ERY WELL DONE AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!      ~ BRUCE MILLER​​​

Five Stars. I enjoyed reading Mushroom Cloud: Book I of the First Strike series by Thomas J. Yeggy who, in my opinion, is a highly intelligent and fascinating writer. I felt the author created a captivating and engrossing book. And as an added plus, the author thoroughly and meticulously researched this story and provided an extensive bibliography and over 70 references in Book I.The author explains at the beginning of the book that the reason he put years of research into this story is to make readers aware of the exceptional people behind the avoidance of a planned first strike and the extreme importance of these brave people. He demonstrates how these courageous selfless persons truly deserve a high place in history, and in my opinion, he accomplished that in an amazingly intriguing manner.

In my view, this story is exceptionally well written, and I found it to be eye-opening. I feel this author has written an intriguing story with high action, suspense, drama, strong emotional events, and much more.

I liked the protagonist, Dr. Caleb Young, the chief scientist of the CIA, and as an example of how the author develops this character, here is a brief excerpt from the beginning of the story, with Dr. Young speaking,

“…The sum of my life’s experiences has me convinced of how close we are to a limited strategic or global war. I believe it is time to go into survival mode.”

“Why can’t we just stop that from happening with the right information from you?” Forde raised his voice with each word. “The way you are talking, it seems you are holding something back. Your reluctance indicates that you think war is imminent. What the hell are you not telling me? I want specifics, not generalized paranoid ideations. If you are afraid, I want to know of whom and about what!”

The sound of palms slapping the table made Forde jump. Young’s eyes burned with evangelical fire. “You do not understand,” Young bellowed. “No one understands. There are hundreds of situations where a deliberate act like the firing of a TNW—that’s a tactical nuclear weapon in case you didn’t know—with a 20-kiloton yield that isn’t secured by a PAL—oh, and that’s a permissive action link—will escalate at a speed beyond our capacity to respond. If the Russians mass thirty divisions on NATO’s border, we cannot afford to let them strike first. It would be suicide! The Soviet Union was embarrassed on the world stage in late ‘62. It will not suffer such an indignity again…”

In my opinion, the author writes in a professional manner, and I enjoyed the very real characters. The author researched the authentic persons involved and based most of the characters on real people (other than the protagonist who the author describes as "composite of the many brilliant scientists of that era").

The extensive research done by this author, in my opinion, certainly increased the enjoyment and thought-provoking aspects of this story, giving it realism and an awakening on how fragile we all are with the real possibility of a nuclear war and the immense threat it poses to our existence.

Kevin Costner realized this well when he said, “We still live with this unbelievable threat over our heads of nuclear war. I mean, are we stupid? Do we think that the nuclear threat has gone, that the nuclear destruction of the planet is not imminent? It's a delusion to think it's gone away.”

I think this book will greatly increase awareness of the real possibility and horrors of nuclear war and unimaginable devastation.

I felt this story most certainly encourages everyone to closely scrutinize the present-day leaders of nuclear-armed countries and their threats and actions.

I also liked the way this author writes in a clear and concise manner with just the right amount of description of the events. I felt the author’s style put me right into the scene. For example, here is another brief excerpt:

About two hours into the mission, Staff Sergeant John Hirsch keyed the intercom. “Captain Dunham, we are being tracked by radar installations with a bearing of 330 degrees and a range of 65 miles.”

“Roger that, Hirsch,” Dunham said. He turned to Brock. “Maintain course and altitude at 31,000.”

Eight minutes later, it was Staff Sergeant Samuel Colgan’s turn. “Captain Dunham, I have picked up communication intercepts from tower control to hostile fighter aircraft. Nemuro radar is tracking two bogeys inbound from 270 degrees at 15,000 feet doing over 400 miles per hour— believed to be Fangs.”

Airman First Class Thomas Shipp spoke. “Captain, be advised that three F-84s are on their way. Intercept should be in twenty-two minutes.”

Dunham did some quick mental calculations. He knew the F-84s would not be able to 314 reach them in time. “Alter course. Full throttle, 90 degrees east.”

Airman Second Class Frank Neil and Airman Second Class Fred Kendrick spotted the incoming hostiles. Five minutes later, they opened fire. Dunham sent out a mayday call and then said, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

I also liked the pace of the story which is told at varying paces as the action, suspense, and drama unfolds. Also, I thought this author uses an economy of words and tells the story well as this intensely dramatic story unfolds.

Finally, I felt this stimulating book is one of those that stays with you, and it brought me to a heightened plateau of how I view the threat of nuclear war and its disastrous effects on the entire human race. It is truly a captivating and engrossing story. I felt this book also has more relevance in today's world with the ongoing Ukraine war, issues with China, and North Korea and hopefully will encourage more to speak out.

Very well done and highly recommended!