A War Game Called on Account of War

War games are essential to simulating battle conditions without anyone getting hurt. In order to test the U.S. Special Operations Command's ability to respond swiftly to a threat by China, a computer genius simulates a retaliatory strike. But a political crackdown in China so enrages the programmer that he converts his simulation to the real thing. To forestall a massive US attack on the People's Republic, Dragon Team leader Dave Riley must infiltrate China's borders and execute a treacherously dangerous mission.

That's the premise of Dragon Sim 13 by Bob Mayer, a West Point graduate, Special Forces veteran and author of numerous thrillers. He wrote Dragon Sim 13 before the "Sleeping Giant," as China was known in the 20th century, awakened. It awakened with a vengeance in the 21st century, and today Mayer's scenario is almost too frighteningly real to contemplate.

- Richard Curtis