From Publishers Weekly
Heavy on high-tech thrills but light on almost everything else, Weber's seventh novel zeroes in on that villain of the moment, China, and the ill-conceived fight it decides to pick with the United States. Using jingoistic language that at times harks back to fears of the "yellow peril," Weber (DEFCON One) portrays a nation hungry for power and territory fighting on three fronts Taiwan, the Panama Canal and the skies above the Pacific Rim. The key to China's military might is a new, top-secret laser gun that destroys U.S. aircraft. As the fierce fighting rages, Washington dispatches private intelligence specialists and former pilots Scott Dalton and Jackie Sullivan to China to kidnap the scientist who built the laser. Quickly learning that its secret has been uncovered and it's now overmatched, China falls back on its last resort: launching nuclear weapons at Hawaii and Alaska. Dalton and Sullivan, who were introduced in 1999's Primary Target, may be very brave, but they're also flavorless and stiff. As lovers whose relationship feels as dull as their personalities, they often appear to compete over who can utter the most banalities. (Sullivan: "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Dalton: "Yeah, it's going to be a hot time in Beijing tonight.") Weber's initially promising plot nosedives after the first few chapters, hampered by hokey dialogue, exposition-heavy battle scenes and flagging suspense.
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Though he doesn't earn extra points for subtlety, especially in his negative depiction of mainland Chinese, Joe Weber's Clancy-esque thriller is nevertheless engaging and moderately entertaining. Dick Hill's no-nonsense reading also gets the job done without fuss or bother, efficiently relating an escalation of tensions between China and the United States after the Chinese develop a super-laser weapon. There's one caveat about Hill's otherwise good performance: He still needs to master the art of the stage whisper. When stalwart adventurers Scott Dalton and Jackie Sullivan whisper something so other characters can't hear them, listeners can't hear them either! This is especially annoying during drive-time listening. J.P.M. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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