DEFCON One

Steve Wickham #1

by Joe Weber

The United States and Soviet Union are at the brink of war. Fearful of US plans for an anti-missile defense system that could defeat a USSR first strike, the Soviet General Secretary, the conservative successor to Gorbachev, conceives a plan to act first.

Russian Bear bombers violate US airspace, leading to a response by American F-15s. A US Navy battle group is attacked in the North Atlantic. And in orbit, a Soviet hunter-killer satellite attacks an American space shuttle.

“An ominous, nightmarish scenario about how World War III could happen. Chilling and credible, DEFCON One graphically portray’s humanity’s stake in the Gorbachev revolution. It’s a must read, as immediate as this morning’s headlines.” —Stephen Coonts, New York Times best-selling author of Flight of the Intruder

“DEFCON One should be thought-provoking to everyone interested in the global balance of power. Lessons to be learned from DEFCON One just may let us avoid nuclear holocaust for another forty years.” —W.E.B. Griffin, best-selling author of The Corps and Brotherhood of War series

“DEFCON One is a humdinger! Joe Weber mixes up the fast-paced action for an exciting read!" —Payne Harrison, New York Times best-selling author

“His flying scenes especially are superb. It’s a chilling vision. . . The best high-tech military thriller. . ." —Franklin Allen Leib, best-selling author of Fire Arrow

“DEFCON One is a skillfully constructed and exciting first novel. Vivid and frighteningly plausible. Crammed with high-tech action and nail-biting suspense. A brilliant novel!" —Herbert Crowder, best-selling author of Ambush At Osirak

Genres: Fiction, Military Fiction, Thriller, War, Military Thriller, Espionage, Audiobook

Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1989

About the author

Joe Weber is a former USMC carrier-qualified fighter pilot. His novels have appeared on the best-seller lists of the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, the Associated Press, and the Chicago Tribune.

Mr. Weber holds a Master of Science Degree in Aviation Management. He is an Airline Transport Rated pilot with over 10,500 hours of flight time in 43 different types of aircraft, ranging from aerobatic biplanes and high-performance military jets to four engine transports. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1970-1975. A carrier-qualified fighter/attack trained pilot, he graduated first in his class from advanced naval jet pilot training in Kingsville, Texas, in 1972. After his release from active duty, he flew commercially until 1989 when his first novel was published. Mr. Weber is a native of Enid, Oklahoma, and lives in Northwest Arkansas with his wife, Jeannie

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I read the jacket of this book in the library I thought I would be in for an enjoyable reading experience. Sadly, I was very, very mistaken in that estimate. One would assume that it would be very difficult to make a book about nuclear brinksmanship boring, but Joe Weber succeeds brilliantly. He does manage to show some escalation, but it is done in a terrible manner. If the Soviets had attacked and seriously damaged a US Navy cruiser on the high seas, I would like to have thought we would have done more than complain angrily on the telephone.

Then there is a whole plot about a spy and his agent trying to escape Moscow. I don't think Joe Weber looked at a map when he wrote that part, because it seems you can get from Moscow to Leningrad in a very short period of time. Or not, because it seems that each plot line are moving at different rates of time. The Soviet bombers circling off Alaska seem to be in the air for either hours, days, or weeks depending on which other plot you are reading.

The worst part of this whole book is the ending. Normally a book spends some time wrapping things up, but not Joe Weber. Nuclear missiles are about to fly, ending the world, when the Soviets blink and stage a coup against the previous coup. I turned the page expecting to read something about how the two sides drew down their forces, but nope. A page and a half of pointless writing and the book was over. That wasn't an ending and I actually wondered if there was a sequel. But there wasn't.

If you want to be seriously disappointed read this book. Otherwise, go read Tom Clancy. At least there you'll get an ending.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Military thriller reminiscent of Tom Clancy's "Red Storm Rising"...An unstable soviet leader, at the end of the Gorbachev reforms, is threatened by the final stages of the SDI going on line...to meet this threat he readies a 1st strike on the United States...The race is on to stop Armageddon...Weber does a wonderful job of portraying the emotions of leadership and the line military would go through to launch such an attack...god stuff!!!

