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Arc Light

 
Arc Light

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Arc Light



 
 
Arc Light is the debut novel by Eric L. Harry, a techno-thriller
Techno-thriller

Techno-thrillers are a hybrid genre, drawing subject matter generally from spy Thriller s, war novels, and science fiction. They include a disproportionate amount of technical detail on its subject matter ; only science fiction tends towards a comparable level of supporting detail on the technical side....
 about limited nuclear war
Nuclear warfare

Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare refers to the strategy for fighting or deterring military conflicts and terrorism when nuclear weapons are present....
 published in 1994 and written in 1991-2.

As China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
 and Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
 clash in Siberia
Siberia

Siberia , is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of North Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the Soviet Union from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century....
 in June 1999, nuclear missiles strike the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. The U.S. retaliates against Russia, and World War III
World War III

World War III denotes a successor to World War II that would be on a global scale, with common speculation that it would likely be nuclear war and devastating in nature....
 begins. The nuclear and conventional weapon details are provided and expounded upon, as well as the damage they can do. The political and popular response to a disaster of this magnitude is portrayed, and maps provide details of main battle plans.






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Arc Light is the debut novel by Eric L. Harry, a techno-thriller
Techno-thriller

Techno-thrillers are a hybrid genre, drawing subject matter generally from spy Thriller s, war novels, and science fiction. They include a disproportionate amount of technical detail on its subject matter ; only science fiction tends towards a comparable level of supporting detail on the technical side....
 about limited nuclear war
Nuclear warfare

Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare refers to the strategy for fighting or deterring military conflicts and terrorism when nuclear weapons are present....
 published in 1994 and written in 1991-2.

As China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
 and Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
 clash in Siberia
Siberia

Siberia , is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of North Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the Soviet Union from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century....
 in June 1999, nuclear missiles strike the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. The U.S. retaliates against Russia, and World War III
World War III

World War III denotes a successor to World War II that would be on a global scale, with common speculation that it would likely be nuclear war and devastating in nature....
 begins. The nuclear and conventional weapon details are provided and expounded upon, as well as the damage they can do. The political and popular response to a disaster of this magnitude is portrayed, and maps provide details of main battle plans. The concept of mutual assured destruction
Mutual assured destruction

Mutually assured destruction is a doctrine of military strategy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two opposing sides would effectively result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender....
 is a major theme of the book, and how nations try to avoid it, yet are pushed toward it, as the ultimate conclusion looms.

Plot summary


The novel opens with the invasion of the Korean Demilitarized Zone
Korean Demilitarized Zone

The Korean Demilitarized Zone is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea Korea....
 by North Korea
North Korea

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula....
. Next is the phone call from Russian General Yuri Razov to U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the Military of the United States, and the principal military adviser to the President of the United States....
 General Andrew Thomas, informing him of Russia's intent to recapture land lost to China in a previous conflict. The beginning of this invasion will be the use of tactical nuclear weapons to clear the way for the army. Meanwhile, a radical Russian general, Zorin, seizes control of the Stavka
Stavka

Stavka was the term used to refer to commander-in-chief of armed forces from the time of the Kievan Rus', more formally during the history of Military history of Imperial Russia as Staff and General Headquarters during late 19th Century Imperial Russian armed forces and those of the Military history of the Soviet Union....
 and gains access to Russia's nuclear launch codes. As China retaliates against Moscow
Moscow

Moscow is the capital and the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia of the Russian Federation. It is also the largest European cities and metropolitan areas, with the Moscow metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world....
, Zorin launches a counterforce
Counterforce

Counterforce refers to the military strategy of targeting one's forces on the forces of the enemy....
 nuclear strike against the U.S. missile silos, bomber bases, submarine pens, and command centers. The U.S. responds in kind, and though no cities in either country were intentionally targeted in the exchange, roughly four to seven million people are killed. A political crisis erupts as war is declared and President Walter Livingston is impeached.

The novel follows Greg Lambert, a National Security Agency
National Security Agency

The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a Cryptology Intelligence agency of the Federal government of the United States, administered as part of the United States Department of Defense....
 special advisor, in the inner governmental circles as the war begins and the Vice President is sworn in. The United States Army Reserves are called up, and Major David Chandler reports to March AFB in California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, leaving behind his pregnant wife Melissa, an attorney. As the novel follows him from his leave to his assignment as a battalion tank commander, Melissa gives birth and deals with fallout and fear back home.

The novel proceeds along as conventional war begins as NATO
NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization , also called the Atlantic Alliance, is a military alliance established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949....
 is dissolved, and the U.S. and its new allies begin the invasion of Eastern Europe and Russia. Marines land in eastern Russia and push west. But Russia has not launched all of her nuclear weapons, and threatens to launch submarine-based missiles at the quickly emptying 304-largest U.S. cities. President Paul Constanzo and the joint chiefs must wrestle with the failing economy, failing support, and all-out nuclear war, while the Army continues its advance into the heart of Russia.

External links

  • – page at author's website with writing and publication details


See also

  • List of nuclear holocaust fiction
    List of nuclear holocaust fiction

    This list of nuclear holocaust fiction lists the many works of speculative fiction that attempt to describe a world during or after a massive Nuclear warfare, or nuclear holocaust....