Ben Bova
Narration: Stefan Rudnicki

Hugo-winner Bova (The Green Trap) combines cutting-edge science and geopolitics in a fast-paced but flimsy near-future technothriller. When a rogue faction of the North Korean army detonates a nuclear missile in space, an electromagnetic shockwave takes out numerous satellites and cripples communications worldwide. Fearing another attack, the U.S. military launches ABL-1, a powerful but untested 747-mounted laser that should be able to destroy a missile in flight. The effort will be a baptism in fire for the skeleton crew, one of whom may be a saboteur. Meanwhile, the president struggles to respond to the crisis without starting a world war. The tense atmosphere, swiftly unfolding plot, and scientific details do little to hide a host of meaningless subplots and shallow characters, resulting in a Clancyesque tale that lacks the power and focus of Bova's better and better-known hard SF.