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

A debut military techno-thriller.

Military Thriller - US Forces repel Soviet feints and engage in skirmishs as an unstable Soviet Premier puts into action his plan to defeat the US in an all out nuclear war. This gripping techno-thriller is set in the early 1990s, with the Soviet system falling apart and the U.S. about to take a commanding lead in the arms race, thanks to a combination of Stealth technology and SDI. The assassination of the Soviet premier brings to power a hard-liner with a daring plan: to force the U.S. to the brink of war--a state called Defense Readiness Condition Two, only one stage below maximum readiness, DefCon One--and then suddenly relax the pressure. If, as expected, the U.S. forces stand down, the U.S.S.R. will launch a surprise first strike.

[TJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Former Marine aviator Joe Weber has tapped into his experience and expertise to write, DefCon One, an engrossing military thriller. In this all-too-close-home novel, Russia has a new secretary-general who's bent on returning the former USSR to its standing among world superpowers. That plan begins with a first-strike nuclear attack against the United States.

Ok, the book is a little outdated with its 1980s setting, but the reader will quickly forget that as he or she moves through the believable and gripping story. As the Soviets begin to amp up their military presence in both the Pacific and Atlantic regions, US military leaders and the president are faced with a no-win possibility. Negotiations have broken off and it may come down to the information that CIA mole Steve Wickham can smuggle back out to the White House. Can Wickham get that important message to the president before armageddon?

Weber's writing style is comparable to that of Tom Clancy in DefCon One. He's able to showcase the arsenal of weapons and delivery methods without burying the reader in technical jargon. There's even a glossary in the back of the book to help the reader with acronyms and military references.

I'm not a huge fan of military thrillers, but after reading DefCon One, I just might become one.

[Nigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is based on the Audible audio book version.

This is a fast paced cold war geo-political thriller that has the 2 superpowers USA and USSR standing off against each other as belligerent and hard line new Soviet General Secretary sets out plans to launch a pre-emptive strike against the US. It is a somewhat strange plan as it begins by antagonising the US almost to the brink of war, then pulling back and planning on striking when the US relaxed it's defensive posture.
A deep cover agent in the Kremlin has news of the plot, and there is a plan in place to return him to the US with the news, but he and his CIA handler are discovered and what should have been a simple extraction turns into a fight for live across the frozen wastes of Russia. Add into this naval and air battles and it all makes up a really exciting read. The action scenes are tense, well written (up there with the best of Clancy and Bond). I found the characters solid and believable and I thought the discussions in White House situation room about possible US response not only believable but with the emotions felt by the participants made it feel like the reader was in the room an unseen witness the soul searching discussions.
The narrator was excellent with good inflection and pace to keep the story moving at the right pace but with real emotion.

[Alex Kariman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was awesome! Joe Weber did a very good job on writing this book. I've noticed a lot of the Goodreads reviews were not very positive, so I want to write some of the good stuff about this one.
The story itself is a Cold War story about the United States and the Soviet Union on the brink of nuclear war. The new Soviet prime minister makes bold and aggressive military moves against the U.S., forcing the U.S. to respond with equal force. Meanwhile, two CIA operators in Russia uncover crucial information and have to escape before the Soviets catch them. Joe Weber did an exceptional job delivering the story and making it exciting. He displayed his vast knowledge of military technology without boring the reader with page after page of useless stuff. Overall, I found this book very impressive and exciting. I you are a Tom Clancy fan, you will enjoy Defcon One.

[RJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the story a great deal, although the ending was predictable. The setup of a delusionary Soviet Secretary-General was possible but it dragged on longer than need be. Not until a coup on coup did tensions come to an end, taking it down to mere seconds. The planted CIA operative escaping with a CIA agent’s help took way too long as well. Even with these issues, I still managed to enjoy the story. Although the tale was written in 1989 I can still see the potential for something like this to take place in these current chaotic times. In 1989 the story may have received a more positive review.

[Cactuskid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started out with too much background but got interesting as it moved along. A story about a Russian president that wanted to wipe out the US with nuclear and chemical weapons. They would start being aggressive and the US would respond, then both would back off and Russia would then hit the US with all they had. Lots of flying and pilot talk, aircraft people would really like this.

