Bright Star

The inheritor of the "storytelling gift" (Publishers Weekly) of his namesake, Robert Louis Stevenson III with his debut novel, Torchlight, captured the enthusiasm of readers seeking tales of daring intrigue, told by a writer with first-hand knowledge of high adventure. Clive Cussler himself praised Torchlight as "A terrific adventure tale. From first to last, the action and intrigue never let up." Now this talented novelist returns with a gripping new yarn destined to expand his following.Five years and several billion dollars in the making, Bright Star is a top-secret Defense Department satellite that can not only pinpoint enemy ships, tanks, planes, artillery, and missiles but also simultaneously "paint" up to 1,000 targets, coordinating a smart missile attack to clear enemy forces from the battlefield within minutes. The nation possessing Bright Star will have an impenetrable nuclear umbrella as well as an overwhelming tactical advantage on the battlefield for years to come.When the space shuttle--with Bright Star aboard--mysteriously crashes near the coast of Maine, ex-Navy SEAL Philip Drake is called in to retrieve the satellite before it can fall into the hands of the highest bidder in the covert arms market.With high tension and riveting, state-of-the-art action above and beneath the sea, Bright Star fulfills the promise of Torchlight's debut.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was born in Edinburgh. In the brief span of forty-four years, dogged by poor health, he made an enormous contribution to English literature with his novels, poetry, and essays. The son of upper-middle-class parents, he was the victim of lung trouble from birth, and spent a sheltered childhood surrounded by constant care. The balance of his life was taken up with his unremitting devotion to work, and a search for a cure to his illness that took him all over the world. His travel essays were publihsed widely, and his short fiction was gathered in many volumes. His first full-length work of fiction, Treasure Island, was published in 1883 and brought him great fame, which only increased with the publication of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). He followed with the Scottish romances Kidnapped (1886) and The Master of Ballantrae (1889). In 1888 he set out with his family for the South Seas, traveling to the leper colony at Molokai, and finally settling in Samoa, where he died.