Loose Cannon - Hardcover

Ing, Dean

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312871945 ISBN 13: 9780312871949

Publisher: Forge Books, 2000

Synopsis

From the bestselling author of The Ransom of Black Stealth One

Dean Ing returns to his fascination with experimental aircraft, but this time instead of the big jets of The Ransom of Black Stealth One, this one is about smaller, more insidious flying machines.

Rob Tarrant is a genius at designing flying things, and his work for General Standards Corporation has yielded more than one patent for the aviation giant. But Tarrant's hobby is building miniature UAVs -- Unmanned Arial Vehicles, tiny remote controlled drones. They could be toys, but Tarrant's latest version is so small, and so stable, that he thinks he might be able to mount other miniaturized technology on board: chemical analyzers, or listening devices.

Being a good company man, Tarrant plans to give his little flying machine design to General Standards. But from the moment he describes the project to his boss, his life becomes a living hell -- for Tarrant has succeeded in building a device that has been the subject of a dozen top secret research projects. And everyone wants to stop him before he shows his new toys to the whole world.

About this title

About the Author

Dean Ing has worked as a USAF interceptor crew chief, a senior research engineer in the aerospace industry, a builder and driver of sports-racing cars, and a university professor. He has a doctorate in communications theory. Ing is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Ransom of Black Stealth One, The Nemesis Mission, and The Skins of Dead Men. He lives in Ashland, Oregon.

From Publishers Weekly

Ing takes direct aim at the reader's sense of humorAconnecting more often than notAin this lighthearted thriller about a Silicon Valley engineer forced into hiding after one of his inventions attracts the interest of the wrong people. Rob Tarrant, a mild-mannered career man at enormous General Standards Corp., has high hopes for his miniature, remote-controlled flying machine, which can hover high above the ground, taking pictures or chemically sensing any number of things too small for the eye or nose to detectAeven pollution levels or pest infestation in crops. Tarrant expects praise and a promotion when he takes his so-called Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to his boss, the smooth-talking Ethan Lodge. And indeed, Tarrant's life does change instantly, but not for the better. Bewilderingly, he goes from being a faceless Silicon Valley drone to one of the most wanted men in the country, chased by, among others, U.S. and Israeli intelligence agents. After the first attempt on his life, the resourceful Tarrant goes to ground, employing various schemes and disguises to survive. Relying on wacky friends and family to elude his clumsy pursuers, he spends the bulk of his time trying to figure out why everyone is so riled about his seemingly innocuous UAV. Ing (The Nemesis Mission; The Skins of Dead Men), himself a longtime engineer and tinkerer, finds great sport in poking fun at lots of targetsASilicon Valley's self-importance, corporate arrogance, engineering nerdiness and government bumbling. The thriller as farce is only one of Ing's modesAhe also writes sci-fi-inflected suspense novels and more serious techno-thrillersAbut it is his best. The witty repartee and situational humor of his latest amusement are strained at times, but Ing continues to mine a profitable side vein in a field crowded with the claims of more conventional thriller writers. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Forge Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0312871945
• ISBN 13: 9780312871949
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288