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Cloak
“There’s no other way?” “If there was, we wouldn’t even be discussing this,” the general said, sternly throttling back a wave of impatience. “Our only other choice is to sit back, do nothing, and watch one man bring down the nation. To sit back and do nothing as the work of decades collapses into ruin. To let the lives of our founders be so much wasted sacrifice and blood. Because it will be. If he succeeds—if we let him succeed—there will be nothing left but chaos.” The plan is already in motion. In ten days, the world will watch as a small group of patriots save the world from chaos.
564 pages, Paperback
First published December 22, 2014
3 people are currently reading
235 people want to read
About the author
Timothy Zahn
483 books8,553 followersTimothy Zahn attended Michigan State University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 1973. He then moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and achieved an M.S. degree in physics in 1975. While he was pursuing a doctorate in physics, his adviser became ill and died. Zahn never completed the doctorate. In 1975 he had begun writing science fiction as a hobby, and he became a professional writer. He and his wife Anna live in Bandon, Oregon. They have a son, Corwin Zahn.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 23, 2015
This one's 6 stars, and if it doesn't end up as my book of the year, I look forward to discovering what will top it.
In a secret room, two men make a choice: Will they kill one man to save a nation? Well, one man plus enough bystanders that nobody knows he was the original target. Turning him into a martyr would only give him more power.
So begins the best thriller I've read in a long, long time. A nuclear weapon is stolen in India and transported toward an unknown target, amid as many red herrings as the planners can spread. In the US, a technological breakthrough is also stolen: specially-treated cloth that, when draped over an object, presents the illusion of invisibility.
Readers know these thefts are linked, but the investigating officials don't—until it may be too late. There's a lot that readers don't know, however, like who is private detective Adam Ross and why did he rescue a key person of interest from assassins—and then keep her away from the police?
Cloak has a large cast of characters, especially in the opening chapters to set everything in motion. Because of that, I'd recommend reading a fair-sized chunk to get started. Otherwise you may forget who's who. After that, well, stop if you can.
Hugo-award-winning author Timothy Zahn is known for his science fiction novels, including best-sellers within the Star Wars universe. I hesitate to call Cloak science fiction, because except for that one piece of technology, it could come straight from tomorrow's headlines. Perhaps it's better labelled a cyber-thriller.
Timothy Zahn is a master strategist, both in terms of military and politics. He nails every aspect of the plot, creating characters we can root for even when we're not sure of their full game plan. All I can say about the ending is that you won't see it coming. :)
Cloak would make a fantastic movie, except that Hollywood would likely ruin it by adding sex and hardcore profanity. The novel contains mild profanity in places, and I could have done without that, but it wasn't enough to diminish my overall reading experience.
[Review copy from my personal library.]
In a secret room, two men make a choice: Will they kill one man to save a nation? Well, one man plus enough bystanders that nobody knows he was the original target. Turning him into a martyr would only give him more power.
So begins the best thriller I've read in a long, long time. A nuclear weapon is stolen in India and transported toward an unknown target, amid as many red herrings as the planners can spread. In the US, a technological breakthrough is also stolen: specially-treated cloth that, when draped over an object, presents the illusion of invisibility.
Readers know these thefts are linked, but the investigating officials don't—until it may be too late. There's a lot that readers don't know, however, like who is private detective Adam Ross and why did he rescue a key person of interest from assassins—and then keep her away from the police?
Cloak has a large cast of characters, especially in the opening chapters to set everything in motion. Because of that, I'd recommend reading a fair-sized chunk to get started. Otherwise you may forget who's who. After that, well, stop if you can.
Hugo-award-winning author Timothy Zahn is known for his science fiction novels, including best-sellers within the Star Wars universe. I hesitate to call Cloak science fiction, because except for that one piece of technology, it could come straight from tomorrow's headlines. Perhaps it's better labelled a cyber-thriller.
