The Zero Option

The Cold War is going badly for President Reagan's administration. Support in Europe for the Soviet Union is on the rise, while acceptance of the new US intermediate range nuclear missiles is waning.Enter Roy Garret, a bright young NSA analyst with a plan. It goes into effect on the morning of 1 September 1983 when Korean Air Lines commercial passenger flight 007 takes off from Anchorage, Alaska, heading for Seoul. The airliner rendezvous with a US spy plane over the Bearing Sea, overflies a top secret Soviet submarine base and is then shot down off Sakhalin Island...Or is it? No wreckage or bodies are recovered. And a radar tape that shows what really happened to KAL 007 has gone missing. On board the downed airliner were 269 souls, including one US Congressman with too many secrets.Thirty years later, the missing radar tape falls into the hands of the daughter of a KAL 007 passenger and the son of the US spy plane commander. Determined to keep the facts hidden after all these years is New Mexico Governor Roy Garret, who is now contesting the US presidency.What follows is a desperate chase across Russia to uncover the truth once and for all from beneath the snows of Siberia. Can two young idealists outwit the forces ranged against them, or will Uncle Sam and the Russian Bear sweep history under the carpet again? **
Review
"Halfway between a Jerry Bruckheimer mega-spectacle and one of those frightfully clever BBC political thrillers. Cleanly done...and sophisticated." --The Age
"A ripping yarn that you are sure to enjoy curled up by the fire. Just remember it is a novel and not the truth." --Bookcase
From the Author
I went to Siberia in winter as part of the research for this book. It was bloody cold and everyone drank vodka, including me. It didn't take me long to figure out that its a great place to send people if you want them to die. No, not the friendliest of places. Also, I pretty thoroughly reviewed all the evidence of the KAL 007 incident and came to the conclusion that the government explanations just didn't ring true. It's not possible for a 747 to crash in the ocean without leaving a slick of debris on the water a couple miles long, especially if the plane breaks up at altitude. Anyway, writing this, I feel myself getting sucked back into the arguments. THE ZERO OPTION is a 'serious' thriller, I guess you'd say. Unlike my other novels, this one is based on a real incident. Personally, I think it's my best work yet. Best David