FIRST STRIKE

by Douglas Terman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1979

After a strikingly effective opening setup, this first novel by a former pilot/ agent hairpins into commonplace melodrama. The Russians have computed that a first nuclear strike against the States is nearly feasible: what is needed is a dupe in Congress, or better still in the White House, who will initiate unilateral disarmament and carry it through with the will of the people behind him. Master KGB operator Petrov is setting up New York's Senator Welsh as this unwitting future-Presidential patsy. Pretending to represent a cartel of top-level European manufacturers, Petrov sucks Welsh into an attractive plot that will hurl the Senator into the national limelight. But what Welsh doesn't know is that Petrov plans to boost Welsh's anti-nuclear candidacy with a dastardly plan: a Soviet nuclear sub will explode a U.S. Trident nuclear sub in Puget Sound, making it appear that our own nuke has wiped out Seattle. But Welsh's hired pilot, a former Vietnam pilot now on a disability pension, falls into the mix, begins unraveling the plot with his girlfriend, and together they eventually sink the Soviet nuke in the Sound before it can explode. This heroic sleuthing is unfortunately just run-of-the-sub stuff; so-a strong notion that dips down to so-so spy suspense.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1979

Categories: FICTION