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Arc Light
by
In a scenario terrifyingly close to today's headlines, Harry's debut novel opens with a North Korean invasion of South Korea that leads, through a series of tragic errors and decisions, to a Russian nuclear attack on military bases in the US.
Like techno-thriller master Tom Clancy, Harry offers a sprawling narrative that focuses on a small army of soldiers, politicians, and ...more
Like techno-thriller master Tom Clancy, Harry offers a sprawling narrative that focuses on a small army of soldiers, politicians, and ...more
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Paperback, 560 pages
Published
June 16th 2012
by Simon Schuster
(first published August 2nd 1994)
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Showing 1-30
Start your review of Arc Light
I've read this book twice (gave it a decade between reads) and my results did not vary. There's a lot of good writing here and he renders a matter of fact approach to a limited nuclear war scenario. One only needs to read his account of a nuclear strike on an airbase from the perspective of the people in a nearby hangar to see how this writer can shine. The prose is decent and the characters are (mostly) believable and sympathetic.
What rubbed me was his shoddy treatment of the larger picture. He ...more
What rubbed me was his shoddy treatment of the larger picture. He ...more
Apr 01, 2015
Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk
rated it
liked it
Shelves:
20th-century,
fiction,
military,
russian,
thriller,
alternative-history,
american,
post-communist-era
This is a difficult book to review; there are so many things wrong with it and so many things that work well. I've read a number of books about modern warfare, the possible Third World War and nuclear apocalypse, that I feel do things a lot better and keep the interest if the reader gripped throughout. This book stretched my patience at times, I have to admit.
What could have been a gripping opening is ruined by long lists of who is being evacuated to where, lists of monitoring stations and so on ...more
What could have been a gripping opening is ruined by long lists of who is being evacuated to where, lists of monitoring stations and so on ...more
Arc Light is the cure for the common war novel – or in my case, it was the one that made most I'd read before it seem shallow and forgettable. Eric Harry's frightening depiction of an accidental nuclear exchange between the United States and Russia loses little of its punch in the post 9/11-era, even if the passage of time somewhat dates the geopolitics depicted in the book. Unlike Clancy or others, Harry never treats war as an action movie; consequently this book has a rare maturity and gravity
...more
Admittedly I am not yet entirely through the book but I dont think my review is going to change. The characters have not really been developed well, at least not well enough for me to care about. There is a pervasive anti-Democrat sentiment throughout the story that goes beyond plot. I dont really dont care about the author's political leanings but it is impossible to ignore (He must really hate Obama). As a result, some of the post exchange developments seem really absurd. Finally, as noted by
...more
An interesting novel. Written in the 90s, it is a portrayal of a realistic nuclear conflict, started by a believable chain of events. Deals more with the military and political side of matters, than the sort of post apocolyptic fall outs. Millions die, but strangely seems to be a side show to proceedings.
Unlike the norm in such grandiose "techno thrillers", with their usual slow build up leading to a climax with little surprises, in this novel within 50 pages, we have had an invasion of South K ...more
Unlike the norm in such grandiose "techno thrillers", with their usual slow build up leading to a climax with little surprises, in this novel within 50 pages, we have had an invasion of South K ...more
Nuclear war happens by accident, people die, a mostly conventional invasion of Russia begins. This is a fairly silly technothriller with lots of genre-typical exposition, plot points that go absolutely nowhere (view spoiler) and many things that just feel implausible or silly (those Marines...).
The author earns a second star for not going full jingoist a ...more
The author earns a second star for not going full jingoist a ...more
I read a description of the plot of this book while looking for another thriller. It sounded interesting enough to buy, but was out of print. Eventually, I tracked down a used copy, and ended up paying $15 for a dogeared paperback by an author I'd never heard of. Best $15 I've ever spent. I read plenty of thrillers, but I've never read a book that was this exciting from cover to cover. It probably didn't hurt that it was written by a lawyer and one of the protagonists is a lawyer who becomes a w
...more
This was a terrifying book of what happens when you mix major superpowers in with nuclear weapons. What would happen if there was an exchange of nuclear weapons and would we be able to stop before it was all destroyed? When I read this book I found myself actually yelling at some of the characters. That is how vivid this book is written. Anyone who likes to read Tom Clancy or Larry Bond get this book and make some room on your schedule.
This is the third time I've read the book. I go back to it because it describes a simpler Cold War world, use of limited nuclear weapons, with horrible outcomes, and the inability of people to foresee outcomes. causality is a difficult thing.
...more
Arc Light is a very respectable geopolitical technothriller. Its greatest asset is that it does not hesitate to pull the nuclear trigger--to horrifying effect.
Arc Light is quite a broad novel with some parts being politics, some parts being large scale nuclear attacks, some parts being first person military fighting, amongst other things.
It does many things very well and has crisp and straight forward prose that draws you right in even if not up on the intricacies of the US political system.
The book is about a fictional world war 3, a nuclear exchange between Russia and America, with the following conflict leading to the disbanding of NATO and a Russ ...more
It does many things very well and has crisp and straight forward prose that draws you right in even if not up on the intricacies of the US political system.
The book is about a fictional world war 3, a nuclear exchange between Russia and America, with the following conflict leading to the disbanding of NATO and a Russ ...more
The key to enjoying this book is to accept the limitations of the world of the mid-1990s. If you can do that and refrain from nit-picking some of its sillier features, Arc Light possessed great scope and imagination. Its description of limited nuclear combat was disturbing, as was attention to detail in the depictions of Russian weakness in a dirty conflict it had no hope of winning and the intelligently-imagined political chaos in DC.
