The Viking Process

Norman Hartley's "The Viking Process" is a book that was so far ahead of its time that it's truly breathtaking. Written in 1976, the book recounts the story of Phillip Russell, an expert in terrorist organizations. He is kidnapped by just such a group, and forced to take part in their "scenarios", which are aimed at the destruction of a multinational corporation. Since they are holding his wife hostage (in another location) and she is made to pay for any of her husbands 'mistakes', Russell is forced to help them. This book is as fresh and timely today as it was when it was written, 24 years ago. The plot is fast-moving, and extremely well thought out. The technology, which was probably in the semi-SciFi realm in 1976, is still very slightly futuristic, but completely believable. The details of the terrorist attacks could come from today's newspapers. Life is full of the type of disappointments typified by the book you read a long time ago and loved, only to find, on re-reading it, that you no longer enjoy it. I read "The Viking Process" in 1976 and thought it was fantastic. My original copy was lost many years ago, so I was amazed to pull a copy from a bargain bin at a garage sale a few months ago. There was no disappointment here. I enjoyed it more the second time through than I did way back when.