Balefire

by Ken Goddard

Ο Άντερσον όρμηοε στο αυτοκίνητο και προσπάθησε να ελευθερώσει την κόρη του που ήταν παγιδευμένη εκεί μέσα. Η ωρολογιακή Βόμβα θα έσκαγε από στιγμή σε στιγμή κάνοντας κομμάτια το Ντάτσουν και την κοπέλα. Αδύνατο να προλάβει να τη λύσει έτσι όπως την είχαν δέσει οι τρομοκράτες. Αρχισε να ψάχνει για το πιστόλι! του σαν τρελός, πασπατεύοντας στο σκοτάδι. Μάταια. Το τουφέκι; όχι, βρισκόταν πολύ μακριά. Το Μπράουνινκ; ούτε. Αποφάσισε να τραβήξει τον ωρολογιακό μηχανισμό και να προσπαθήσει να προστατεύσει την κόρη του βάζοντας ασπίδα τον εαυτό του...«Τα έχει όλα: Διεθνείς μηχανορραφίες, τρομοκρατία, πανικό κα; μια Καλκρόρνια διαφορετική απ αυτή που ξέραμε. Η δράση, που είναι από την αρχή γρήγορη, επιταχύνει και διατηρεί σταθερό το ρυθμό της ώς την τελευταία σελίδα. Συγγραφέας JOHN SAUL

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Adventure

351 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Ken Goddard describes himself as "a crime scene investigator, forensic scientist, wildlife crime lab director, husband, father, grandfather, supposed cattle rancher, and more to the point, a fiction author who writes fiction novels about professional terrorists, underground chemists, demented burglars and malicious poachers for any number of reasons."

Reviews

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Απολαυστική για τους φαν του είδους αστυνομική περιπέτεια της δεκαετίας του '80 που φέρνει πολύ σε Φονικό όπλο και Πολύ σκληρό για να πεθάνει, με δράση από την αρχή μέχρι το εκρηκτικό φινάλε.

Η όλη ιστορία διαδραματίζεται λίγες μέρες πριν τους Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες του Λος Άντζελες και συγκεκριμένα στο Χάντινγκτον Μπιτς, μια μικρή πόλη κοντά στο Λος Άντζελες, γεμάτη πετρελαιοπηγές και με σχετικά μικρή αλλά ισχυρή αστυνομική δύναμη. Ένας τρομοκράτης, επαγγελματίας στο είδος του, θα προσπαθήσει και θα πετύχει σε μεγάλο βαθμό να κάνει άνω-κάτω την αστυνομία της μικρής αυτής πόλης, χτυπώντας θανάσιμα αστυνομικούς, στρέφοντας τους πολίτες εναντίον της και δείχνοντας ότι και ένας άνθρωπος μόνο αρκεί και μπορεί να κάνει σμπαράλια μια μικρή πόλη. Βέβαια δουλεύει για μια οργάνωση, την Επιτροπή, που σαν στόχο έχει να καταστρέψει την διοργάνωση των Ολυμπιακών Αγώνων και να πλήξει ανεπανόρθωτα την αίσθηση ασφάλειας στο εσωτερικό των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών.

Εντάξει, η πλοκή δεν κρύβει ιδιαίτερες εκπλήξεις και καταλαβαίνεις λίγο-πολύ που και πως θα καταλήξει, όμως έτσι όπως είναι γραμμένη και με την δράση που έχει πραγματικά την απόλαυσα. Ο συγγραφέας φαίνεται να ξέρει αρκετά πράγματα γύρω από την τρομοκρατία και τις διαδικασίες που ακολουθούνται από την αστυνομία για την επίλυση κρίσιμων καταστάσεων και πως αντιδρούν οι αστυνομικοί όταν νιώθουν ότι είναι στόχοι, όπως και διάφορα γύρω από την τότε τεχνολογία στις επικοινωνίες και τα διάφορα όπλα. Σαν καλή περιπέτεια έχει τα πάντα, πυροβολισμούς, ξύλο, μπόλικες εκρήξεις, ανθρωποκυνηγητά, τρακαρίσματα, ένταση, σασπένς και πάει λέγοντας. Η γραφή είναι σίγουρα καλή για το είδος της, με δυναμικές περιγραφές των σκηνών δράσης και των τοπίων και με πειστικούς διαλόγους.

Έχουν μεταφραστεί άλλα δυο βιβλία του Γκόνταρντ, το Ο Αλχημιστής (εκδ. Bell) και ένα βιβλίο της σειράς CSI. Το δεύτερο το έχω ενώ το πρώτο ελπίζω κάποια στιγμή να το βρω γιατί φαίνεται το ίδιο ενδιαφέρον και δυνατό με αυτό που μόλις διάβασα.

ΥΓ. Ειλικρινά απορώ πως και δεν έγινε ταινία!

[James Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book back in 1984. The idea that a terrorist attack during the 1984 summer Olympic games was a big concern especially after the 1972 Munich Massacre. The book discussed critical infrastructure and the need to protect the civilian population from terrorism during the heights of both summer tourism and a major series of international sporting events.

