A Japanese nuclear reactor is having issues that are
complicated by a typhoon. As a result, one of the reactor’s cooling towers is
shut down. Afterwards, that part of the plant is off-limits (radiation). But
the military has sort of moved in and started using some of the facilities.
Covert-One, an off-the-books group of operatives that work for the President, avoiding all the hassles that come with Congressional oversight. They’ve been cultivating an asset in Japan who now has samples from the damaged reactor. Operative Jon Smith has medical training and is sent to Japan for a clandestine meeting with the asset. The meet goes south, the asset is killed, and Smith gets away having suffered numerous injuries. But he got the delivery.
The reactor samples are very curious. Strange and never-before seen microstructures within the concrete and metal structures.
The head of Japanese military. Masao Takahashi, was a child after WW2 and witnessed the devastation after being nuked so he has no love for the US even though in current day, Japan and the US are allies. He also can’t stand the Chinese (and the Chinese don’t like the Japanese either). When he ascended to be the military Chief of Staff 30 or so years ago, he began a research program into novel modes of offensive and defensive weapons, primarily of the electronic variety (he likes to brag that their digital capabilities make the NSA look like children). One of the areas he focused on was nanotechnology before most people even knew about it. And the fruits of the research efforts are a nano-bot that feeds on infrastructure (concrete, metal, wood) destroying what it eats and then reproduces itself and grow exponentially. Release it on a city and the city begins to crumble under mysterious circumstances eventually infiltrating the military infrastructure. The sample of concrete Smith obtained was the first evidence of what the Japanese military has developed.
What the general wants to do is get China to make a move and then release those bots all over China effectively bringing it to its knees within months. The death toll would be in the millions. Such a development would upset the balance of power worldwide and make Japan THE dominant world power.
Covert-One, the President and the Prime Ministers of China and Japan meet to minimize diplomatic and military tension while Smith and his partner, Randi Russell, start working back channels to locate and destroy Takahashi’s command bunker and bot development center.
I’ve read multiple Kyle Mills books beginning when he picked up the Mitch Rapp series when Vince Flynn died. I thought I was getting a book that was a Kyle Mills product alone but found out this was #12 out of 12 Covert-One books that Robert Ludlum started in 2000 (he died in 2001). Those 12 books have since been written by 6 different authors; this is Mills’ third Covert-One book and Mills says it’s the one that is best suited for Mitch Rapp fans. I’d agree.
Mills is an exceptional author. He has well over 20 books out there with multiple NY Times bestsellers. In the class of authors that mostly began with Tom Clancy, Mills must be considered one of the best at the techno-thriller genre. As I got deeper into the plot, I started thinking, ‘nano-bots? That feed on concrete? That multiply? Seriously? Was thinking this sounded outlandish. But then I thought back to one of Clancy’s earlier books (late 80’s, early 90s?) where he mentioned a military unit was moving behind enemy lines and released a surveillance drone to see what was going on over the facing hills and then used the drone to fire on the enemy. At the time, that seemed a bit far-fetched. Not so much today. Chances are nanotechnology has advanced well beyond what we mere mortals can imagine. So maybe this plot isn’t that far out.
Stay tuned.
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