Holding the Zero

by Gerald Seymour

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0552146668
• ISBN13: 9780552146661
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Corgi Books
• Length: 524 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.

Customer Reviews

For Meda

Several years ago, David Robbins authored a novel, WAR OF THE RATS, the plot of which revolved around the duel between two snipers, a Soviet and a German, amidst the WWII Stalingrad battlefield. HOLDING THE ZERO, by Gerald Seymour, is at least equal, if not better, in portraying the sniper's esoteric art.It's a couple of years before Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the British government receives word of a sighting of one of Her Majesty's subjects roaming northern Iraq with a bloody big sniper rifle and a band of Kurdish fighters led by a charismatic peasant girl, Meda. The witness even provides a name, Augustus Henderson Peake. Captain Willet of the Ministry of Defense is tasked, along with a representative from the Security Service, to investigate Peake and report on his mind set, motivation and training. How much trouble can Peake cause for Her Majesty's government? From the very beginning, Willet knows that Peake has no military background, is the transport manager in an English haulage firm, and is a civilian, award-winning, target shooter. Willet's initial assessment is that Peake will not survive whatever foolish venture in which he's involved himself.In the meantime, Peake is Meda's secret weapon as her growing band of Kurds advances out of its mountain fastness and wins a series of increasingly ambitious skirmishes with Saddam Hussein's army. The ultimate goal is to take Kirkuk, headquarters of the Iraqi Fith Army and a city sacred to the Kurdish nationalists. The Iraqi Army sends out its best sniper, Major Karim Aziz, to intercept and kill Meda's sharpshooter.HOLDING THE ZERO is one of the more complex of Seymour's novels that I've read to date. There's a plethora of interesting characters besides Augustus himself: Meda, Aziz, Meda's military advisor Haquim, Peake's guide and spotter Omar, Aziz's tracker dog Scout, Willet, the minefield-clearer Joe Denton, the Mossad agent Isaac Cohen, and the relief worker Sarah. Ironically, in the Big Picture of a CIA plot to topple Saddam, Aziz and Peake are on the same side, and it's ultimately only mano-a-mano pride which matches each against the other.As in all of Seymour's thrillers, the Good Guys don't always win, and the Bad Guys don't always lose. At the conclusion, one must tally up the body count to decide whose side owns the victory - and it's often Pyrrhic.As we peer over the shoulder of Willet as he unearths the nature of the man Peake and composes his report, we also march along with Augustus on the journey that will prove Willet right or wrong. At the end of the day in an isolated Iraqi valley, we must stand amazed.

Excellent Sniper Novel.

"Holding The Zero" by Gerald Seymour, 14 CD Audio Book read by Sean Barrett, ISIS Audio Books, 2000.Augustus Peake goes to Iraq to repay a debt of honor incurred by his grandfather, some fifty+ years ago. "Gus" is fitted out in what appears to be a haphazard fashion, and travels to Iraq to support the insurrection of Kurdish forces against their ancient enemy. A complaint by an Australian caseworker in Iraq begins an UK investigation into Augustus Peake and why he is engaged in a sniper's duel in Iraq. The investigation shows that the entire adventure was not so spontaneous as it first seems. So, on the first level, this is a very personal duel between the neophyte (but excellent marksman) Gus Peake and the head of the school for sniping in Iraq, Major Karim Aziz. When we first meet Major Aziz, he is prone on a roof, seeking an opportunity to shot (it seems) the President of Iraq, our friend Saddam. There is much introspection presented, both for Gus Peake and for Major Aziz, as both snipers consider the finality of the tools they use. The climax of the book is the sniper's duel between the two men.On a second level, this book is a fine compendium of the history of sniping. The author, Gerald Seymour, uses the necessity of explanations for the young Kurdish boy and assistant to Gus, to present the history, of modern sniping, from the American Civil War up to the present. Seymour tends to introduce characters to present points. For example, he has a rotund Russian, interested in the mineral rights to the land, (if the Kurds win), tell the story of the famous sniper's duel at the Battle of Stalingrad. The author also uses a British character, an ex-corporal, to explain to Augustus Peake how a sniper, together with carefully place land mines, can halt a column of armor. Gus does just that!On the third level, the author, Seymour, makes a telling statement against the vested interests of Americans, British, Israelis and Russians, in raising the hopes of the Kurdish people but not truly supporting them in their struggle against the despotic government of Iraq. All of these outsiders were using the Kurds as proxy fighters. At the very end of the book, the Kurds retreat back up into the mountains, which they call their only true friends. The book was well read by Sean Barrett, who has a keen ability to provide an accent to match each character. The use of "further" when "farther" was needed nettled my ears once or twice or more. When a sniper shoots over a long distance, he has shot "farther" than any one else. "Far" for distance, while "further" is used for consideration, or thought or discussion. Further, when the reporters divide up their gear to carry it all back to the car, they should have divided it "among" the three of them, not "between" the three of them. Between for two, among for three or more.

A tautly written action novel

Gus Peake should have stayed at home, but an old family debt drew him to the remote wastes of Northern Iraq and a forgotten war between Kurdish guerillas and Saddam Hussein's military regime. Peake brings a marksman's skills to the brutal combat taking place there. But he must quickly learn to deal out random death at long distances, and help the guerillas to reach the city of Kirkuk, the old capital of the Kurdish people. Holding The Zero is a tautly written action novel by Gerald Seymour that is superbly narrated by Sean Barrett. This unabridged, 14 hour, 16 minute, technically flawless production will prove a very popular addition to any personal or community library audiobook collection.