Operation Terror

by Murray Leinster

El equipo de radar había captado un extraño objeto en el espacio acercándose a la superficie de la tierra. Era descrito como un "objeto de considerable tanmaño". El impacto de su caída en el parque nacional de Boulder Lake, Colorado, fue recogido por todos los sismógrafos del mundo. Luego comenzaron a propagarse las primeras noticias: había unos seres a bordo, unos seres que no tardaron en abandonar la nave espacial para explorar aquella zona… ¿Dónde estaba la nave espacial y cuál era el propósito de la visita de aquellos seres? Unos monstruos armados de un rayo paralizante, que cegaba a sus víctimas, dejándolas oler una "peste nauseabunda" peor que la putrefacción…

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

see also:
Will F. Jenkins
William Fitzgerald Jenkins

Murray Leinster was a nom de plume of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an award-winning American writer of science fiction and alternate history. He wrote and published over 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie scripts, and hundreds of radio scripts and television plays.

An author whose career spanned the first six decades of the 20th Century. From mystery and adventure stories in the earliest years to science fiction in his later years, he worked steadily and at a highly professional level of craftsmanship longer than most writers of his generation. He won a Hugo Award in 1956 for his novelet “Exploration Team,” and in 1995 the Sidewise Award for Alternate History took its name from his classic story, “Sidewise in Time.” His last original work appeared in 1967.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

When is an alien invasion not really an alien invasion? When you can stop it with a transistor radio and a good cheese grater, of course. And why should you let the fact that the woman that makes your heart throb (or something) is engaged to another man slow you down? Why, you shouldn't, 'cause it'll all work out in the end. Operation Terror is one of Leinster's more clever fast-paced feel-good adventures, well plotted and well written. It's a bit dated in spots, of course, but still a whole lot of fun.

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

ENGLISH: This novel touches on some of the typical Leinster themes. Published in 1962, it reminded me a lot at first of his short story "Invasion," published in 1933, although at the end it's clearly different. In both cases it begins with the "invasion" of Earth by extraterrestrials. In both cases the protagonist and his girl are left enclosed in the dangerous zone, from which they try to flee. In this case, however, the girl was engaged to a colleague of the protagonist who may have died, which gives interest to a love plot rather stronger than is usual in Leinster.

ESPAÑOL: Esta novela incide en algunos de los temas típicos de Leinster. Publicada en 1962, al principio me recordó bastante su cuento corto "Invasión", de 1933, aunque al final se aparta bastante. En ambos casos comienza con la "invasión" de la Tierra por extraterrestres. Encerrados en la zona peligrosa están en ambos casos el protagonista y su chica, que tratan de huir por todos los medios. En este caso, sin embargo, la chica estaba prometida con un colega del protagonista que no se sabe si ha muerto, lo que da interés a la trama amorosa con más fuerza de lo que es común en Leinster.

[Vigneswara Prabhu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Operation Terror, suffers from the following maladies as a story,
> A protagonist who suffers from simp-o-mania, and has a tendency to take on a messiah complex, orders around the female character, slightly misogynist
> A female character who suffers from 'being-a-woman-in-a-sci-fi-novel' syndrome (it doesn't help, that she is written as a 'man's' version of a women. Behaving neurotic, pining for her missing lover, and at one point, pulled a Uhura, and had her act as a receptionist)
> A story which starts off as being bland, and turns out to be repetitive and uninteresting
> A manner of writing, which seems to follow the 'tell, now show' doctrine. and of course, repeats what was said in one scene, in the very next scene
> An author who seems to adopt a 'America-is-the-best-nation', philosophy, is a tad too scared of the USSR (which given the time when it was written....)

You know that the problem is? Alien landing, and invasions are described, but we barely see any. Instead we have human collaborators of aliens, and some half baked big foot like sightings, and a whole bunch of terror beams, which makes this more like a typical conspiracy thriller, and not a science fiction story.

[Kevin Lawlor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty exciting science fiction novel, and reminded me of the days of the height of The X-Files. It’s pretty straightforward, where there’s apparently an alien invasion happening in Boulder, Colorado and this invasions main weapon is what is dubbed a “terror beam“ which paralyzes and incapacitates anyone within range. The fear and paranoia throughout the book is palpable, where our main characters are trying to figure out why the aliens are invading, why they have this terra beam, but most of all, why haven’t they shown themselves and why haven’t they killed any human beings?

