Tidal fear

摘要

Stoking terror has been a staple of thrillers ever since Erskine Childers wrote "The Riddle of the Sands" more than 100 years ago. Foreign invasions? Deadly microbes? Nuclear explosions? Each decade boasts its emblematic page-turners. These may be works of fiction, but for the most part they are inspired by the real-world terrors of their own particular time.rnIn that sense, this summer's offerings are no different. Instead of the rogue Russian submarines of the cold-war years, several thrillers due to be published over the next few weeks feature a frightening level of day-to-day surveillance, a squeeze on civil liberties and inexorable government creep. A cut above these, and quite different, is "Ultimatum" by Matthew Glass. The publisher is already describing Mr Glass as the heir to Tom Clancy (for "The Hunt for Red October") and to Michael Crichton (for "State of Fear", his diatribe about global warming). "Ultimatum" is better than either of these. The first politico-diplomatic-disaster thriller, Mr Glass's engrossing work leaves the reader thinking long after the last page is turned.