基本信息出版社：Forge Books
页码：384 页
出版日期：2006年08月
ISBN：0765316196
International Standard Book Number：0765316196
条形码：9780765316196
EAN：9780765316196
版本：1st
装帧：精装
正文语种：英语
内容简介 William S. Cohen, former Secretary of Defense, US Senator and Congressman, has walked the most powerful corridors in the world. Now, in Dragon Fire, he takes us with him into the top-secret rooms where the fate of the world is held in the hearts and minds of men with dangerous and hidden agendas. Packed with action and espionage, intrigue and romance, Dragon Fire is a riveting, intricate, ripped-from-the-headlines thriller that so convincingly written, readers will wonder just how much of it is true.
Upon the assassination of the Secretary of Defense, former senator and Vietnam POW, Michael Patrick Santini, is called upon by his President to fill the vacancy. Once there, he discovers that the United States is under attack by a silent, sinister force, someone determined to alienate our allies and undermine our position as a global superpower. But America is hours away from going to war—with the wrong enemy. Rejecting direct orders from the president, Santini races across the world in a desperate attempt to prevent a catastrophic global war.
When Democratic President Bill Clinton chose Republican William S. Cohen to join his staff in 1997 as the 20th Secretary of Defense, it was the first time in modern U.S. history that a president selected a member of the opposing party for his cabinet. Cohen, the first Secretary of Defense to make biological warfare and terrorism almost a personal crusade, was integral in orchestrating a comprehensive strategy to deal with the threat of terrorism. In Dragon Fire, he takes his experience, knowledge, expertise, passion, and fears and melds fact and fiction into a political thriller only he could write.
(20060124)
作者简介 William S. Cohen served as Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton from 1997-2001. It was the first time in recent American history that a president had elected a member of the opposing party to his cabinet. Born in 1940 in Bangor, Maine, Cohen, a lawyer, was a member of the U.S. Senate and Congress for 24 years. He lives with his wife in the Washington, D.C. area.
媒体推荐 "Thrilling and inspired. Though fiction, Dragon Fire is an electrifying tale packed with insights about everything from White House infighting, to the Pentagon, the CIA and onto the world stage and the potential threats from Russia and China. All from a former Senator and Secretary of Defense who has been there and seen it all." --Bob Woodward
“Only someone who knows the minefields of world politics firsthand could have written this tense insider thriller. Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen draws upon the labyrinthine intrigues of the world’s most powerful people in such a way that the pages seem to turn themselves. Dragon Fire is a fascinating thriller.”—Richard North Patterson, New York Times bestselling author of Conviction
"William Cohen has written a superb, fast paced tale of international intrigue and murder. His insights into the inner-workings of our government and how we interact with other nations adds a powerful dimension to this well-written story that few others could provide. It is truly a great read."--General Anthony C. Zinni USMC (Retired)
(20060124)
Packed with insights about everything from White House infighting, to the Pentagon, the CIA and onto the world stage. (Bob Woodward )
Only someone who knows the minefields of world politics firsthand could have written this tense insider thriller. (Richard North Patterson )
A superb, fast-paced tale of international intrigue. (General Anthony C. Zinni, USMC (Retired) )
编辑推荐 Exclusive Video
William S. Cohen, former Secretary of Defense, US Senator and Congressman, discusses how writing a political thriller--rather than a memoir--allowed him more freedom to "pierce the veil" of international diplomacy and paint realistic portraits of those in power--and those who seek it.
专业书评 From Publishers Weekly
Rich in both action and detail, former secretary of defense Cohen's solid debut chronicles several weeks in the life of Michael Santini, who—surprise!—serves as secretary of defense in an administration battling world crises on many fronts. Terrorists are attacking American interests both at home and abroad; Russia, Germany and China appear to be forming a global alliance; and right-wing militias are causing trouble in the U.S. heartland. Santini, besides trying to find a common thread in the chaos, also has to fight his own turf wars inside the Beltway. After a ponderous start, the plot rapidly gathers momentum, zigzagging along in the tradition of the best international thrillers, if at times hitting bumps of superfluous descriptions of military maneuvers and D.C. politics. While Cohen isn't always in control of the large cast and Santini rarely develops beyond an action figure, fans of espionage and intrigue will surely appreciate this political thriller for its authentic glimpse behind the doors of power. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
From the former U.S. Secretary of Defense comes a thriller about a U.S. Secretary of Defense whose investigation of a potential nuclear threat from a foreign country (not to mention a few murders on U.S. soil, including that of his predecessor) takes him deep into the seedy underbelly of American politics. The novel offers a relatively engaging plot and is competently constructed enough to take readers from point A to point B, if they don't mind slightly leaden dialogue and a narrative that tends to saunter when it should be racing. There are no credited coauthors, although Richard North Patterson and Thomas B. Allen both get nods in the acknowledgments (Allen cowrote 1993's Murder in the Senate with Cohen). Readers who demand a fair degree of literary polish from their thrillers won't stick with this one, but those who can see past the occasional bits of clunkiness will enjoy the meaty story, which definitely benefits from the author's insider knowledge of the subject. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
文摘 Chapter One
Washington
For Secretary of Defense Thomas H. Koestler and other major Washington news sources, Sunday mornings meant either being on one of the talk shows or watching them. On this Sunday, Koestler was in the kitchen of his manorial home in a Virginia suburb of Washington. Perched on a high stool at the marble island that curved through the room, he nibbled on half a bagel, lathered with cream cheese, and watched “Meet the Press” on a small television set placed under the garland of hanging pots and pans. Tim Russet had managed to snag Joseph Praeger, President Jefferson’s National Security Adviser. Well, not snagged exactly. Praeger, Koestler knew, was on “Meet the Press” because he wanted to handle “the Taiwan thing,” as he called the issue that he and Koestler had been wrestling with.
And so when the assistant producer of “Meet the Press” asked for the Secretary of Defense, the White House communications handlers had deftly intercepted the invitation and offered Praeger as a real catch. Praeger rarely appeared on television, and Koestler, looking at this diminished version of him, was surprised at how ill at ease he appeared to be as Russet went into his ritual: a tough question, then an incriminating or enlightening news clip scrolling down the screen.
“Well, Mr. Praeger,” Russet said, “let’s start with Taiwan. Is the United States planning to rattle China’s cage by giving Patriot anti-missile weapons to Taiwan?”
As Praeger opened his mouth to speak, Russet said, “Let’s look at this,” and an excerpt from a Washington Times news story appeared on the screen:
The Taiwan Defense Minister went on to say that his country would establish what he called the “Taiwan Missile Defense System,” which seems to be a version of the U.S.-developed theater missile defense syst
……