There’s a lot of Cold War seriousness and there’s hardly any fat to be had. This is a race and this is a puzzle and I really did enjoy myself.

[Perry Whitford · Rating 1 out of 5]

Aliens attack America. Or do they?

A spaceship crashes into a lake, bizarre looking creatures emerge and unleash a terror beam on anyone within a certain radius, the area is evacuated and a downbeat construction worker called Locksley gets caught up in the panic.

The terror beam has the effect of discombobulating the senses. 'There was the musky reek of reptiles in it. It was a collection of all the smells that could be imagined. It was horrible. It was infinitely worse than the smell of skunk.' Attack of the Stoners from Outer Space(d)?

Locksley thinks not and suspects the Ruskies. He plods around forlornly, rescues and bores the pants off of the woman he loves, eats some porcupine and manages to foil the 'invaders' with a pocket radio and a cheese grater. His logic is as daft as it is inelegant:

'Men would always combine against not-men. But if this were a ship from no farther than the other side of the earth, and only pretended to be from an alien world ... America could be conquered because it believed it was fighting monsters instead of other men.'

A mindless plot with prose was so flat it could have been written by a spirit level.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantasy reading 📚

Due to eye issues Alexa reads to me a interesting will written fantasy Sci-Fi adventure thriller novella with interesting characters. The story line is complicated, fast moving, full of misdirection, and deception leading to an unexpected conclusion. I would recommend this novella to readers of fantasy Sci-Fi. Enjoy reading 🔰2021 😄

[Nikky3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorit part of this book was how people would have a conversation and then the nariorator right after would sum up the conversation.

[Bryn Grover · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the story had some potential which was left unfulfilled. Aliens land and release a terror beam that temporarily paralyzes people. The world doesn't have any weapons to combat this terror beam. So, an alien threat mobilizes warring nations to try to work together to create a counter to the weapon and defend the planet. But it's a convenient lie by the government who made the weapon but fears the Russians and other protagonists will also create something similar. So in the name of creating a world where everyone can potentially defend against such a weapon, they unleash it around the globe to drive research. For me, the ending was too abrupt tying all these pieces together. Taking into consideration the time it was written -- early in the cold war, Berlin wall going up, Cuban Missile Crisis, etc., it is full of that type of 'our enemy' imagery and likely resonated with people 60 years ago more than it would today.

[Chris Aldridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Librivox audiobook. Fairly interesting first contact scenario set in cold war era. The hero is a gung ho cardboard character in love with another man's fiancee when something lands in the US and he is facing a possible invasion scenario. After various twists and turns the plot forces our hero to re-evaluate his paranoia...Our resourceful hero is finally winkled out of hiding and forced to make a terrible choice..to forgive or seek revenge..

[Mary Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big fan of classic scifi. Murray is one of my favorite early authors. He spanned an incredible age of change, born in 1896, and passing in 1975, seeing the change from horse drawn carriages, to rockets to the moon. His perspective is unique, and he shines as one of the Golden Age authors. Very fun read, which I listened to on Loyal Books for free. A story of alien invasion, a good and decent man, a gentle love story, and great courage and invention.

[Adhoc · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF lost interest halfway through.

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sci fi short story

I don't think either device would work in the real world. The belief in a technology that cures problems so quickly is very old fashioned.

[Jason Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not your stock old school sci-fi.

[Audiobook Heaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book, I listened to the audiobook version free on YouTube. I will leave the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSfLY...

[Amun Prophet]

Fun story. Doesn’t pass the sexy lamp test. Twist at the end was kind of cringe but also kind of cool.

[Rodney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old school science fiction story about alien invasion. It was a short read with limited violence. It was free on Amazon Kindle.

[Mark Rabideau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very hopeful and optimistic sci-fi tale. In our world of incredible confusion, poor leadership and distress... this offers a psychological balm.

[Tamerlaaane · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books i've ever read. Terrible on all fronts.

[Tony Ciak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story by great author and narrated by a great narrator.

[Beau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Operation 1950s sci-fi movie in a book. THANKYOU Mr. Leinster.

[James Hold · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to ward off an alien invasion using a transistor radio and a cheese grater. MacGyver has nothing on this guy.

[John Loyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Operation Terror (1962) 160 pages by Murray Leinster.

