Project Cyclops

by Thomas Hoover

Spotting a group of terrorists heading toward the Aegean island home of a U.S. aerospace corporation, ex-agent Michael Vance crash lands on the island and becomes his country's only hope. Original.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Amazon, Military Fiction, Science Fiction, Adventure

432 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1992

About the author

Thomas Hoover has a doctorate in oceanography and served as senior vice president of an architect-engineering firm in New York, where he has lived for several decades. His vices include being an avid sailor and a recognized collector of the classical music of India. He began his writing career with two classic non-fiction books on Far Eastern art and religion and then moved into fiction writing with two critically acclaimed novels about English sailors in the early Seventeenth century.

Reviews

[Laurie]

This story is reminiscent of Die Hard in the fact that there is one rogue good guy working behind the scenes to foil an entire group of terrorists. Enter our hero, Michael Vance, whom we were originally introduced to in Project Daedalus and seems to have a profound talent for showing up in the wrong place at the wrong time ... or maybe fate has decided that it was the right place at the right time, since without his efforts the world as we know it would be terminally altered. Unlike Die Hard these terrorists are not looking to procure finances through theft, but by taking over a private experimental facility. This facility is history in the making, using a new technology to launch satellites into orbit. The head of this terrorist cell doesn't have to be a scientific genius - though he is - to realize that what goes up must come down. He plans to use the facility's capabilities to launch a nuclear bomb that can be delivered anywhere in the world and use this strategy as nuclear blackmail in an attempt to demand 800 million dollars from the President of the United States.

The plot is intelligent and well thought out with plenty of twists to keep you on the edge of your seat and your fingers flying through the pages. The more that I read of Hoover's books the more grateful I am that I found his work hiding amongst the plethora of free books available on Amazon. I strongly urge all Kindle users to look into this wonderful source of reading material and be willing to try out new authors. Your latest favorite writer may just be right there, waiting to be discovered by you.

[Steve]

Potentially a VERY Exciting Story and Plot; In Reality, it Needs Some Work …

This was a VERY interesting and captivating Thriller … HIGHLY recommended reading ASAP …

This story had a good plot, but one problem with The Author’s writing style, is his use of time tags … I think everyone except this Author, knows that as you transition from one 15deg band of longitude to another, there’s an hour of time that changes … but, NOT SO in this Author’s world … though he seems to fix it later, this writer initially seems to believe he can run one clock across all time zones, because that makes sense to him … if it’s 1:49pm in Crete during one part of a chapter, then 2:15pm in Washington, D.C. in the next segment — this Author writes his plot as if only 26 minutes have elapsed … but, duh! Not true!

The Author also has one of the ‘creators’ of Cyclops portrayed as a brilliant scientist. But, when the man makes a trip to the Cyclops inaugural launch, the brilliant scientist is suddenly portrayed as a fliggin’ idiot who doesn’t have enough common sense to tie his own shoe laces. The way The Author has him acting on the Greek Island is just ridiculous, and frankly — it’s an insult to an otherwise interesting plot.

And, the US Military and Political characters created by The Author couldn’t be more stupid and narrow-minded … they realize there is the potential for a big, BIG boom — and they’re worried about not destroying American hardware — rather than ensuring they disable the BIG boom! (And, frankly, the main “good guy” characters in this book also don’t take very many concrete steps to stop things — there are a lot of eensy-teensy steps, mostly in the wrong direction, and ineffective. Truly, this kind of writing does NOT help improve the book.)

[Barbara]

The 3 stars is really because this isn’t my type of book. Lots of action, descriptions of military weapons and tactics. The characters are good, the story is ok - but only if you like action movies about terrorists and under-the-radar rescue groups.

[J.D. Schechter]

A good story ruined

For a story that relies so heavily on guns, the author doesn't know much about them:. An AK-47 sniper rifle? Clips? And did he get a bonus every one of the dozens of times he mentioned Fujitsu?

[Jefrois]

OPINION:

.
A genuine P O S.

BORING.
TRITE.
PREDICTABLE.
STOCK CHARACTERS from Central Casting in Hollywood.

Goes on forever….

S L O W W W W….

I hated it.

I started skipping entire chapters; it did not seem to matter.

After awhile, I just quit. I stopped reading.

.

[MR S Bellard]

Project Cyclops Review

Good book well worth reading not terribly original but still worth reading especially if you are into this type of genre.

[Judy Anderson]

Great story.

Not my usual genre in books, but it kept my attention. Lots of action and intrigue to keep the plot moving.

[Scotts Kindle]

Good story

Other than a glacier like slow down in the end I enjoyed this. Felt like things were grinding to a halt. I liked it.

[Dave Webber]

Good Writing

Some inconsistencies like the name of the US president being John vs Johan. Good character development, plenty of fast paced action with a good storyline.

[Simon]

This is the third novel by Thomas Hoover that I have read, and the third that I have really enjoyed. Syndrome, I still think is the best by far but all have been good solid reads. Although it was first written in the early 1990s, it does not seem dated at all: although it is a somewhat techno-thriller, there is little if anything in it that jars and 'old' technology. The plot centres around the Michael Vance character from The Daedalus Project but he is not really developed any further, probably not even as well as in the earlier novel and is really just Random Hero Guy. That doesn't hurt the story though and it cranks along at a fast clip.

My only adverse comment is that, like many of these free e-books, it could use a serious proofread: the editing is OK but there are too many typos that just irritate and spoil the flow of the narrative. This is the main reason that this grammar Nazi give it three stars instead of four...

[Lawrence]

Since NASA has been looking to use private companies more often with getting payloads into space, this story caught my attention. Terrorists take over a private space launch facility and bring their own nuclear payload. A shipwrecked Michael Vance drifts onto the island, and tries to keep the launch from happening until his cohorts, who originally set up the facility's security, can get past the U.S. Military and the terrorists, to rescue the hostages, and their reputation. Lot of action, a little plausible science, a hint of romance, a nice read.

[Fredrick Danysh]

Bill Bate's company is developing a laser powered space shuttle on a Greek island. Mike Vance is sailing a replica of Uylesses' ship to recreate his voyage back to Troy when a storm shipwrecks him on the island. At the same time, a group of terrorist seize the island to use the laser powered ship for nuclear terrorism against the United States. As a consultant for an anti-terrorism group Vance takes on the terrorist to save his friend Bates.

[Nev Thomas]

Ok.Little drawn out and a inconclusive ending

[Jack]

Pacy technothriller in which a group of freelance antiterrorists do their best to thwart an attack by villains using a new space technology based on an island in the Aegean

[Ciaran]

Anti-Climatic, dragged out and a total let down in comparison to Life Blood, surprised it came from the same author.

[Harold Crowder]

Continuing to enjoy the writng of Thomas Hoover.

[Vikram]

Time-pass. This author is obsessed with weapons and rockets. Even his earlier book Project Daedalus is dealing with space vehicles like something in sci-fi.

[casey]

Another quarantine read; not my style of novel whatsoever, but enjoyable for what it is--despite not being particularly thrilling or rooted in science fiction.

[Kandi]

liked the content, lots of navy chargin and to much cuss words for my taste. overall good thriller

[Ken Weinert]

False