review by Brian Lowen on recorded show December 2011
Michael Dobbs was the author of the TV series entitled House of Cards about the sordid life of MPs behind the scenes in government. I thoroughly enjoyed that series so was looking forward to reading this book, but I was disappointed.
It has a good basis for a great thriller – World War 3 is a cyber war without weapons, only victims. When a few taps on a keyboard can bring the world to its knees.
It begins with small things – power failures, blackouts, transport breakdowns. A plane that falls out of the sky, a US warship steers off course into Iranian waters.
These are just warnings. A test for what is to come. The real war hasn’t started yet. When it does there will be madness, as millions die, governments fail and the world collapses into chaos. So goes the blurb on the back of the book. Sounds interesting I thought, but Oh no!
A quite farcical situation is created when the British Prime Minister gets together with the Presidents of Russia and America, all alone apart from one aide each, in a remote Scottish castle with only a housekeeper and a small boy to look after them. They spend all weekend trying to work out how to countenance this threat of world dominance by China. It could have much easier been done over the telephone.
The British Prime Minister has taken along our hero, Harry Jones, who has to save the world from total chaos, but all he does actually is save them from the flames when the castle catches fire.
I suppose some people will enjoy it, but it did not have enough action for me. Not a good page turner and not recommended.
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