The Screaming Dead Balloons
By Philip McCutchan
Commander Shaw harbours self-blame for the death of three astronauts in Skyprobe. Now, in The Screaming Dead Balloons, we see him resign and accept an offer to work for 6D2 – an independent undercover organization specializing in dangerous fact-finding assignments.
Shaw’s first task is to identify a nameless horror that is driving the Indian population from the swamps and jungles of Brazil, so with his seductive assistant Anya Kiselyov, he flies out to Brazil to investigate. After reaching the headquarters of a suspicious Maltese scientist called John Zan, the pair survive unimaginable situations. It is soon revealed that at Zan’s headquarters, scientists have learnt how to control an embryonic form of life, called mycetons, and plan to use them to achieve world domination…
The Screaming Dead Balloons is a brilliant follow on from Skyprobe, enticing the reader to find out more of this ingenious story. Through intriguing and tantalising narrative McCutchan increases the tension as the myceton “balloons” are threatened to be released over London. This novel is perfect for any McCutchan fan and lover of a suspense-filled drama.
Philip McCutchan (1920-1996) grew up in the naval atmosphere of Portsmouth Dockyard and developed a lifetime’s interest in the sea. Military history was an early interest resulting in several fiction books, from amongst his large output, about the British Army and its campaigns, especially in the last 150 years.