Zoboa

by Martin Caidin

Mitch Bannon, a stunt pilot and part-time NASA security aide, works against time to stop ZOBOA, a fanatical Arab terrorist organization led by Sadad Jabal responsible for the hijacking of four atomic bombs, before the launch of the space shuttle "Antares".

Genres: Science Fiction

430 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1986

About the author

Martin Caidin was a prolific and controversial writer. Most of his work centered around the adventures of pilots and astronauts. A number of his books were notable for their reasonable, realistic predictions of then-futuristic technology.

Caidin's body of work was prolific and varied, ranging from additional speculative/SF novels such as Marooned, which was made into an acclaimed film and considered a harbinger of the Apollo 13 accident, to a novel based upon the character Indiana Jones. He also wrote many non-fiction books about science, aviation and warfare.

Caidin began writing fiction in 1957. In his career he authored more than 50 fiction and nonfiction books as well as more than 1,000 magazine articles. His best-known novel is Cyborg, which was the basis for "The Six Million Dollar Man" franchise. He also wrote numerous works of military history, especially concerning aviation.

In addition to his writing Caidin was a pilot and active in the restoration and flying of older planes.

Reviews

[Brian Henderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Now granted, this book was written in 1986 so a lot of the political boilerplate is very out of date, but to be honest, I was pretty dissatisfied with a lot of the book, only because it came across as being filler. There was so much of the characterization that really had no bearing on the story or how the characters acted, it was just pointless background. The actual story could have been presented in 100 pages if you left out all of the relationship nonsense, the all of the pointless political jousting and all of the airshow silliness. Unfortunately, it became painfully obvious how it was going to end as soon as you found out that Marty had terminal cancer, we knew he was going to die heroically.

It's unfortunate because I usually love Martin Caidin's books, but this one, like Star Bright, was just a struggle to get through and looking back, it just wasn't worth the time I spent on it.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quintessential "second act" Caidin, after he toned down the technical aspect of his writing. My first book by the author (after reading an article about him in Starlog), I was hooked by the cover alone. Merges flying, the space program and Central Florida in a fast-paced tale of nuclear terrorism. A lot of fun.