Silver Tower (Patrick McLanahan)

As an avid Dale Brown reader and someone who has all his books, Silver Tower is the one I have read the most. The technology on display is simply incredible but not so far fetched you disbelieve it. The characters are well developed and the plot is superb, moving along at such a pace that you cannot wait to turn the page. I guarantee you will reach the end of the book and wonder how you read it so quickly! I would recommend this book to anyone wanting a cracking techno-thriller from the world's best writer.

Silver Tower is excitement from page one. This tells the story of a US space station that must direct US forces during a Soviet invasion of Iran. Consequently, they find themselves the target of advanced Russian forces. Plus a rare female protagonist in a techno-thriller. Great work from a master of the genre.

This story is mainly about a scientist named Ann Page. She is the leader of the onboard laser called Skybolt. It is on the end of a space station called Armstrong, also nicknamed Silver Tower for its anti-laser shielding. It also involves the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the Strait of Hormuz with the USS Nimitz and the Russian Breznehev. The two countries fight continuously to try and win a war. The Russians try to create a new country devoted to themselves, and the Americans try to stop them. The spaced based laser(sbr) must work for the Americans to win. I would only recomend this book if you know something about the military and space. If not you might not really understand the book. The weapons are somewhat realistic as well as the people. This book also shows the special something that all of the great books have.

It was one of the first books by dale brown that i read, but it turned out to be one of the best. I felt this book had everything. Futuristic weaponry combined with current technology in a setting of the volatile middle east. What more could you ask for. The action is non-stop and the characters enjoyable and identifiable. I enjoyed this book as much as Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising if not more.

This one was actually written before Flight of the Old Dog, but was published after Old Dog came on the market. A very interesting sci-fi style plot here, which unfortunaltely lacks the realism of his other books. However, this is after all, fiction and the story moves along with all the fast pace of a Clive Cussler book! The space station ideas were well used. the American hypersonic plane was right out of a 1950s sci-fi B movie and the Russian space fighters were a feasible idea. A few inaccuracies - the Nighthawk is actually F-117, not F-19, but considering this was written in 1987 before they were properly used in combat one can let Dale Brown get away with that. As well as the space action scenes, which would look great in a big screen movie, the action on the ground is highly riveting as well. The Iranian sequences are particularly realistic you can feel you're there as airfields are blown to smithereens and foxholes are surrounded, Larry Bond style! Altogether, one worth a read, though Shadows of Steel and Sky Masters are the best!