Red Storm Rising 12-Copy Floor Display

With this sprawling, ambitious second novel, the author of the surprise bestseller The Hunt for Red October proves convincingly that his first success was no fluke. Clancy compellingly offers a scenario for World War III and plays out the conflict at a page-turning pace. Far from being another submarine novel, this book follows the action in a conventional war waged across Europe on several fronts: a tank battle in Germany; the air battle over Iceland; on board an antisubmarine ship guarding Allied convoys crossing the Atlantic; and beneath the ocean on a nuclear-powered submarine. The catalyst for the war is interestingMoslem extremists destroy a large Soviet oil facility, forcing the Russians to plan an assault on the Middle East. They know, however, that they must first neutralize NATO forces with a strike into Western Europe. An awesome array of high-tech weaponry figures in the narrative, as computers replace people in many areas (except, of course, that soldiers and sailors still must die), but Clancy has not overlooked the human factor in fighting wars. There are some missing pieces; the reader never gets a sense of the home front, for instance, nor is there an assessment of casualties even though the killing power of these armies is mind-boggling. On balance, these are small chinks in an otherwise fascinating and totally credible story, told with authenticity and great suspense. (August 22)