Project Daedalus

by Thomas Hoover

Retired agent Michael Vance is approached for help on the same day by an old KGB adversary and a brilliant and beautiful NSA code breaker. While their problems seem at first glance to be different, Vance soon learns he’s got a potentially lethal tiger by the tail -– a Japanese tiger. A secret agreement between a breakaway wing of the Russian military and the Yakuza, the Japanese crime lords, bears the potential to shift the balance or world power. The catalyst is a superplane that skims the edge of space –- the ultimate in death-dealing potential. In a desperate union with an international force of intelligence mavericks, with megabillions and global supremacy at stake, Vance has only a few days to bring down a conspiracy that threatens to ignite nuclear Armageddon.Publisher’s Weekly “Hoover’s adept handling of convincing detail enhances this entertaining thriller as his characters deal and double-deal their way through settings ranging from the Acropolis to the inside of a spacecraft. Michael Vance, formerly of the CIA, is on his way to an archeological dig when some old friends show up. First comes KGB agent Alex Novosty, caught laundering money that the KGB claims was embezzled – and he wants Michael to take charge of the hot funds. Then National Security Agency cryptographer Eva Borodin (who is Michael’s ex-lover) appears with an undecipherable but dangerous computer the co-worker who gave her the file has since vanished. Heavies from a Japanese crime syndicate attack Michael and Eva, who are rescued by Alex, but it looks like Alex and the syndicate aren’t complete strangers. Moreover, the mysterious Daedalus Corporation seems to be a link between Alex’s money and Eva’s file. As Michael is drawn into this deadly web, he realizes there is a secret agreement between the Russians and the Japanese – and it has nothing to do with tea-brewing customs. A secret agreement between the Russian military and the Yakuza, Japanese crime lords, threatens to shift the balance of world power.” Hypersonic, Superplane, Edge of Space, thermonuclear warhead, Supersonic, Space Plane, Crete, Minos, Palace of Minos, Greece, Greek Islands

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

370 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 1991

About the author

Thomas Hoover has a doctorate in oceanography and served as senior vice president of an architect-engineering firm in New York, where he has lived for several decades. His vices include being an avid sailor and a recognized collector of the classical music of India. He began his writing career with two classic non-fiction books on Far Eastern art and religion and then moved into fiction writing with two critically acclaimed novels about English sailors in the early Seventeenth century.

Reviews

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Technothriller from the end of the cold war. Probably a bit too techno for my liking - too much detail about fuel systems and radar evasion systems which I can't get very excited by. But the plot was good with a neat ending.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure if it's me or the book but every time I try to read it I get really sleepy. Although the last third of it seems to be getting better or I'm at least not as sleepy when reading it.

[MR S Bellard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Project Daedalus Review

Good book well written just like another one of his novels would recommend and will be keeping my eye out for more by this author.

[Jefrois · Rating 1 out of 5]

.
I was unable to follow this,

It’s a real P O S.
.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens when the new Soviet government that has the engineers to develop a hypersonic airplane secretly gets in bed with the Japanese mafia who have the technology to create said airplane? Something that members of the CIA, NSA, and KGB are very determined to figure out and put a stop to. Add into the mix a rogue Russian test pilot, a freelance money launderer, and several double deals and you have one heck of an intriguing plot.

While the storyline is riveting, I must admit that it was very hard for me to read. The technology of Mach speeds, hypersonic, scramjets, and an assortment of military planes was admittedly way over my head and I had a hard time making much sense of these segments. There is also the fact that there are characters of many different countries that speak in their native tongue. This lends a nice atmosphere of reality to the characters but as not many general readers speak Russian, Greek, or Japanese a bit of translation would have been nice. I couldn't help but feel that I was missing out on quite a bit of the dialogue. Then again, who knows, maybe it was just the foreign version of "Hey, how's the family?" and wasn't really pertinent to the plot after all, but I kind of doubt it.

All in all, this was an excellent hard to put down page turner that I would be willing to read again. I get the feeling there are many layers to the plot that would benefit from a second or even third read.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second novel by Thomas Hoover that I have read. I thought that Syndrome was great and while this is not perhaps great in is a good solid and very entertaining read for which I was able to easily suspend belief and just enjoy.

The plot moves at a reasonably fast pace around the world but not so fast that the reader might lose track of events; the bad guys are bad and the good guys are good, and I would liken it to a literary version of one of the better 007 movies e.g. Thunderball or The Spy Who Loved me.

I thought the end was a little weak after such a strong chase but then again, I'm not sure just how I would have ended it differently without resorting to killing everyone off...

Recommended for a wet weekend or a long flight, and I am looking forward to my next foray into a Thomas Hoover novel...

[Rendier · Rating 2 out of 5]

What James Bond wants to be like when he grows up... This guy is just too much...

[Alke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eerily realistic plot......

[Chris van Nieuwenhuizen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book

[Vikram · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, but nothing great. Usual sci-fi type theme of a plane which can go into orbit around the Earth. The end seemed a bit far-fetched !

[Frank Shedd · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good
should have been a little shorter