From the Bookshelf of Apocalypse Whenever…

[close] 0430 - A single red light blinks in the Pentagon. Russia is about to launch a supersecret nuclear attack on China. U.S. forces lurch to DEFCON 3, triggering the emergency evacuation of the government from Washington. 0450 - The U.S. President makes a catastrophic mistake: He orders the Chinese warned of the impending Russian attack. 0505 - Forewarned, the Chinese generate and fire their own missiles at Russia. 0525 - Hundreds of Russian ICBMs rise from their silos and head for the U. S. CINCNORAD declares an Air Defense Emergency, sounding klaxons around the world. 0537 - The eerie hum of the Emergency Broadcast System shatters the calm of a balmy summer evening in an America oblivious to the rapidly unfolding events.... Arc Light is a daringly original novel about the collapse of Russia and the unexpected, terrifying nuclear war that ensues. As the 20th century draws to an end, missiles rain down on remote airbases all across America. Despite a massive counterattack, the American people vent their outrage on their weak and hapless president, who is impeached in high drama on the floor of the Senate's underground chamber. Impossible? The Cold War is over, but we still may face the most dangerous event the world has ever known - the breakup of Russia. What Eric Harry has done in this electrifying thriller - the most remarkable debut since Clancy's The Hunt for Red October - is to show us just how frighteningly plausible the scenario actually is.