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The world is falling apart, and there are plenty of people willing to take advantage. One of them is Pavel Kazakov, a Russian oilman with close ties to organized crime, and an audacious plan: Build a huge pipeline through the Balkans, get the Russian army to back him, and everybody gets rich. Sure, NATO will object, but the new president's emphatic decision that America will no longer be the world's policeman guarantees no effective opposition. Russia will dominate Europe. Kazakov will dominate the oil supply. He hasn't reckoned with Patrick McLanahan, however. The young Air Force general leads a combat mission deep into Russia to rescue a spy on the ground, but when things start to spin out of control, McLanahan's intuition is to push it even further, to create whatever havoc he can. That puts him directly in opposition to the president himself, and pretty soon McLanahan and his team find themselves faced with a dire choice. Which is the greater threat--the empire in front of them--or the president behind? Whichever way they choose, life as they know it will never be the same.
When a Russian oil tycoon orchestrates a geopolitical power grab through the Balkans, Air Force General Patrick McLanahan initiates an unauthorized mission that forces him into a direct confrontation with his own government. McLanahan must navigate the volatile intersection of international espionage and domestic political betrayal as he attempts to dismantle a pipeline project backed by the Russian military. The narrative follows a high-stakes, third-person perspective that emphasizes tactical military operations and the shifting loyalties of global superpowers. As the president retreats from international intervention, McLanahan finds his team isolated and forced to operate outside the chain of command to prevent a total shift in European dominance.
This work reflects the established conventions of the techno-thriller genre, prioritizing technical accuracy and geopolitical speculation. The narrative structure suggests a focus on the friction between individual military agency and bureaucratic policy. Readers familiar with the author's body of work will recognize the recurring themes of unconventional warfare and the projection of American air power. The premise highlights the inherent instability of international energy markets and the potential for private actors to manipulate state-level military forces for personal gain.
Page Count:
400
Publication Date:
2001-01-01
Publisher:
Harper Collins
ISBN-10:
0007109857
ISBN-13:
9780007109852
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