milford a former Presidential candidate who tried to oppose the takeover and ends up in a prison camp in Texas. He gets released and returns to Milford, Nebraska. The other is his best friend Peter Bradford who is the town administrator and one who believes in cooperation with the new order. He is the first to be chosen to lead the new country of Heartland. The third is Colonel Andrei Denisov the KGB agent in charge of the region. Through these three we see the various viewpoints of the resistance and pragmatism to the new regime. All comes to a head when the Heartland secedes and a big fight with the UNSSU.

This miniseries from 1987 came about when Ben Stein suggested this as a counterpoint to the movie The Day After. Well four years later they succeeded in getting it made. By 1987 thought the evil empire was looked on more favorably with Gorbachev and his policies of glasnost and perestroika. There was the usual shrill condemnation from the various media. The Soviets of course condemned it as the UN who were portrayed as tools of the Soviets. Yet its worst enemy was the script. A series that was 14 1/2 hours long broadcast over seven days was a flop. The ratings were big in the beginning but quickly dropped and they never delivered to the advertisers as promised.

This book is an adaptation of the screenplay by Donald Wrye who also directed the series. Now it has been over thirty years since I saw this but remember I liked it. I can see though why it might have not been a success. The book can be a bit drawn out at times and a bit preachy. The book goes into detail how the Soviets gained control where the TV series was bit vague. I think the vagueness was better as the reason explained. The military is well aware of EMP and all our systems are shielded. Plus the launching of nukes over the country would have been detected and probably lead to a nuclear war. The series was spot on that the Soviet Union was losing as a few years later became very obvious. I think my biggest surprise is that a series like this was ever green lighted by the entertainment industry. They are notoriously left leaning even back then.

Anyway this was a fun nostalgic look back to my teenage years. The series is available on youtube if you are interested in checking it out.

HIGH COMMAND BY ANTON EMMERTON

Copyright 1986.

In this near future the Soviet Union invades Scandinavia. Using chemical weapons they conquer it in six days. Then they give an ultimatum to Great Britain. Surrender or else. The weak Labour government decides to surrender and without a shot fired, Great Britain becomes the Soviet British Protectorate. Their military is disbanded, and they are under the occupation of the Soviets to help them reorganize their economy.

Yet there is a nascent resistance forming. The Defense Intelligence Agency hear that the man behind this takeover will be staying at a resort in Cornwall. John Sulley a former member of MI6 was trapped in Los Angeles when the takeover occurred. He is recruited by the DIA to go in and assassinate Marshal Gorontsyev because he lived in the area and knows the people and the resort. The incentive is he can rescue the woman he loves who was trapped in Soviet occupied Britain. Thus begins his training and infiltration into Britain. Only this mission is cancelled because the President will meet with the Premier in London and the government doesn’t want any controversy during this meeting. Needless to say Sulley and friends ignore this and go ahead with the plan.

This book shows that America wasn’t the only country with an inferiority complex when it came to the Soviets. This one has them just give up in spite of being a nuclear power and having the second largest military in NATO at the time. They meekly submit to being a protectorate which is just a level above a full colony. Now I could point out that Norway was a NATO member so America and the alliance would have been obligated to come to their aid. Needless ignoring their brutal invasion and losing Britain I couldn’t see NATO surviving this.

Now in spite of this kooky scenario, the book is an enjoyable thriller. Its cover invokes a more WWII feel, and this story could have worked set in WWII or any other country. It is basically a love story set in an occupied country. It has evil occupiers and a resistance fighting them. Some espionage intrigue on both the Soviet and American side. Plus, a good old action sequence at the end. I highly recommend it for this reason.

THE TAKEOVER BY G.C. EDMONDSON & C.M. KOTLAN

Copyright 1984.

In the near future the Soviet Union has organized a successful oil embargo of America. The economy comes grinding to a halt and the Navy is running out of fuel for its ships. The Soviets realize that this will soon end and decide to take advantage with their plan Cassandra. They detonate a nuclear bomb in the capital of a small Carribean nation. They threaten to detonate ones hidden in Washington and New York if America doesn’t surrender. So they take over America and start assassinating all the people that will cause trouble. Only Admiral Conyers refuses to give in. He leads a fleet of trident submarines that can still threaten Russia.

This book is a very confusing one. I was confused when I first read it and thirty some years later I am still confused. I never really understood how the Soviets took over. They have their twin ambassadors who have been exposed to radiation in an accident and are dying do the blackmailing. The leaders of the government decide to just give in and presto the Soviets are in control. Then the main story is about the son in law of Admiral Conyers. He owns a machine shop in Los Angeles and gets involved with the government in exile because his wife could be used as a hostage. First though he has to rescue the wife of one of his employees and young son who were deported to Mexico. They get involved with a KGB Mexican agent who wants to set up a separate state of Baja from Communist Mexico. There is a subplot of a Japanese American who is captain of an oil tanker smuggling oil through the embargo. His tanker gets destroyed by a Soviet destroyer when they shoot a missile into the tanker. The Soviets then go after him because they think there might be some super-secret weapon instead of an incompetent captain shooting a missile into an oil tanker. They pursue him all the way to Israel where he takes over the intelligence position with the embassy.

This book really just goes off on some wild and unexplained tangents. Although everything ends happily where the Soviets withdraw to face all the revolts and threats closer to home. A very strange book.

I, MARTHA ADAMS BY PAULINE GLEN WINSLOW

Copyright 1982.

It is an alternate future where Reagan and Bush were assassinated, and President Carmody assumed the office. Under his administration the nation’s nuclear defense was reduced to practically nothing. The Soviets launch a preemptive strike and destroy the countries nuclear silos in the west. Defenseless the U.S. must unconditionally surrender. The Soviets waste no time in setting up a Communist state. One where people are drafted into work projects. Mass arrests and executions of potential troublemakers. Martha Adams a U.N. employee finds out her husband worked on a secret project during the Reagan administration. A nuclear weapon so powerful it could destroy all of Russia. She and an Israeli agent make the dangerous trip across an occupied America to find this weapon in Utah so they can force the Soviets to withdraw.

This is my favorite standalone novel of a Soviet conquest book. The premise of a weak government and the sudden attack was done very realistically. What I found most disturbing was the way people just meekly accepted the surrender and actively participated in the Soviet’s plans. We get a very brutal occupation of forced labor, resettlement of populations and the eventual dismemberment of the United States.

This book did remind me of the novel Not This August. It has the same basic premise of America totally defeated and occupied. One person finds a secret weapon and uses it to free the country. This book is of course updated for the eighties. China is not an ally and in fact the only country actively opposing the Soviets. They get in a limited nuclear war and hold their own against them. This book also doesn’t just limit the point of view to the main character. We get to see the occupation from the Soviets side. There are three individuals put in charge. Marshal Borunokov the military planner behind the attack and presumed future premier. Virinsky the KGB head of North America and Ramon Perez the Castro like ruler of Cuba. Each of these men constantly jockey for power with delusions of grandeur. They even argue about remaining Washington after themselves. The name eventually becomes Hall City after the American Communist leader. The book holds your interest from beginning to end and never lets up in the middle. I highly recommend this book for it’s story is very relevant even though the Soviet Union is no more.