Arc Light

Infobox Book
name = Arc Light


image_caption = probably cover of UK Hodder & Stoughton hardback
author = Eric L. Harry
country = United States
language = English
cover_artist =
genre = techno-thriller
publisher = Simon & Schuster (HB), Jove Books (PB)
release_date = September, 1994
media_type = Print (hardcover, paperback)
pages = 625 pp (paperback edition)
isbn = ISBN 0-671-88048-9 (HB), ISBN 0-515-11792-7 (PB)

"Arc Light" is the debut novel by Eric L. Harry, a techno-thriller about limited nuclear war published in 1994 and written in 1991-2.

As China and Russia clash in Siberia in June 1999, nuclear missiles strike the United States. The U.S. retaliates against Russia, and World War III begins. The nuclear and conventional weapon details are provided and expounded upon, as well as the damage they can do. The political and popular response to a disaster of this magnitude is portrayed, and maps provide details of main battle plans. The concept of mutual assured destruction is a major theme of the book, and how nations try to avoid it, yet are pushed toward it, as the ultimate conclusion looms.

Plot summary

The novel opens with the invasion of the Korean Demilitarized Zone by North Korea. Next is the phone call from Russian General Yuri Razov to U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Andrew Thomas, informing him of Russia's intent to recapture land lost to China in a previous conflict. The beginning of this invasion will be the use of tactical nuclear weapons to clear the way for the army. Meanwhile, a radical Russian general, Zorin, seizes control of the Stavka and gains access to Russia's nuclear launch codes. As China retaliates against Moscow, Zorin launches a counterforce nuclear strike against the U.S. missile silos, bomber bases, submarine pens, and command centers. The U.S. responds in kind, and though no cities in either country were intentionally targeted in the exchange, roughly four to seven million people are killed. A political crisis erupts as war is declared and President Walter Livingston is impeached.

The novel follows Greg Lambert, a National Security Agency special advisor, in the inner governmental circles as the war begins and the Vice President is sworn in. The United States Army Reserves are called up, and Major David Chandler reports to March AFB in California, leaving behind his pregnant wife Melissa, an attorney. As the novel follows him from his leave to his assignment as a battalion tank commander, Melissa gives birth and deals with fallout and fear back home.

The novel proceeds along as conventional war begins as NATO is dissolved, and the U.S. and its new allies begin the invasion of Eastern Europe and Russia. Marines land in eastern Russia and push west. But Russia has not launched all of her nuclear weapons, and threatens to launch submarine-based missiles at the quickly emptying 304-largest U.S. cities. President Paul Constanzo and the joint chiefs must wrestle with the failing economy, failing support, and all-out nuclear war, while the Army continues its advance into the heart of Russia.

External links

* http://eharry.com/arc.htm – page at author's website with writing and publication details
* [http://www.christian-sauve.com/reviews/1996/books96b.htm#Arc Review by Christian Sauvé]
* [http://www.librarything.com/work/217459/reviews/32710406 Reader reviews at Library Thing]

ee also

*List of nuclear holocaust fiction