Timothy Zahn is a master strategist, both in terms of military and politics. He nails every aspect of the plot, creating characters we can root for even when we're not sure of their full game plan. All I can say about the ending is that you won't see it coming. :)
Cloak would make a fantastic movie, except that Hollywood would likely ruin it by adding sex and hardcore profanity. The novel contains mild profanity in places, and I could have done without that, but it wasn't enough to diminish my overall reading experience.
[Review copy from my personal library.]
February 26, 2015
Timothy Zahn is amongst my favorite authors. I have have read more than 25 of his novels. This one is up to his usual high standards. It has a very tight plot, secrets and twists every where, and lots of creativity.
Although I enjoyed the read, the story was not interesting to me. It was just a standard spy vs spy, crime novel; only written by a brilliant tactical author, and involving an item capable of leveling a city. I prefer Zahn's sci-fi and futuristic materials to this modern day heist.
Without giving anything away, a small nuclear bomb is stolen by an unknown group for an unknown purpose and with an unknown destination. The entirety of the novel is the numerous branches of the US government trying to find the nuke, always a step or two behind the thieves. Zahn's trademark creativity is in the form of the introduction/use of cloaks capable of making people or objects appear invisible in most of the light spectrum.
I never considered the thieves to be bad or evil because there is no development of any character (neither g-man nor thief) and because you do not know the motive for the theft until the end. I found myself neither rooting for, nor against either side of this spy vs spy match.
I am pleased that Zahn kept politics out of the story. You are not reading the thoughts of bleeding-heart liberals, blow-up the world extremist, crazy middle easterners, religious zealots, anti-war doves, American hating foreigners, ultra-patriots, nor staunch single-minded military men. Everyone in the book is there solely to do a job, and not to pontificate about morals or politics. Oh, there are A LOT of 'everyone' in this novel. 'There are way too many characters to keep straight, especially because none of them have any personality. When I was finished, I still did not recognize the roles of each of the main characters. Missing from the hodgepodge of characters was one hero or superman or prime enemy.
In sum, if you are a fan of Zahn, and/or like spy or crime novels, and/or want to experience a very creative and near-flawless plot, then I recommend this novel.
Although I enjoyed the read, the story was not interesting to me. It was just a standard spy vs spy, crime novel; only written by a brilliant tactical author, and involving an item capable of leveling a city. I prefer Zahn's sci-fi and futuristic materials to this modern day heist.
Without giving anything away, a small nuclear bomb is stolen by an unknown group for an unknown purpose and with an unknown destination. The entirety of the novel is the numerous branches of the US government trying to find the nuke, always a step or two behind the thieves. Zahn's trademark creativity is in the form of the introduction/use of cloaks capable of making people or objects appear invisible in most of the light spectrum.
I never considered the thieves to be bad or evil because there is no development of any character (neither g-man nor thief) and because you do not know the motive for the theft until the end. I found myself neither rooting for, nor against either side of this spy vs spy match.
I am pleased that Zahn kept politics out of the story. You are not reading the thoughts of bleeding-heart liberals, blow-up the world extremist, crazy middle easterners, religious zealots, anti-war doves, American hating foreigners, ultra-patriots, nor staunch single-minded military men. Everyone in the book is there solely to do a job, and not to pontificate about morals or politics. Oh, there are A LOT of 'everyone' in this novel. 'There are way too many characters to keep straight, especially because none of them have any personality. When I was finished, I still did not recognize the roles of each of the main characters. Missing from the hodgepodge of characters was one hero or superman or prime enemy.
In sum, if you are a fan of Zahn, and/or like spy or crime novels, and/or want to experience a very creative and near-flawless plot, then I recommend this novel.
February 7, 2020
In the prologue we find that the general wants to kill someone. An assassination would just make the guy a martyr, so he and his force are going to steal a tactical nuke and blow up a building with maybe a couple thousand deaths of collateral damage.
