Skydancer

The defense correspondent for a British TV news program, Archer bases this thriller on his knowledge of military and intelligence operations. Setting up the novel's ongoing crises is the theft of plans for Skydancer, a warhead invented by British scientist Peter Joyce. Designed to ""dance'' missiles unerringly past anti-ballistic defenses ringing Moscow, the warhead has been a prize secret weapon, but now is a grave concern. The narrative switches from London to Moscow to Cape Canaveral, where Joyce flies to test Skydancer and must decide whether to prove it a dud or a fool-proof weapon, agonizing choices, since failure means an enormous financial loss and success means the warhead will be in the Soviet arsenal. The situation is tense, especially for various people in England who are suspected of stealing the plans and are mercilessly interrogated by a counterespionage agent. The end is a surprising turn-around, with Joyce at a rendezvous requested by Oleg Kvitzinsky, the U.S.S.R.'s chief military scientist. Although burdened by details and perhaps too many characters, the story provokes thought on the cost, in human terms, of nuclear one-upmanship. (December)