Combat

By Dale Brown and Stephen Coonts

Book Overview

As the world moves into the next millennium, the United States finds itself at the forefront of this new age, policing not only its own shores but the rest of the world as well. And spearheading this overwatch are the men and women of America's armed forces, the "troops on the wall," who will go anywhere, anytime, and do whatever it takes to protect not only our nation but the rest of the free world. Now, for the first time, "Combat" brings the best military-fiction authors together to reveal how war will be fought in the twenty-first century. From the down and dirty "ground-pounders" of the U.S. Armored Cavalry to the new frontiers of warfare, including outer space and the Internet, ten authors whose novels define the military-fiction genre have written all-new short stories about the men and women willing to put their lives on the line for freedom: Larry Bond takes us into the wild frontier of space warfare, where American soldiers fight a dangerous zero-gee battle with a tenacious enemy that threatens every free nation on Earth. Dale Brown lets us inside a world that few people see, that of a military promotion board, and shows us how the fate of an EB-52 Megafortress pilot's career can depend on a man he's never met, even as the pilot takes on the newest threat to American forces in the Persian Gulf--a Russian stealth bomber. James Cobb finds a lone U.S. Armored Cavalry scout unit that is the only military force standing between a defenseless African nation and an aggressive Algerian recon division. Stephen Coonts tells of the unlikely partnership between an ex-Marine sniper and a female military pilot who team up to kill the terrorists who murdered her parents. But, out in the Libyan desert, all is not as it seems, and these two must use their skills just to stay alive. Harold W. Coyle reports in from the front lines of the information war, where cyberpunks are recruited by the U.S. Army to combat the growing swarm of hackers and their shadowy masters who orchestrate their brand of online terrorism around the world. David Hagberg brings us another Kirk McGarvey adventure, in which the C.I.A. director becomes entangled in the rising tensions between China and Taiwan. When a revolutionary leader is rescued from a Chinese prison, the Chinese government pushes the United States to the brink of war, and McGarvey has to make a choice with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Dean Ing reveals a scenario that could have been torn right from today's headlines. In Oakland, a private investigator teams up with a bounty hunter and F.B.I. agent to find a missing marine engineer. What they uncover is the shadow of terrorism looming over America and a conspiracy that threatens thousands of innocent lives. Ralph Peters takes us to the war-torn Balkan states, where a U.S. Army observer sent to keep an eye on the civil war is taken on a guided tour of the country at gunpoint. Captured by the very people he is there to monitor, he learns just how far people will go for their idea of freedom. R.J. Pineiro takes us to the far reaches of space, where a lone terrorist holds the world hostage from a nuclear missle-equipped platform. To stop him, a pilot agrees to a suicidal flight into the path of an orbital laser with enough power to incinerate her space shuttle. Barrett Tillman takes us to the skies with a group of retired fighter jocks brought back for one last mission--battling enemy jets over the skies of sunny California.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312871902
• ISBN13: 9780312871901
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Forge
• Length: 765 Pages
• Weight: 0.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.1" x 6.6" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Outstanding Book!

This is a very novel concept to writing a book. In Combat#1 youhave Larry Bond,Dale Brown,and David Hagberg as the authors of three short novels.These are three of the most read authors alltogether in one book.The first story written by Larry Bond iscakked Lashup. In this story the Unites States has to deal withChina shooting down their satellites. A very good story.The nextstory is written by Dale Brown. This story tells about the roleof a review board.It also has some good sequences. The third story is written by David Hagberg which features his favoriteaction character Kirk McGarvey. This story involves the rescue of a Chinese dissident. This series of books is truly qualityreading. You have some of the best authors in the world featured in the Combat series. Buy this book. You will not be dissapointed.

A Brillant Collection

This book is a great collection of short novels that illustrate the wars of the future against terrorists, in cyberspace, and in orbit. The stories are to the point, action pacted, and sadly, were not made into full novels themselves. If you are sick of Clancy and other authors that are too busy discussing politics to write a good novel, than this book is for you. All of the futuristic stories are excellent, and will introduce you to the best in the business (if you don't know them already).

Cyberwar

The brief novella, Cyberknights, by Harold W Coyle provides a no nonsense look at the processing of an attack against an imagined enemy. To believe that immunity exists in cyberspace is to be delusional. Mr. Coyle removes this misconception. There is not one item mentioned that is not acheivable today. I was reassured by the use of the T1 facilities dedicated to the attack. I was impressed by the total lack of canonization of the criminal element that maintains they should have free reign in cyberspace. Thanks for a good read.

Combat is a great concept with great authors

Coonts, Brown, Coyle, Hagberg have long been favorites of mine. In Combat I got the chance to visit each of them and to gain some new favorites as well. If a full novel by any of these authors is a complex seven course meal with the 'right' wine, the concept of this smorgasbord with its varied tastes is a delight to the mind as the buffet is to the palate.I would never want these authors to abandon their full-flavored works with complex plots and characters. However, the approach of Combat i.e., giving us a taste of each with a straight-forward, unity story line is a REAL treat. I hope that these fine authors enjoyed the exercise in writing and mixing these novellas. Beyond the creative process, they each added to their fans club introducing themselves to the admirers of the others.Let's hope there are more anthologies of this kind in the future. The NEAR future. GOOD JOB, GUYS. Put me down for release date delivery of any redux of the concept.

Something for everyone

This book has something for everyone. I was very pleased with the forward, and the stories that followed were terrific. If you like military fiction and are interested in where things might be headed, order this book. I'm not one to give complete praise, and there were one or two stories that even though I read them, they weren't my cup of tea. But that is what makes an anthology great, there's always something in there for you.I will note that most of these stories almost scream out to be expanded into full length novels. I would certainly buy any book that was expanded from my favorites in this anthology. This is the kind of stuff that keeps people like me buying books.