[Federico Bergés · Rating 3 out of 5]

Otro thriller militar del estilo de Tom Clancy, aunque para mí no está a la altura. La parte puramente militar está bien, si bien se nota la clara tendencia aérea del protagonista, piloto de caza.

La parte política no me ha convencido; veo demasiadas cosas inverosímiles que me han hecho «despertar» de la lectura. Aun así, un libro mu entretenido para los que nos gusta la temática.

[Fred Schwarz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is ok, it served its purpose of something to listen to while doing hobby stuff. The story is good but full of predictable "just in the nick of time" crucial event. The US leadership is great and competent, the Soviet leadership is insane. The US pilots always fly into Harm's way with pithy banter, etc. The book is full of the stock items of a military war fetish techno-thriller.

[Don McCale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unreadable military read!!!!

This is one of the best thriller/military political books I have ever read! It insight to the political actions,military actions was so very hard to put down although I finished it in two days.

[Rob Leininger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rather gut-wrenching, watching (in fiction) the world coming right to the brink of nuclear war. Decent writing, good pacing. This appears to have been written in 1989, when things were still "hot" in the "cold" war. Now things are heating up again. A lot. Maybe this novel will be relevant again.

[Reem Eisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed by the book, the writing, the storyline, the characters. I mean how do you make end of the world nuclear all out dual between two super powers boring? Even the ending is very badly written.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Complex story - but interesting.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok read. Not sure I will continue reading any further

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

An oldie but a goodie. I found this an enjoyable USSR/USA almost WWIII book.

[Marisia Robus · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ok
Story was good, although a bit predictable. Narrator was bad, heavy breather of note, really irritating

[Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. So much suspense...the end....whew I was at the edge of my seat (listened to on audible)

[John S. Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, couldn't put it down. Action from begining till end.

[Joshua Friesen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love these kinds of books, but sadly this one after promising so much fell flat and could not redeem itself. Pass on it.

[Edward Maroncha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read.

[Michael Toleno · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really the heyday of military techno-thrillers, whose era still has not ended. This is the only Joe Weber book that I know that I read. He didn’t write many more, but I might read some more in the future.

I probably enjoyed this enough to warrant 4 stars, but I read this so long ago—at least 30 years—that I have little memory of the book or my reaction to it.

As with all of my pre-2000 books, the “Date finished” may be a few years off.

I actually read a paperback edition, but that edition’s listing on Goodreads has no page count; other listings of that paperback edition on line show an inaccurate page count of 96.

[Dan Dobler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Nicely written!

I'm not a fan of doomsday novels, and being ex-military, I'm a little skeptical about a good military novel. However, this is a very well written story with a good cast of characters. It is fairly well thought out and has some pretty good air action sequences. Nicely done, Mr. Weber!

[Horace Clinard · Rating 4 out of 5]

All-in-all, quite enjoyable with plenty of action. Some parts are less than plausible, particularly about the Russians being largely semi-inept and evil in the classic manner where Americans are portrayed as exceptionally superior in every way. As always, which suits me fine, is that we Americans triumph in the end, although the end pretty much slammed shut abruptly.

[Kevin Rich · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd probably consider this a technical thriller. While the technical aspect of the book is fantastic, most of the characters are one-dimensional stereotypical caricatures. I can't help but think this is the way my wife feels about a cheesy romance novel; cheap action without much depth.

[Hayden Remer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was pretty awesome book. I like books that switch off from other characters. Some parts were intense and kept me to the edge of my seat. I would give this book five stars but the ending wasn't the greatest it just ends out of nowhere but still a great book.

[Keira F. Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red storm rising lite. Some neat elements, but the plot and tension was very predictable. Inexperienced president, unhinged Soviet leader, spies... ultimately an entertaining, if uninspired cold war thriller.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Throw away characters contained in an insightful story about how one madman could bring us to the brink of the end of the world. As applicable today as when it was written, hopefully less so in the future. Finished in 6 hours.

[Chuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

A realistic story about an unbalanced Russian General
Secretary bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war.

[Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chilling! Let us all hope that this scenario never develops in our lifetime.