The War with China: Aftermath of Armageddon
Dan Lenson Novels, Book 20
From the publisher:
World War III is over… or is it? Superpowers race to fill the postwar power vacuum in this page-turning thriller, the next in the Dan Lenson series.
In the next installment of David Poyer’s critically-acclaimed series about war with China, mutual exhaustion after a massive nuclear exchange is giving way to a Violent Peace.
While Admiral Dan Lenson motorcycles across a post-Armageddon US in search of his missing daughter, his wife Blair Titus lands in a spookily deserted, riot-torn Beijing to negotiate the reunification of Taiwan with the rest of China, and try to create a democratic government.
But a CIA-sponsored Islamic insurgency in Xianjiang province is hurtling out of control. Andres Korzenowski, a young case officer, must decide whether ex-SEAL Master Chief Teddy Oberg―now the leader of a ruthless jihad―should be extracted, left in place, or terminated.
Meanwhile, Captain Cheryl Staurulakis and USS Savo Island are recalled to sea, to forestall a Russian fleet intent on grabbing a resource-rich Manchuria.
The violent and equivocal termination of the war between China and the Allies has brought not peace, but dangerous realignments in the endless game of great power chess. Will the end of one world war simply be the signal for the beginning of another?
The next book in David Poyer’s series about a war between the United States and China with the drawing in of many other nations making it World War III. Millions have been killed and many others maimed for life. The war concluded on an armistice between the belligerents which left the same problem as had occurred in 1918 ending World War I. The German army later indicated that they had never surrendered and were not obligated by the treaty made by their leaders which opened the door to the next phase – World War II.
The action begins at a peace conference held by the former belligerents to fix terms and conditions and attempt to make sure that the combat does not begin again. Problems arise immediately when China attempts to fix the conditions for the armistice which could negate what the allies want to occur. In addition, the principal characters face the problems of peace bringing conditions of war-torn nations devastated by the fighting having to reconstruct their countries first.
Dan Lenson has been promoted to Admiral but instead of immediately assuming his position spends many weeks in attempts to find his daughter who has disappeared in the aftermath of the fighting. His wife Blair is working with the members of the U.S. peace committee sent to Bejing in order to try and set the terms of Taiwan reuniting with China as well as attempting to form a democratic government for the Chinese. Meanwhile, Captain Cheryl Stauralakis onboard the USS Savo Island and in command of a small flotilla is ordered to sail against a Russian fleet attempting to grab a Manchuria rich in natural resources.
On another front, Teddy Oberg, a US Seal, has made himself the leader of an Islamic group and leading a revolt causes the allies to consider terminating him as a means of controlling the area he presides over.
Poyer continues to draw his readers in with books featuring continuous action and well-delineated characters taking part in the action. This novel ends with the possibility of new combat against a Russia that has kept itself largely out of the fighting but demands to be allowed to take part in war reparations. The playing out on a world stage is deftly handled and cause and effect made logical. Would the situations evolve in a similar manner if really taking place? Probably, if not exactly. Certainly, it does place the blame for the war on leadership consumed with pursuing their own ends rather than looking for the common good.
12/2020 Paul Lane
VIOLENT PEACE by David Poyer. Oceanview Publishing (December 1, 2020). ISBN: 978-1608094004. 336 pages.
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