Ignition

by Kevin J. Anderson, Doug Beason

As American and Russian astronauts take their positions aboard the shuttle Atlantis, terrorists seize the Kennedy Space Center and threaten to blow up the shuttle if their demands are not met, and it is up to the mission's injured former commander to stop them

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Thriller, Adventure, Mystery, Suspense

402 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1997

About the author

Yes, I have a lot of books, and if this is your first visit to my amazon author page, it can be a little overwhelming. If you are new to my work, let me recommend a few titles as good places to start. I love my Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, humorous horror/mysteries, which begin with DEATH WARMED OVER. My steampunk fantasy adventures, CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES, written with Neil Peart, legendary drummer from Rush, are two of my very favorite novels ever. And my magnum opus, the science fiction epic The Saga of Seven Suns, begins with HIDDEN EMPIRE. After you've tried those, I hope you'll check out some of my other series.

I have written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and I'm the co-author of the Dune prequels. My original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award-nominated Assemblers of Infinity. I have also written several comic books including the Dark Horse Star Wars collection Tales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Predator titles (also for Dark Horse), and X-Files titles for Topps.

I serve as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest.

My wife is author Rebecca Moesta. We currently reside near Monument, Colorado.

Reviews

[Chuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

An unbalanced American and an assorted group of terrorists hold
the Kennedy Space Center hostage. Amateurishly written.

[Xian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Livianito y entretenido. Yippee Ki Yay.

[Rosa Chacón García · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este libro estaría más cerca de las cuatro estrellas que de las tres. Una narrativa trepidante que hace que te enganches desde el primer segundo y que ya no la quieras dejar.

[John (JC) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kept me on the edge of my seat

[Kristin Lundgren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad thriller - certainly better than the blurb, which sounds deadly dull. A paean to the space program, but filled with lots of details, without getting bogged down. Characters are reasonably well sketched for a thriller, and it's told from multiple POVs, so you get in the character's heads. Keeps the action going until the final page.

[Ben Pashkoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looks like a disposable so far.....yep, I am right. Not a bad line, but the evil bad guy is simply not believeable, and the good guys are just a tad on the shallow side of life.

[Charl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. I knew from other reviews that this probably wasn't going to be a masterpiece, but I expect better than this from Mr. Anderson.

As an adventure story, this ranks somewhere below Dirk Pitt, Mack Bolan, or even Remo Williams. It's just not believable that "Iceberg" could accomplish as much as he does with a broken (and soon unsupported) ankle. Bruce Willis was implausible in Die Hard, but Friese crosses the line into unbelievable.

And I just don't think the shuttle could be blown up with just a rifle bullet:

1. I doubt an ordinary rifle bullet could penetrate the LH2 tank. Mythbusters had trouble piercing an ordinary propane tank with bullets, so it's even less likely to penetrate the LH2 tank.

2. Even if it did, it's also unlikely that it would create a spark. Metal piercing metal doesn't ordinarily cause sparks. Sparks come from grinding or cutting, with microscopic bits of steel oxidizing red hot in the air. (Look up "why do metal sparks glow?" or similar.)

3. Even if it created a spark, there's no oxygen in the LH2 tank, and without oxygen you can't have a fire or explosion. (Look up "Fire Triangle".)

4. It's a LIQUID Hydrogen tank. So even if the bullet did penetrate, you'd have LIQUID Hydrogen jetting out of the tank. And yes, it'd immediately start boiling into hydrogen gas, which would be one heck of a fire hazard, but any spark from the penetration would last long enough to ignite the gas outside the tank.

5. Even postulating that somehow you have gaseous hydrogen escaping the external tank, and somehow it was ignited, then you have a flaming jet of hydrogen gas spurting out of the side of the external tank.

And that's all. It's nowhere near the LO2 tank, so it can't somehow rupture that. And hydrogen burns at just over 1000°F, but the insulation on the external tank has to withstand temperatures of more than twice that, so it wouldn't even ignite the insulation. It's a bad thing, but it's not going to destroy the shuttle in a massive explosion immediately after the rifle shot as in the story.

Phillips' bomb, if it was powerful enough to rupture both the LO2 and LH2 tanks, could have caused a massive fireball that would have destroyed the shuttle and gantry, but I'm not sure it would have been an actual explosion. (The Challenger didn't actually explode, either — look it up.)

Sorry guys. I just don't believe your dramatic end of the Atlantis would have occurred at all, and certainly not in the titanic explosion you described.

I expect better from Mr. Anderson, and was very disappointed. The only reason I finished it was to see just how bad it would get. And it stayed bad right to the end.

Spare yourself and don't bother with this unbelievable exercise in fantasy.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, quick read as long as you didn't think too much about the story.

Strengths: the authors did their research about the Kennedy Space Center in Florida during the Shuttle program. Lots of details about the Launch Control Center (LCC), the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), and the Fixed Service Structure and control arms all seemed consistent.

Weaknesses: when they got to Mr. Phillips escaping in a MH-60 and using Stinger missiles, I quickly got confused. While, Nicole, Senator Boorman, and Mr. Phillips entered through the big cabin doors, Mr. Phillips shot the FBI agent posing as the pilot from inside of the helicopter and pushed him out of one of the front doors somehow opening it. Nicole took his place and Mr. Phillips sat in the other front seat. It made it sound as if the doors were open/removed but I suspect that this only referred to the main cabin doors, not the doors next to the pilot and co-pilot. And then Mr. Phillips is manipulating a 5' long Stinger missile launcher from that front seat. Also, you have the exhaust from the launch motor in the enclosed space at the front of the cabin. I could not contain all of that dissonance in my imagination.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s like Die Hard but with a space shuttle being held hostage as well as the people. I loved how the authors described the action scenes in a way that would make me physically cringe or feel like my stomach was turning imagining all the crazy feats that Iceberg and others got themselves into. Overall a quick read and I appreciated that the ending more or less tied everything up in a way that didn’t feel rushed.

[Kim]

Way too much technical jargon for me.

[Brian Carrigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

[Paul Close · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very "Die Hard" formulaic

[Brian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lame.

My standards for an action/adventure type of book like these are pretty low, and this one managed to sink lower. Completely implausible in way too many places to keep you in the story at all. A cast of cardboard cliché characters round it out.
Only the criminal's get-away plan was at all novel.

Guess I should have clued in when the reviews on the back were 'advance praise' - even their reactions likely would have been different if they'd been subjected to the full experience.

[Inspiring Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story with great narration and strong dialogues is the key of a successful book. The hero is a kind of superman and Bruce Willis would be great in the main role! The relation of the two brothers should be different…

[Andreas · Rating 1 out of 5]

A space shuttle is hijacked, while still on the ground. A rather dysmal an action/thriller. Yawn…

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=342

[Anthony Faber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worse than average SF thriller. The guys even mess up on facts. Cardboard characters, very implausible plot.

[Kerrie Kellner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wild and thrilling ride