Operation Lightning Strike

Rating:
Summary: The Truth is far more true than Fiction
Review: A commendable and hopefully second part of a trilogy - Nick are you listening - we need to find out what happened. In the style of Operation Thunder Child (Nick's first novel), I suspect there is far more truth in this volume than the fictional tag would suggest. A must for all UFOlogists. This story brings to life more intrigue than any official will admit to - Read it!

Rating:
Summary: The Truth is far more true than Fiction
Review: Nick Pope's involvement with the Ministry of Defence has equipped him with the insider knowledge to create an utterly captivating and scarily plausible account of an alien invasion of Earth. All the cabinet meetings, international diplomacy and descriptions of military countermeasures have a gritty air of authenticity about them. Furthermore, Pope skillfully weaves a thread of ambiguity as the tale unfolds, as to just who are the bad guys. Conspiracy theorists will love this! This makes for an ultimately more satisfying and complex read than many more conventional invasion-Earth type yarns. My only real criticism is that the breathtaking action scenes take rather a long time to appear and the intensive politicising in the early part of the book may not retain everyone's interest. Stick with it though and you will be rewarded with an awe-inspiring denouement that will remain with you for a long time. One small point that rankles a bit in the wake of the WTC atrocity is the author's claim that the threat of "jihad" against America was more imagined than real. As Operation Lightning Strike was written in 2000, however, Pope cannot be blamed for this tragically ironic but unintentional faux pas. Finally, a particular bonus for me was that much of the action set in England takes place close to my home. Perhaps I'll search the ground for UFO debris next time I visit Alice Holt Forest!

Rating:
Summary: The Thinking Man's Independence Day
Review: Nick Pope's involvement with the Ministry of Defence has equipped him with the insider knowledge to create an utterly captivating and scarily plausible account of an alien invasion of Earth. All the cabinet meetings, international diplomacy and descriptions of military countermeasures have a gritty air of authenticity about them. Furthermore, Pope skillfully weaves a thread of ambiguity as the tale unfolds, as to just who are the bad guys. Conspiracy theorists will love this! This makes for an ultimately more satisfying and complex read than many more conventional invasion-Earth type yarns. My only real criticism is that the breathtaking action scenes take rather a long time to appear and the intensive politicising in the early part of the book may not retain everyone's interest. Stick with it though and you will be rewarded with an awe-inspiring denouement that will remain with you for a long time. One small point that rankles a bit in the wake of the WTC atrocity is the author's claim that the threat of "jihad" against America was more imagined than real. As Operation Lightning Strike was written in 2000, however, Pope cannot be blamed for this tragically ironic but unintentional faux pas. Finally, a particular bonus for me was that much of the action set in England takes place close to my home. Perhaps I'll search the ground for UFO debris next time I visit Alice Holt Forest!