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Mannequin
Ein Frachtzug mit einer Ladung tödlichen Nervengases ist außer Kontrolle geraten und rast mitten in der Nacht führerlos auf San Francisco zu. Der ganze Westen Amerikas ist von einer unvorstellbaren chemischen Katastrophe bedroht, geplant von einer Gruppe fanatischer Terroristen. Verzweifelt versuchen die Rettungsmannschaften, den Transport in letzter Sekunde noch zu stoppen...
273 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1988
27 people want to read
About the author
Robert Byrne
91 books18 followersRobert Byrne is the author of seven novels, five collections of humorous quotations, seven books on billiards, two anthologies, and an expose of frauds in the literary world. One of his novels, Thrill, was made into NBC’s Monday Night Movie, which aired for the first time on May 20, 1996. Four of his novels were selections of Reader’s Digest Condensed Books and published in many languages. His style is widely praised for its clarity and wit. Byrne’s Standard Book of Pool and Billiards, published in 1978 and expanded in 1998, has sold over 500,000 copies. -byrne.org
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 3, 2024
A thriller needs to thrill and Mannequin hits the spot in this regard, but do not expect anything deep; this read like a made for TV movie, replete with villains and heroes with little shades of gray. This kicks off with a guy named Gil stealing a limo (the bosses limo!) from a garage at a chemical plant, only to crash and smash a few minutes later. What was Gil up to? Well, Byrne returns to that later in the novel.
Our main protagonist, Karen, moved with Gil to BFE Nevada when he took a job there; he is a chemical engineer and she a music teacher/chamber music performer. Gil and Karen have split, however, and she starts the novel looking around San Francisco for new digs and a job. Gil's job a the chemical plant is no fun, but it is the best he could get after some vague disaster that happened in Boston where he used to work. It becomes apparent early on that the chemical plant is making some new weapon, deemed Mannequin, as contact with it (skin or air) causes your muscles to freeze up-- total paralysis. While over exposure can kill, the antidote is just pure oxygen.
Well, the owners of the chemical plant have a new customer hailing from Iraq. Remember the Iran/Iraq war in the 80s? Well, supposedly various chemical and biological agents were used there, and Mannequin looks to be field tested pretty soon! Is this a black US government operation? Byrne is never very clear, but in any case, they plan on putting the chemical into tankers and using rails to get it to Oakland. Unfortunately, some Iranian intelligence operative finds out and decides the gas would be better used in the US than on Iranians...
The pacing here started off slow, but really picked up about the midway point. Byrne either has some engineering background or did his homework as both the chemical agent and the train seemed pretty authentic. Did I say train? Oh yeah, as the cover blurb mentions a runaway train heading to Oakland with a load of chemical agents. This paired well with the classic Runaway Train film which I watched last night as well. 3.5 runaway trains!!
Our main protagonist, Karen, moved with Gil to BFE Nevada when he took a job there; he is a chemical engineer and she a music teacher/chamber music performer. Gil and Karen have split, however, and she starts the novel looking around San Francisco for new digs and a job. Gil's job a the chemical plant is no fun, but it is the best he could get after some vague disaster that happened in Boston where he used to work. It becomes apparent early on that the chemical plant is making some new weapon, deemed Mannequin, as contact with it (skin or air) causes your muscles to freeze up-- total paralysis. While over exposure can kill, the antidote is just pure oxygen.
Well, the owners of the chemical plant have a new customer hailing from Iraq. Remember the Iran/Iraq war in the 80s? Well, supposedly various chemical and biological agents were used there, and Mannequin looks to be field tested pretty soon! Is this a black US government operation? Byrne is never very clear, but in any case, they plan on putting the chemical into tankers and using rails to get it to Oakland. Unfortunately, some Iranian intelligence operative finds out and decides the gas would be better used in the US than on Iranians...
The pacing here started off slow, but really picked up about the midway point. Byrne either has some engineering background or did his homework as both the chemical agent and the train seemed pretty authentic. Did I say train? Oh yeah, as the cover blurb mentions a runaway train heading to Oakland with a load of chemical agents. This paired well with the classic Runaway Train film which I watched last night as well. 3.5 runaway trains!!
April 21, 2024
So so. Not bad, not great. Time killer.
March 19, 2017
Te atrapa desde el inicio.
La trama es rápida, entretenida, y no se centra en un solo protagonista.
Como haber visto alguna película de Willis, Stallon, o algo del rubro.
Recomendado para un fin de semana.
La trama es rápida, entretenida, y no se centra en un solo protagonista.
Como haber visto alguna película de Willis, Stallon, o algo del rubro.
Recomendado para un fin de semana.
March 1, 2016
Mannequin, Robert Byrne, RDC-M #5, 1988, 12/88. Fiction, "Mannequin" is the code name of a secret nerve gas that temporarily paralizes everyone who comes in contact with it, but is water soliable. It is secretly shipped on a runaway train to California, and an agent races to stop the disaster. Okay.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews