THUNDER OF EREBUS BY PAYNE HARRISON

Copyright 1991.

In the near future the United States and the new Soviet Confederation are at peace. Only there are problems. The Soviets are running out of oil. This will endanger their new economy and they need to secure new reserves. Invading Iran is the logical step. The Americans have developed a new weapon. As powerful as a nuclear bomb but without the fallout. This would stop their planned invasion. Yet the only source of the material for this weapon is in Antartica. Right next to McMurdo Station. The Soviets launch an invasion to seize the base. Stationing their sole aircraft carrier there and flying in hundreds of planes. The Americans respond with three carrier battlegroups. They succeed in sinking the Soviet carrier and taking back McMurdo. The Soviets respond with a new submarine launched ballistic missile that turns into a torpedo. They destroy the American carriers and the 6th Guards Airborne Division lands. Yet there are bigger problems as the active volcano Mount Erebus is about to blow.

This is probably the last techno-thriller that portrayed the Soviets as a credible threat. Sort of a last hurrah for them. It was written in their final year and came out after they collapsed. So, it was a bit dated when I bought the paperback version in 1993. It envisions the Soviets as being able to reform themselves economically and politically to become a stable and prosperous country. While China in this future is mired in a destructive civil war. Of course, the opposite happened. The Soviet Union collapses and the successor states became basket cases. China became more stable and prosperous.

Well besides getting the future wrong, the author does deliver a very solid book. He puts the action in the unique place of Antarctica. He gives us a story filled with plenty of action. It seesaws from the Soviets winning to losing and winning again. Then a shallow President who was a former news anchorman has a nuclear bomb detonated which sets off the volcano. At the end the two superpowers are the losers and the rest of the world forces them to sign a peace treaty. A very enjoyable story with believable action and compelling characters. I would not mind reading more from this author.

THE LAST PRISONER BY DAVID LORNE

Copyright 1991.

In 1996 the Soviet Union is facing severe problems. A successionist revolt in Ukraine is backed by Germany. The United States backs an economic embargo for the Soviets movements in Poland. Meanwhile Larry Farnes is an immunologist who works for a secret germ warfare program. He decides to expose it after a woman he loves dies in an accident. For this he is sentenced to a federal facility on an island off the coast of Georgia.

The Soviets decide to survive they need to strike at the United States. The President is unpopular and facing a tough reelection. They lose a deadly germ in America which kills millions. To further distract a leaderless America, they launch an invasion with eight thousand men landed in Florida. Farnes manages to escape his prison after most of the people die of the plague. He teams up with a woman that is immune and heads off to the CDC in Atlanta. They have to fight the various lawlessness along the way. They reach Atlanta but the invading Soviets do too and destroy the CDC. Farnes is captured but the general of the Soviet invasion needs his help. Another plague was released on his invading troops and they are dying. They have to capture the secret research base to find a cure and stop the impending nuclear war.

A book written in the final year of the Soviet Union. A very sympathetic one that sees the Soviets justified in committing genocide because they were being bullied by the west. I wonder if he cried when the Soviet Union collapses. Anyway he did foresee that if the Soviet Union continued on they would face some serious problems to their existence. The book is an OK one. Nothing really special but does keep the reader’s interest. I did find it a bit unrealistic on the whole. I mean I can see them releasing a virus but the whole invasion plan was a bit farfetched. Even though the civilian leadership died, the nuclear command was still intact, and they were about to launch until Larry Farnes convinced them otherwise. So everything ends with them finding a cure. Millions of dead in America and a growing plague around to world but at least the Soviets weren’t being bullied anymore.

RED ARMY BY RALPH PETERS

Copyright 1989.

In the near future the Soviet Union has decided to invade West Germany. The First Western Front will attack in the north and head toward the Rhine. The plan is simply to force the West German government to ask for a separate peace. They gather their forces and attack. The Soviets engage various West German, British, Dutch, Belgian and American forces over a period of three days. They succeed in forcing the West Germans to ask for a separate peace and seriously weaken NATO.

While there have been books on a future NATO/Warsaw Pact conflict, I believe this is the only one to solely focus on the Soviet side. Peters a former Army Intelligence officer specializing in Soviet affairs has a firm grasp on the Russian character. It is told from a variety of viewpoints from the top general, to battalion commanders and airborne troops. Fighter pilots to the common conscript. Each of the characters has his own unique personality and motives. From Russian nationalists to a Jew that has to suffer the discrimination even though he has rejected his religion. Idealist young true believers of the system to the corrupt cynics out to take advantage of the system. He gives us a look at what it was like to serve in this system. A dreary life where they have to units have to grow their own food. Ethnics that can’t understand a word of Russian but somehow manage to function.

Peters takes the bold decision to have them win. His argument is that while NATO has excellent men, equipment and tactics, their greatest weakness is lack of unity. Each of the nationalities operates independently and undermines a cohesive strategy. The Soviets have filmed a phony destruction of a village to demoralize the West Germans and then have to make sure this village is really destroyed even though there is no strategic reason to destroy it. I can actually see the West Germans losing their political will and throwing in the towel.

Now this book had the misfortune of coming out at the end of the Warsaw Pact. In fact, the paperback came out three months after the Berlin Wall fell so it was dated when I bought it new. He had the misfortune of some of his best work coming out a time of fast change. His next book The War in 2020 that dealt with a future civil war in the Soviet Union came out literally after the fall of the Soviet Union. Still these books are enjoyable reads, and you can look at them as an alternate history that never materialized.

SWORD POINT BY HAROLD COYLE

Copyright 1988.

The Soviets have decided to invade Iran and seize their oil. The invasion starts off with them steamrolling over the weak Iranian army. The Americans of course won’t stand for this and send troops to stop them. The Iranians hate both sides and fight them as both invade the country. The Iranians are a minor nuisance to both sides as the two superpowers fight their first head on conflict.

This was Coyle’s second novel after his first Team Yankee. Like that first book the story deals with the men fighting this conflict. While the first dealt solely with the perspective of one tank platoon in a war in Europe, this one gives us a variety of viewpoints. From both the Soviet and American side. We get to see it from the generals in charge to the common enlisted man. From pilots to submarine crews. Coyle does a great job of giving us characters that are unique with their personalities, strengths and weaknesses.

His greatest is capturing the feel of actual combat. The confusion and terror of the battle. You have moments like where an American and Soviet group join forces to stop the Iranians launching a nuclear strike to start a larger war. Being an army officer, he has a firm grasp of the men and tactics in the army at the time. His choice of Iran was a realistic one as many speculated the Soviets did want to invade Iran for its oil and warm water ports. The Middle East was considered the flashpoint for any start of WWIII. The ending where they have a ceasefire and partition the country was also very realistic. This was probably one of the last books written about a Soviet invasion when the country was still at its peak. Next year would see the Berlin Wall fall and the slide toward the dissolution of the Soviet Union. This was Coyle’s best book in my opinion and I highly recommend for any fan of military fiction.