cover image Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War

Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War

P.W. Singer and August Cole. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Eamon Dolan, $28 (416p) ISBN 978-0-544-14284-8

Tom Clancy fans will relish Singer and Cole’s first novel, a chilling vision of what might happen in a world war launched by a Chinese sneak attack on America’s eyes and brains in outer space. Singer, a military strategist, and Cole, a former defense-industry analyst for the Wall Street Journal, easily wed their knowledge to a fast-moving plot and characters who make an impression, even the minor characters who appear briefly. After the global economy tanks, urban workers’ riots sweep China, but instead of repressing the workers themselves, the military ousts the Communist leaders, clearing the way for a new government. When the Chinese strike, the Americans fight back. Among the many heroes is Cmdr. James Simmons, who assumes command of the USS Coronado when its captain is killed. Detailed endnotes documenting the real-world technologies and trends behind the book make the fiction even more plausible. Agent: Dan Mandel, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (June)