Swan Song (novel)
Mass Market Paperback cover
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| Author | Robert R. McCammon |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Post-apocalyptic novel |
| Publisher | Pocket Books |
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Publication date
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1987 |
| Media type | Print (Mass Market Paperback) |
| Pages | 960 |
| ISBN | |
Swan Song is a 1987 horror novel by American novelist Robert R. McCammon. It is a work of post-apocalyptic fiction describing the aftermath of a nuclear war that provokes an evolution in humankind. Swan Song was praised by critics and readers, and won the 1987 Bram Stoker award, (tied with "Misery" by Stephen King).
The President of the United States and his advisors are discussing how the Soviet Union is building up its forces for a nuclear strike. The relationship between the Soviet and American governments has deteriorated badly. Several months earlier, the War in Afghanistan ended with the Soviets launching mustard gas and other nerve agents at Kabul. India and Pakistan destroy each other in a nuclear war, Iran launches Soviet-supplied nuclear weapons at Iraq, and Soviet and American ships play cat and mouse in the Atlantic Ocean. With Soviet submarines closing on the east and west coasts, the President caves to pressure from his advisors and orders hunter-killer task forces to engage the vessels while American submarines blockade the Soviet Union.
In New York City, Sister Creep, a homeless woman who suffered a mental breakdown after accidentally causing the death of her daughter in a drunk-driving incident, wanders the city. While she takes shelter in a subway tunnel for the night, the bombs begin to fall. She narrowly escapes with her life.
Aboard the Airborne Command Post, the President is wracked with guilt over his role in the carnage. It is revealed that the war began when an American submarine commander launched a nuclear-armed cruise missile against Soviet submarines, and the Soviets have now launched a full-scale nuclear attack against the United States. Convinced that America as he knows it is dead and gone, the President prepares to input a series of codes into a computer for the activation of an unknown device known only as 'Talons'. Seconds before the activation process can be completed, a burning Greyhound bus, sent flying by the shock waves of the nuclear blasts below, smashes into the aircraft, causing an explosion that sends it hurtling towards the ground.
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