The POV moves around. We get to hear the president's security briefing (is he the target?). Ten and Eleven are with the stolen nuke. Chandler and his team have created a blanket that can mimic the surroundings, perfect camouflage, a cloak. Techs are poisoned, the cloaks are stolen, and they want to kill Angie Chandler. Ross, a PI, is kind of sweet on Angie notices the goons waiting for her and rushes in to save her (at least as far as I've read). These events are drawing the attention of law enforcement and we see what they're doing, too.
We only have a guess at the target. In the first third of the book I haven't seen anyone painted as a threat to the world. Now I'm not sure if the assassins are the good guys saving the world from a man or movement that will destroy the world or misguided terrorists.
Action packed. Fast read. We got a lot of information, including some that the investigators didn't have, but still it wasn't all the pieces, there was always something left in reserve so that I didn't have a fix on what was going to happen next. Did the general really only have fifteen people? I liked the Ross Character. Talbot and Swenson, too. The action was good, the investigative part was intriguing and the whole thing was very clever. 4.7/5 stars.
The POV moves around. We get to hear the president's security briefing (is he the target?). Ten and Eleven are with the stolen nuke. Chandler and his team have created a blanket that can mimic the surroundings, perfect camouflage, a cloak. Techs are poisoned, the cloaks are stolen, and they want to kill Angie Chandler. Ross, a PI, is kind of sweet on Angie notices the goons waiting for her and rushes in to save her (at least as far as I've read). These events are drawing the attention of law enforcement and we see what they're doing, too.
We only have a guess at the target. In the first third of the book I haven't seen anyone painted as a threat to the world. Now I'm not sure if the assassins are the good guys saving the world from a man or movement that will destroy the world or misguided terrorists.
Action packed. Fast read. We got a lot of information, including some that the investigators didn't have, but still it wasn't all the pieces, there was always something left in reserve so that I didn't have a fix on what was going to happen next. Did the general really only have fifteen people? I liked the Ross Character. Talbot and Swenson, too. The action was good, the investigative part was intriguing and the whole thing was very clever. 4.7/5 stars.
January 31, 2017
42 WORD REVIEW:
Cloak features prototype invisibility cloaks, but is primarily a foray into the intrigue/thriller genre as SF doyen Zahn envisages how these might be used to steal and deploy a nuclear weapon. Ultimately the intricacies prove more interesting to Zahn than his readers.
Cloak features prototype invisibility cloaks, but is primarily a foray into the intrigue/thriller genre as SF doyen Zahn envisages how these might be used to steal and deploy a nuclear weapon. Ultimately the intricacies prove more interesting to Zahn than his readers.
February 8, 2017
A tad bit hard to get into at first, but the pace and buildup of the plot ended up being really exciting. I was hooked by the end by the red herrings, tricks, twists and intricate layering of events.
February 16, 2017
A great action thriller right up to the end. Well worth the read and I will be keeping an eye out of more by him.
April 10, 2020
Overall excellent! Great intricate plot, and great characters. Though a lot of characters and names, able to keep track of who was whom. Able to connect well with the main ones, especially Ross and Angie. Exciting and well paced (though maybe dragged a little at the end). And have to read carefully or you'll miss something. Felt very real too, as if could actually happen. I once heard Zahn say one of his favorite authors was Alistair MacLean. In the prologue especially I could see it. Tim, if you read this, great job!
February 16, 2015
Enjoyed this book thoroughly. I expected it to be good, but was wary of the shift in genre away from more futuristic science fiction. I needn't have worried. It reads like every Zahn novel reads, and I'm always a step behind. Fantastic.
July 11, 2015
Not a bad story but not great other. The plot is simple and the ending is predictable. But it gives the characters dynamic so they are not bland given that it have many characters. You even feel sorry for the bad guy. Anyway, god story but it could have been better if there's some kind of twists
January 2, 2015
A very fun ride!
November 6, 2017
Starts very slow and picks up around halfway; somehow less engaging than other Zahn books I've read. I liked it, but I doubt I'll reread it.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews