White Train, The

 Author's Summary

A secret train-carrying nuclear missiles and protected by the most lethal anti-terrorist devices available-has vanished without a trace.The President receives a fax in the Oval Office, the contents of which carry an impact of icy terror. His efforts to place nuclear warheads in the hands of an unfriendly Third World nation, to achieve a strategic advantage for the United States, has started to unravel.The fax, signed by a mysterious militant group, has a simple ransom demand-one the President can neither meet nor acknowledge.The President must rely on a shady cast of unscrupulous advisors and ruthless agents to effect the return of the train to its mission, without going public, alarming the American people or incurring the wrath of the Congress of the United States.All that stands in the way of this highly illegal and clandestine mission's success is a strange alliance between an Air Force special operative, an investigative reporter for the Washington Post and a world-renowned anthropologist.

MWSA Review

A full speed ahead techno-thriller!

Air Force 1st Lieutenant Jamey Buckmaster is given the very sensitive (and, he discovers, illegal) mission of getting nuclear weapons from the Air Force to the North Koreans, in order to balance the Chinese threat. However, the weapons are stolen by Native Americans who want revenge for years of  broken treaties, and Buckmaster is now forced to either obey orders or follow his conscience. Throw in a beautiful Washington DC reporter for good measure, and the Lieutenant may be in well over his head. What unfolds is a non-stop train ride of action and excitement leading up to an ending that will leave you out of breath and physically drained!

Larry Purcell writes in a fast, whirlwind style that really makes you pay attention, for fear of missing anything. The book is very fast paced and moves quickly, and I particularly enjoyed how well the main character was developed. The author does an excellent job of making the reader care very much about what happens to Lt. Buckmaster. I also enjoyed the multi-cultural storyline, which obviously involved tedious research into North Korean, Chinese, and Native American cultures. Overall this is a very unique and original storyline, and Purcell does a great job delivering it in a succinct package. His writing style easily fits the story into only 201 pages, without having to resort to excessively small type or small margins.

Fans of the techno-thriller genre (Clancy, Dale Brown) will enjoy this book, as will espionage enthusiasts and special operations types.

Reviewed by: Rob Ballister (2009)