Master Switch

by William Stender

William Stender, intimately involved in the development of the PATRIOT missile, uses his expert knowledge to create a complex novel of international intrigue. Master Switch explores the terrifying... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1561451320
• ISBN13: 9781561451326
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Peachtree Publishers
• Length: 440 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Successful spies and writers stick close to reality

In his first novel, Master Switch, South Carolina native William Stender weaves a tale of high-tech espionage as one explanation of why only Israel, a non-combatant nation in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, suffered losses of life from SCUD missiles launched by Saddam Hussein. A congressional committee has already conceded it could not determine why PATRIOT, the top secret U.S. furnished defensive missile, magnificently performed its task in Saudi Arabia but not in Israel. Brigadier General Jeff Weyland is the ideal hero for this engaging tale of contemporary technical, political and military warfare. His fighting spurs, won in action in Vietnam, and his Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering earned him the sobriquet "Doctor General." A year before the Gulf War even looms on the horizon his instincts tell him to find out why a PATRIOT test firing failed. And why did a staff sergeant make a quick entry on the computer keyboard of the firing console when none was called for? Stender uses flashbacks to develop the character and motivation of the key players. He demonstrates a master's knowledge of how a "sleeper" espionage agent builds a legend and patiently waits years until the right moment to act. When this agent is also the uninhibited queen of the bouncing bed no politician or general is immune. But sex also leads to blackmail and bribery and these are among the potent motivations of the men who carry this story from the White Sands Missile Range through Capitol Hill to the desert battlefield. Complicating Weyland's life and the success of PATRIOT is his boss General Grant who does not want the surface-to-air missile to succeed because it takes money away from conventional men and arms, "the way the Army wins the ground war." This battle tested career soldier enjoys the sexual favors of Celia Mitchell, the top aide to a supportive Senator, without realizing her favors have also been bestowed on the nimble-fingered staff sergeant and both of them are pawns in a larger game where murder is an accepted move. Like successful espionage, successful novel writing sticks as close to reality as possible. The author simulates meetings, conversations and action invoking the fears, desires, authority and power of President Bush, General Colin Powell, the president of Israel and mysterious Arabs to heighten the suspense and define what is at stake. A priority task when the Gulf War breaks out is to protect Israel so that tiny nation, the strongest military power in the mid-East, will stay out of the war, which is the price the U.S. has to pay for Arabs to join the coalition against Iraq. Stender's background in industrial and electrical engineering, and his role as CEO in a company that provides engineering services and PATRIOT systems analysis for the Army is the basis for the technocrat's argot found in this fast paced, enjoyable novel. His detailed technical knowledge, however, does not bog down the story line nor overpower the characters. The w