From Publishers Weekly An exciting blend of techno-thriller and spy fiction， Flannery s new book exploits a near-future setting. The U.S. and Russia are preparing Operation Pit Bull， a high-tech war game involving the best of the former adversaries navies. At stake are not only new weapons systems and future arms sales， but also the integration of Russia s armed forces into a new， civilian-controlled order. Old-guard hardliners in Ukraine， led by General Pavl Normav， have their own agenda: provoking the longtime Cold War antagonists into a nuclear-tipped shooting war that will make Ukraine the center of a re-created Soviet Union. National Security Agency staffer Bill Lane suspects Normav s intentions. Can he convince his superiors and the Russians， while dodging assassins， before Pit Bull turns from an exercise into grim reality? Flannery ( Moving Targets ) constructs a plausible political scenario for a byzantine turn-of-the-century world in which friends and enemies are still sorting themselves out. He describes modern naval warfare clearly and accurately for general readers and is such a skillful storyteller that one of the novel s most exciting episodes involves an aerial duel conducted entirely by electronic simulation. His new book is a winner in fact as well as title. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information， Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Library Journal In his latest， veteran thriller author Flannery (who also writes as David Hagberg) posits a military world so laid-back that Russia and the United States are planning mutual war games. Deep under the seas， though， hostile submarines lurk， ready to destabilize the games and thus provoke a new world war. Only one man can put the pieces of the puzzle together fast enough and credibly enough to force the plotters to retreat and wait for a luckier day. Will he make it? Flannery confidently expects experienced readers to keep up with his lightning turns. The location changes every few paragraphs， the technical settings are dense with high-tech jargon， the plot requires a cast list to keep track of the double crosses， and there is no big love or sex interest to distract from the intensity of the hunt. Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler will need to look over their shoulders as Flannery gains in his mastery of the intrigue-at-sea genre.- Barbara Conaty， Library of CongressCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information， Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. See all Editorial Reviews