The Day Before Midnight
by Stephen Hunter
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stephen HunterEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1989-12-01
ISBN: 9780553282351
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: Bantam
Book Reviews of The Day Before Midnight
Book Review: The Countdown has started,can those responsible now stop it?
Summary: 4 Stars
This might be Hunter's best plotted novel and contains deeper themes than many might think or are apparent from a cursary reading of this novel. Hunter is the master of the plot twist and his novels would make great movies. A group of well armed and superbly trained commandos take over a nuclear missle silo with the intention of starting World War 3. They are not holding the world hostage for Ransom, they are not demanding anything, all they are doing is trying to jumpstart a nuclear war they feel is inevitable. Who are these dedicated terrorists? Not who you think they are at first and I will leave it at that. Dick Puller, an Army General with a sterling record but who was accussed or hesitating at the cruical moment of his career and thus dooming a potentailly sucesful military operation, is put in charge of elimanting the terrorists. Dissension in his own ranks threaten to undermine his authority for many remember his earlier "failure" and think him unfit for his current responsibilities. They might be right and they might be wrong, one has to read the novel to find out. Meanwhile, the brillant nuclear stratigist who designed the missle silo which has been overtaken, Peter Thikol, is called in to consult with Puller and the army forces planning to storm the silo and kill the terrorists. Thikol's turbelent love life, demonstrated through his dysfunctional marriage to his beautiful, artistically talented, but self absorbed and arrogant wife Megan, might end up indirectly destroying the world in a wonderful metaphor that intertwines personal self destruction with nuclear holocaust. See Thikol designed the silo so that no one could ever break into it, so that those defending it would be able to hold off an army, literally. Thikol ended up outsmarting himself because now that an enemy force has taken over the silo the U.S. government cant get in. Oh, and did I mention that this silo is independently launch capable, meaning that it cannot be shut down from the petagon or from any other government location. Only those who are inside the silo have the power to launch. Thikol was a mad scientist who created a monster on a scale that drawfs Frankestien and now it is up to him to defeat his own creation, to breach the unbreachable fortress, to crack the uncrackable safe. Meanwhile inside the silo the terrorists have a kidnapped welder who is slowly but surly burning through the safe that contains the nuclear start keys which will ignite armageddon. The U.S. government finds itself having to recruit an ex-vietcong soldier now living in America and a black convict currently in prison but with a great service record. These outcasts from society will now play a role in deciding the fate of the world. Sub plots include a likeable, acholic failure of a Soviet spy and his misadvetures. Although he does has a pivotal role to play in the story. This novel all occures in less than 24 hours and the tension gradually builds to a maddening pitch. The subtle point that all of this was completley uncessary is evident in this story for this silo never should have been built in the first place, it is a manifestation of Thikol's ego, his intellectual self absorbed arogance that made him belive that constructing a nuclear launch facility independent of all other U.S. facilities was a good idea simply because it was orginal and he came up with it. It looked good on paper but proves disastourous in reality for his greatest acomplishment, the physical incarnation of his magus opus of nuclear strategic thought, is now being utilized agianst him and the world by other men not as intelligent, but more clever then he. Hunter is clearly making the point that pride comes before the fall and that humanity has outsmarted himself, no matter how good strategic nuclear superiority might look on paper in reality no good can come of it. The Day Before Midnight is a tale of the most dangerous game ever played in human history, the fate of the entire world hanging in the balance, failure means a nuclear holocaust beyond imagination, sucess only its prevention. On one side are the resources of the entire U.S. government, on the other an extreemly formidable team of commando terrorits assembled and trained speciflicly for this sucide mission. On one side the creator and on the other his creation, the man and the machine. Will people on the same side be able to work together or will mistrust, mutal suscpision, racism, and arrogance cause everything to fall apart? Thikol belivied himself intelligent enough to play God, to play the most dangerous game of all, the game of nuclear war, and win, now the world must pay for his arrogance and he must redeem himself by using the same asset that got the world into this mess, his superior but dangerous intelligence. The terroists inside the silo might be outnumbered but they are completly united in their purpose and resolve. Can Thikol outdo himself and penetrate his impenterable prison? Will tension between Puller and his disgruntled commandos lead to bruised egos that will lead to violence that will lead to a complete breakdown in the army forces attempting to storm the silo? Can humanity hold it together and save itself from itself? Those are the questions raised and answered in Hunter's impressive and distrubingly believable novel. Well there it is, I've explained the outline of the story, the framework that the characters must operate in, now the game starts. Both sides have plenty of moves to make and both sides have a few tricks up their sleeve, just imagine a chess match with all life as we know it hanging in the balance. Or game seven of the world series entering the 30th inning. Somebody wins and somebody losses. But that is for the reader to discover for themselves. Let the greatest game of all begin. Oh, and did I mention? The CLOCK IS TICKING!!!
Summary of The Day Before Midnight
Paramilitary terrorists who have taken over a top-secret nuclear complex kidnap Maryland welder Jack Hummel and force him to cut through a half-ton titanium block that conceals the launch button. Reissue. NYT.Literature & Fiction Books
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