Fortunes of War

September 1, 1998
YA-A modern military thriller. U.S. Colonel Cassidy and Jiro Kimura, a Japanese fighter pilot, friends since they met at the Air Force Academy, find themselves on opposing sides of a highly charged political situation. Japanese radicals have taken over their country and hope to seize Siberian oil fields to help the failing Japanese economy. Sent to help the Russians, Cassidy and his team of American pilots try to avert a nuclear holocaust. Meanwhile, a Russian submarine inflicts damage on the Japanese coast. The stealthy events leading to the beheading of the Japanese emperor in the opening chapter grab readers' attention. Intense action and the use of short sentences and fragments heighten the dramatic urgency and speed the plot along. There are numerous military details; however, it is possible to skim through them and still get to know the characters and follow the story. This fast read is a good introduction to adult military novels for teens, who will also learn something of Japanese and Russian history from the cultural details woven into the story.-Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA

March 15, 1998
The latest political-military thriller by this best-selling novelist starts off with a bang, not a whimper. The emperor of Japan, who has had some uncustomarily harsh words with his prime minister over Japan's role as a world power, is now the victim of a fanatical military group; these brazen but die-hard men break into the grounds of the Imperial Palace and assassinate--behead!--His Majesty. The emperor had been loathe to learn that his country not only possesses nuclear weapons but also has plans to invade Siberia for its oil reserves. Of course, the U.S. is drawn into the situation, and the stage is set for a World War III^-type conflagration. As is his trait, Coonts thoroughly grounds this swiftly paced narrative in the social, economic, and political conditions of the modern world. Russia's growing chaos after the fall of Communism and Japan's growing need to exercise its muscle inevitably result in a clash. There is a lot of diplomatic conversation here, a lot of talk about hardware, and considerable appeal for readers interested in international thriller-type diversion. ((Reviewed March 15, 1998))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1998, American Library Association.)