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Black Rain for Christmas | 
 enlarge | Author: Scott Malensek
Publisher: FirstPublish
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy Used: $9.09
You Save: $15.86 (64%)
Used (4) from $9.09
Rating:  5 reviews
Media: Paperback
Pages: 410
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8
ISBN: 1929925786
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781929925780
Publication Date: July 15, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Standard used condition.
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Product Description
An American spyplane mission goes awry, and a U.S. Marine pilot goes down. Once again, the United States finds itself stumbling into a war with China and North Korea. To make matters worse, the enemy has complete access to the new American MILNET communications network. The digital system had been sold to Congress as the ultimate "Force Multiplier." It is a computer network of real-time intelligence reports from airplanes, submarines, and even troops all over the globe. Every move that the United States makes is shown on enemy computer screens even while forces are being deployed. Every video and message sent between commanders is watched or read by the enemy. There is only one bug in the system-one saving grace for the United States. Unknowingly, American and other Coalition forces use the software glitch to pull off a few victories. Again and again the Chinese try to outmaneuver or overwhelm the Americans, but as time marches on, more countries join the Coalition. Even with the total intelligence coup, the communist advance slows. The war draws to a stalemate, and for one side, the nuclear card becomes a realistic option.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Good mix of micro and macro level detail September 19, 2006
Dave in Elizabeth (Elizabeth, CO USA)
Very good book. I'm a huge fan of this genre, and there's been some terrible books done the past 5-8 years from some authors who don't do their homework or don't know how to write. This isn't one of them - Scott moves the pace along very well. He had a number of little typo's - but the characters and writing was very well done, highly descriptive, and focused on moving the story along but maintaining believability. Has good characters but doesn't get too held down in micro level details - you experience characters but still get to feel and read the big picture storyline of a global conflict. Good use of news stories to tell the picture.
Excellent read. Not as gripping for me as Arc Light by Eric Harry, and despite the cover art for the story nuclear themes really don't come into the picture until the very end but its a great read.
I'm checking out the other books in this 4 book arc now too and hoping he writes more.
 Liked The Story But Had Trouble With The Book June 20, 2003
Benjamin Fitt (Williamsville, NY United States)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is an interesting entry in the military techno-thriller genre. The story focuses on a high-intensity Asian land war in 2011. The conflict made sense at the strategic and tactical levels, at least most of the time. The combat scenarios were exciting and apparently honed with war gaming (Harpoon perhaps?). Black Rain gripped me firmly enough that I stayed up waaaay too late one night to finish it. Now the bad news. Mr. Malensek's got a great imagination but the book was pretty badly written. I winced at howlingly obvious spelling and word usage errors just about every page. Black Rain badly needed a decent editor. Hire a good one before the 3rd edition! IMHO, the book should lose the illustrations too. They're just grainy little thumbnails of generic DOD photos of troopers, ships and jets.
Entertaining and engrossing! December 29, 2002
VanBrujah (Cuyahoga Falls, OHIO United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book was excellent! Mr. Malensek's book was an outstanding read. I found it every bit as entertaining and as much a "techno-thriller" as a Tom Clancy novel, but WITHOUT the annoying liberal-bashing and Ronald Regan worship that Mr. Clancy can't seem to keep away from lately. I found this to be refreshing. I literally could not put this book down. The diary style of narration, along with the "news clippings" really held my interest, and made it more fun to read. With the current events in the news of late, this book is starting to look frighteningly real. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys military fiction! I am looking forward to reading "The Xmas War" next.
All too realistic December 28, 2002
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is an unusual work of fiction. Most of the story is told through diaries and newspaper articles. There's some narrative, but only for the antagonist. I can't believe how accurately Malensek has viewed some of today's headlines. The antagonist is a corrupt businessman ala ENRON, Adelphia, Worldcomm, and all of the other Wall Street scam artists of today. The flashpoint of the war is North Korea, and the events that lead up to the confrontation are on TV today-as I'm writing this. There are plenty of topical issues presented, but the format allowed the author to show certain situations without cramming his opinion down my throat. Underage drinking, women in the frontline units, drug use, leadership vs. management, defense spending vs. domestic spending, and the list goes on and on. I really liked this book-mostly because it was extremely realistic, accurate, and wasn't your typical right-wing warmonger book. It might satistfy those people too, but the format made it real enough for people like me to enjoy also. I think it's one of the best books that I've read all year.
A great novel for a new era of post Cold War thrillers. August 17, 2001
Andrew J. Donaldson (Detroit, MI USA)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed this book. I love the mix of historic facts and people, and how they were tied into the storyline. The story of the young Marine Lieutenant really stood out to me. I really think that Clancy can get a run for his money from this author. Looking forward to more from him!
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