An alien ship lands in the Boulder Lake Park area. There are three lone surveyors at separate locations and a construction crew at what would be the camp site. Vale the surveyor nearest the lake is taken hostage by the aliens while communicating with Lockley. Lockley thinks this is probably a prank but the the other surveyor, Sattel, has gotten information that something did land in the lake. Lockley is enamored with Jill Holmes, a magazine writer on site doing an article on how a national park is born. Unfortunately she is engaged to Vale, but Lockley hearing the news rushes in to make sure she is all right.

By the time Lockley drives from his post to the construction site a mass exodus is on the way and three more humans have been captured and two more returned to site after being hit by a paralysis ray. Lockley finds Jill who is worried about Vale so Lockley climbs to Vale's post to find signs of struggle a hoof print and is hit by the paralysis ray, captured, and thrown in a holding pen with the three construction workers that were captured. The humans dig a hole to escape and decide it's more likely one of them will get back to safety if they all split up. Lockley being paranoid about being overheard hadn't mentioned Jill and rushes back to find her.

The adventure continues avoiding the rays that are blocking the roads, speculation abounding in Lockley's head about whether it's aliens possibly with human collaborators or Russians.

I thought the book was rather shallow, the characters not believable, e.g. Jill never speaks of her fiance by his first name, the science needing a lot of suspension of disbelief and the conclusions drawn when the facts are laid out very suspect. Oh and by the way, you're in the mountains in the 1960s, all the nearby towns have been evacuated, and you're picking up a radio station and they are broadcasting news that is hours or minutes old. On the plus side it was a quick read, Leinster kept a level of tension through out the story, and it never bogged down. Unless you're searching for the paranoia of the cold war translated into a cheesy novel find a different book.

[Roddy Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

So.. Lockley is a surveyor surveying the mountain above Boulder Lake, Colorado and brooding over his long-felt want for Jill Holmes, who is a journalist writing an article about the development at the lake. Jill Holmes however is engaged to another surveyor, Vale.
Lockley's peace is shattered by a routine call with Vale who is in a panic and asks Lockley to tell the military that aliens have landed in Boulder Lake, and that the construction site is being evacuated. Then there is the sound of a struggle and Vale is cut off.
Lockley realises that Jill is at the construction site. Meeting up on the road with evacuees he discovers that Jill is not with them.
So, Lockley sets off to rescue her from the alien invaders.
It's not one of Leinster's best, and encompasses a somewhat lunatic premise, peppered with incidents which stretch one's credulity.
For instance, the invaders have a beam which affects the nervous system. Scientists all over the world are working flat out to find a defence against it, and yet Lockley manages to not only knock one up from a transistor radio and a cheese grater, but one that has the side effect of setting off any explosive charges (such as bullets) within 125 feet.
Jill Holmes is a bit of a wet lettuce and her role is only that of the maguffin whom Lockley has to pursue to further the plot.
It is interesting to compare this with Leinster's 'Creatures from the Abyss' which boasts a similar plot but with far more rounded characters.

[Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprising is the descriptive language William Jenkins (aka and well-known well-liked Murray Leinster) uses in his novels. His usages of very modern sounding words from such a point in history gives the readers feeling of insurances that psy-fi could be a coming in our near futures. Not much unlike a dystopian novella Operation Terror is more like a suspense thriller and published way back from 1962 this is an enriching story by masterful author Murray Leinster in his science fiction style to have been able to read.

[Simon Hedge · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of a guy who loves a girl, and won't let the small matters of her engagement to someone else or an alien invasion of earth stand in his way. Or something...
If you can see past the really unconvincing dialogue and the unashamedly 'pulp' prose style (I like to think I can), you'll still find a pretty poor cold-war-hysteria story trying to make some point or other. And Leinster spells co-operating with an umlaut. What a weirdo!

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was quite an interesting tale, at first the reader gets a sort of 'War of the Worlds' impression after reading the initial descriptions given for the setting, such persists until about the second to last chapter, as the true situation is gradually revealed... there is also a bit of humour here and there...

[Erik Graff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Graduating from Union Theological Seminary in 1978, I went on a science fiction binge, reading maybe a dozen science fiction books in a dozen days. This was one of them and, like most, it left very little impression.

[Ralph McEwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of the book my give you pause, don't let it stop you from reading or listening to this book. The story does have tension but it is not a horror story. Mark Nelson dose an excellent job of narration.

[Jeanne M. Wittman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Concept

The idea of the story was interesting and caught my interest fairly quickly. The characters were not developed well, but the plot was. The protagonist kept me thinking through most of the story. This was a good quick read.

[bluetyson]

Operation Terror by Murray Leinster (2000)