It's not perfect, (the early Russian antagonist is cartoonish ...more
It's not perfect, (the early Russian antagonist is cartoonish ...more
Hmm... this was an intense read. It's an interesting speculation on what could have been (might still be). It was very detailed and extremely well researched. The book was just a tad verbose, though. The story would not have suffered too much if a 150 pages of extreme details had been left to the reader's imagination.
However, no harm-no foul. It was still a good book, even if somewhat disturbing, particularly reading it in these current times (Trump, Putin, Xi, Kim, Covid-19, riots/protests, etc ...more
However, no harm-no foul. It was still a good book, even if somewhat disturbing, particularly reading it in these current times (Trump, Putin, Xi, Kim, Covid-19, riots/protests, etc ...more
An Under-appreciated classic of the genre
They don’t make technothrillers like this anymore. I’ve probably read this book a dozen times over the years and I put it right up there with “Red Storm Rising” as a classic tale of a Third World War. Harry writes with both a strong command of technical detail and a broad scope.
They don’t make technothrillers like this anymore. I’ve probably read this book a dozen times over the years and I put it right up there with “Red Storm Rising” as a classic tale of a Third World War. Harry writes with both a strong command of technical detail and a broad scope.
Easy thriller about WW3 in the mid 90s. Some parts were good and some were just silly. Full jingoism in effect. As horrific of an event this would be, a realistic balanced novel from both sides would be an interesting read.
Oct 28, 2017
John
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction-fantasy,
2017-books
3.5. Long book, good in parts wouldn't read again.
...more
it was ok. no tom clancy here.
Fantastic. It seemed so real as if it happened in a parallel universe. The author rates up there with Clancy in this genre.
Too many inaccuracies to stumble upon, even for a fiction book (and not particularly interesting in the main plot)
Fun thought exercise on nuclear war.
Superb read for all those who enjoy detailed military fiction.
Too much arc, not enough light.
This is a fantastic read that easily punches up at classics like Red Storm Rising
Review 19 - ARC Light by Eric L. Harry
This is a fantastic story focusing on a modern version of world war 3 which starts with a full blown nuclear exchange between Russia and the USA.
My only criticism of this book is that the middle section of the story is quite slow. It involved a lot of political content which I didn't really enjoy.
The combat sequences involving ground forces were exceptionally well written and the nuclear exchange was scary to read.
*****
5 star ...more
This is a fantastic story focusing on a modern version of world war 3 which starts with a full blown nuclear exchange between Russia and the USA.
My only criticism of this book is that the middle section of the story is quite slow. It involved a lot of political content which I didn't really enjoy.
The combat sequences involving ground forces were exceptionally well written and the nuclear exchange was scary to read.
*****
5 star ...more
Arc Light is a military thriller that takes us to the worst place we can imagine, a doomsday scenerio where politics play more of a role in making decisions than common sense, and the destruction of cities and millions of people don't make people bat an eye.
The author Eric Harry starts the novel with the assumption that Russia has rebels that are able to seize the Russia nuclear stockpile and shoot it against U.S military installations, the U.S. responds in kind. After some many nuclear explosio ...more
The author Eric Harry starts the novel with the assumption that Russia has rebels that are able to seize the Russia nuclear stockpile and shoot it against U.S military installations, the U.S. responds in kind. After some many nuclear explosio ...more
Utterly ridiculous. Day One: North Korea invades South Korea; completely independently Russia renews a recent war with China by launching tactical nukes; also completely independently there is an (attempted) military coup in Russia but the coup leader mistakes five nuclear weapons fired at Moscow by China (combined with the US military call up because of the Korean situation) as an attack by the US (even though the US are/were allies against China in the recent war) so he launches a nuclear atta
...more
I read this a long long time ago, as I remember it it was a fantastic interwoven story told from several perspectives (President, Presidents Men, down to the boots on the ground) of the politics and reality of a nuclear war with Russia. It includes the Russian perspective too.
The feeling of a simple situation spiralling ever out of control and leading to the direst of conclusions is strong in my memory.
The story is deftly told, the information realistic and it contains I think the best descripti ...more
The feeling of a simple situation spiralling ever out of control and leading to the direst of conclusions is strong in my memory.
The story is deftly told, the information realistic and it contains I think the best descripti ...more
Jul 29, 2008
William
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fans of Military thrillers
An absolutely enjoyable read. The subject matter was frightening but moved along at a rapid clip. This is a must read for the fan of the military thriller. I had a little trouble with some of the technical jargon but overall it was written in a style that made it flow easily. The only part that was hard for me to swallow was the concept of that many warheads raining down without total annihilation.
Want to know what World War III would be like? Read this book. Although it was written in 1994, the author has done extensive research and vividly describes what a nuclear conflict would do to the world. Needless to say, a nuclear war should be avoided at all costs. Nuclear weapons in the hands of civilized nations is bad enough but, if a country like Iran gets nuclear weapons, we will be on the brink of Armageddon.
This is one of the best techno thriller books I have read. Better than Clancy's Red Storm Rising. I don't know if I prefer it to Team Yankee, but the two books have are different enough that both provide an excellent view on possible modern World Wars.
...more
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Raised in a small town in Mississippi, Eric L. Harry graduated from the Marine Military Academy in Texas and studied Russian and Economics at Vanderbilt University, where he also earned a J.D. and M.B.A. In addition, he studied in Moscow and Leningrad in the USSR, and at the University of Virginia Law School. He began his legal career in private practice in Houston, negotiated complex multinationa
...more
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