Sky Blue - Hardcover

Grace, Alexander M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1574880195 ISBN 13: 9781574880199

Publisher: Brassey's Inc., 1995

Synopsis

Sky Blue reads like this morning's news. Alexander M. Grace's latest novel is set in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, a million square in which a bitter civil war rages between native Muslims and Russian settlers. A multinational force of United Nations troops has been sent to keep the peace, but there is no peace to keep. And unknown to the men with the skyblue berets, four Russian mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles have gone missing amid the chaos.
Now U.S. Army brigadier general Julian Chandler, a scarred veteran of Somalia, has been thrust into his no-win situation. The Kazakhs want revenge for a brutal "ethnic cleansing" ordered by the erratic leader of the Russian minority, which Chandler has been ordered to protect. The only legitimate authority left in a country dissolving rapidly into total anarchy, Chandler must battle the militias of both factions, UN bureaucrat with a separate agenda, and his own haunting memories of humiliation and death in Africa. He will be forced to make a fateful decision, one for which he has prepared his entire life.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Set during a near-future civil war between ethnic Russian rebels and Muslim Kazakhs in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, Grace's third thriller (after Crisis and Coup!) offers a convincing study of professional soldiers chafing under political constraints. The story centers on U.N. forces in the capital of Almaty, and on their commander, Brigadier General Julian Chandler, an American veteran with painful memories of service in Somalia. Though charged with enforcing the peace, Chandler's hands are tied by regulations, the need for diplomacy and a U.N. representative who is blatantly favoring the Russians. Those hands become immensely strong, however, when a retaliatory raid on the Russians gives him control of what the rebels have been hiding since the civil war started: three nuclear missiles. Chandler's response to this turn of events is at the heart of the novel's examination of soldiers who owe allegiance to nothing but the blue cap of the U.N. and to each other. Through crisp dialogue and a situation that quickly escalates out of control, Grace energizes his picture of career military men who suddenly become, in effect, a nuclear power. Largely forsaking worldwide reaction to the unfolding events, the author keeps a tight focus on Chandler and his crisis, highlighting a hard-edged yet optimistic view of the military soul as he unfolds a scenario that's both timely and frighteningly plausible.

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

The correct use of military forces as peace keepers, especially in the service of NATO or the United Nations, deserves wide discussion. Unfortunately, this novel fails to present the real issues?political and military?that could illuminate the subject. Instead we have a rerun of a standard military novel: War-weary Brig. Gen. Julian Chandler must protect his soldiers and prevent full-scale war, although abandoned by small-minded and ignorant politicians back home. Stereotypical characters, including an arrogant Frenchman, a brazen journalist, and some primitive East Europeans, try to thwart our hero as he attempts to keep the peace in his assigned territory in deepest Kazakhstan. Army maneuvers, strategy, and tactics add to our understanding of the ground force, often overlooked compared to the more picturesque Air Force or Navy, and the action is gripping. Although some of the dilemmas and conditions he describes here were present in Somalia and other similar operations, painting the entire U.S. military and political bureaucracy as posturing idiots destroys the book's credibility. A more balanced approach would help the general public better understand the challenges. Purchase only where interest warrants.?Elsa Pendleton, Boeing Information Services, Inc., Ridgecrest, Cal.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Brassey's Inc.
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 1574880195
• ISBN 13: 9781574880199
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 243