Now, there's a guy whose life was almost a fantasy come true. Imagine: he's leading a humdrum life as an insurance salesman, but he has an interest in military technology and a talent for writing. He puts together a terriffic first novel. Defense Dept. wonders if he should be "prosecuted" for "revealing classified informaton" (of course he hadn't). But then, in a rare display of common sense, the Defense Dept. figures, "Hey, everybody trashes us--and here's a guy who makes us and the CIA heros in his novel." So they decide to support him.

Imagine the calls coming to his home after "Red October" made the Best Seller List: "Uh, hi, Tom, this is the Secretary of the Army--wanna go for a test drive in our newest Abrams tank? Fire the 105mm cannon?" Then the Air Force: "Tom, we have a brand-new F16 warming up at your local airport. Wanna climb in..."