[Thrillers R Us · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cutting his teeth under the tutelage of Steven Spielberg in 1987's EMPIRE OF THE SUN, the future megalo-star of a trilogy of uber successful BATMAN movies nonetheless tread water until the turn of the century. Even though the year 2000 didn't see any widespread chaos, Christian Bale set Hollywood afire with his turn as the sartorially and musically obsessed Wall Street goon in the big screen adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's AMERICAN PSYCHO. Through the embodiment of a homicidal and narcissistic nutbag, an AMERICAN PSYCHO, in a dark comedy about the current state of society and a stone-cold killer walking among the normies, that Bale would be perfect for the main character in BALEFIRE, an old school thriller centered around a ruthless terrorist, set loose in the greater Los Angeles area just before the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Olympics. A deadly and almost invulnerable PREDATOR aimed to strike again and again at the very core of America, and he's in town with a few days to kill.

Appropriately resembling the best Olympic Games Logo ever, the 1984 red-white-and-blue Stars racing to the right designed and created by Robert Miles Runyan, BALEFIRE is a stellar exercise of an insidious thriller using the race against time premise with the destruction of America and her credibility an intended outcome. Obviously delving into fantasy, BALEFIRE nonetheless is a good sign of the times, the targeted Olympic Flame, the symbol of everything that was right about the Games and the United States for that matter. And in 1984 things were good. To keep things that way, legions of federal, states, county, neighboring city police officers, and most of all the LAPD would be drawn into Los Angeles to protect the Games. Dropped into this LEO soup is a single man, known to be ruthless and persistent in carrying out his assignments and apparently without any help save for his trusty 9mm Browning High Power semi-automatic P-35 pistol. Simply named Thanatos, sort of like BREAKING BAD's Heisenberg, is the one who stirs the pot starting exactly 37 days before the 1984 Summer Olympic Games would open in the Los Angeles Olympic Stadium. A mononymous murderer poised to ignite BALEFIRE and chill the wary hearts of the people of America, vulnerable to the fears of the unknown and the unexpected. A heinous mission to establish that every man wearing a badge is a fascist, a crook, or a hustler, amply demonstrating that the expensive American police forces are helpless to protect even themselves from a single determined terrorist operating within their city. When suspending disbelief and completely disconnecting from 2025 technology, thought, expectations, methodologies, and official capacity, BALEFIRE works well, a veritable powder keg. And the fuse is lit.

With the SoCal illusion that feels so good and works as long as the weather is warm and with the most glorious mid-80s in full effect, BALE FIRE showcases them happy days where a wealth of information was typically being withheld from the public. Moreover, adopting the eye-for-an-eye-plus-the-head philosophy of the Mossad, BALEFIRE cannot avoid jumping the shark for the grand finale. Nonetheless, BALEFIRE works spectacularly well, despite at times frustrating readers for they know something that the protagonists don't know but should. A page turner of a terrorist plot following a motivated and professional killer catching America unawares, BALEFIRE is an original and unprecedented gem for the early 80s, and interestingly enough quite plausible for today's social climate. Ignite BALEFIRE and experience the terror and spine-tingling fear of a realistic thriller that goes for the Gold.

[Keith Kernes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best book I ever read, but it is one that has stuck with me for many years. The are occasional hiccups and sometimes luck and hubris come in to play a bit much, but overall I think the book does a great job of showcasing the danger that a single person with a plan can pose and the damage that they can cause.
With the damage caused by the 9/11 terrorists using box cutters and planes, the D.C sniper, and the Las Vegas shooter it is plain to see that something like this scenario isn't out of the realm of possibility. When I originally read the novel none of the mentioned events had occurred. Driving fear, uncertainty, and doubt is bad, but making people think about what might happen and how to react is good.
This book is 80% thriller fiction and 20% warning that bad people with bad ideas can cause much trouble and that lack of any sort of response plan is as dangerous as the terrorists themselves.

[Paula El · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely written, although I think that the thriller factor could have been higher if the story wasn't written from two perspectives (broadly speaking) - this would have allowed for more guessing what was happening on my part.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read

[Bigal-sa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a very good book. I gave up half way through and I can't believe that I put so much effort into it.

Cops are getting killed, the folks in the suburbs hate the cops; the media hates the cops; the terrorist is just too good and lucky and so it goes on.

I thought it looked like a good read for a hospital stay, but it was too depressing...

After reading another detective story, I realised what was wrong with this one - you feel no empathy with any of the characters. The story revolves around the plot.

[Mark Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this long before 9/11 and found it frighteningly believable.

[Norman Van Der Linde · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an eye opener for me it deals with a terrorist attack on America and highlights what a soft target America would be specifically because they view themselves as invulnerable. The scariest thing for me was that I was discussing what a soft target America would make with friends the weekend before 911 using the book as my reference. When he phoned me on the Tuesday to tell me what had happened I told him that was a sick joke even for him and hung up, then saw the CNN coverage.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Terrorist is loose and causing all sorts of major problems for the Police. Once realized it's an one-man terror inflicting these problems they try to jump ahead rather then remaining one step behind the suspect.

Great novel. Plot flows along quickly. The characters in the story are well developed.

A real page-turner.

[Berna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thriller mostly point of view from the bad guys. It is different and sometimes very interesting to read. On the other hand, I found it impossible to relate to the good characters because of this reason. Still a decent thriller.

[Tom Holt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Balefire by Kenneth W. Goddard (1983)

[Mark Burnham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!!! Hard to put down.

[Katharine Ott · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Balefire" - written by Ken Goddard and first published in 1986. A great terrorist story.

[Mandeep Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great thriller . The plot is quite interesting and binds the reader to the book from its initial page. The flow of the story is good and fast though the ending is bit dragged .