Wall Street Journal called Ralph Peters "the thinking man's Tom Clancy". And indeed, "Red Army" (1989) can be compared to Clancy's novel of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe, "Red Storm Rising" (1986). But Peters has a twist employed by no other author of WWIII military fiction:
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His viewpoint is exclusively that of the invading army - the Soviets! Everything is reported exactly as observed by the large and various cast of characters - from the humble blues-loving private to the tank commander to the
fighter-bomber pilot to the high Comerade Front Commander General Malinsky himself. We look through their eyes, experience what they experience as they are thrown into the confusion of war. The real achievement of this novel is how Peters manage to portray the enemy as believable, fully fleshed out human individuals.
"Red Army" is also a military thriller moving at breakneck speed. It's page-turning, edge-of-the-seat stuff. There's no high-tech or military jargon here, but you're not going to miss it. Peters, a retired Lt. Colonel US Army, knows his stuff. You'll believe you're right in the action, and you'll even believe you're understandig the tactical and strategical stuff. Only one thing jars in a book that is as down-to-earth grittily realistic as they come: The US Army appearing as a Deus Ex Machina - invincible, unstoppable and nearly mythic in the way it overawes the Soviet soldiers.
The review of this Book prepared by Geir Grim
