Listen carefully and you may hear the screams of a despairing reviewer. "" 'For the love of God, Montresor!' Not another L. Ron Hubbard!"" Yes, avid fans, here's Chunk Eight of Hubbard's maximum opus. You will be relieved to learn that, despite the evil machinations of Apparatus leg-man Soltan Gris, neither hero Jettero Heller nor his lover, the Countess Krak, is actually dead--but then, you didn't really think they were, did you? No, sir. Elsewhere, the good news is that Chunk Eight is somewhat shorter than its predecessors; the better news is that there are only two Chunks still to come. Business as usual at Hubbard Industries. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The first seven volumes of Hubbard's ``Mission Earth'' novel series were devoted mainly to the drawn-out farcial adventures of alien spies among comic oil barons, mafiosi, PR men, etc. This time things finally happen with a bang: hero Jettero Heller harnesses a black hole to provide cheap, pollution-free energy for Earth and accidentally wipes out western Russia. Then Heller and his love, Countess Krak, bring their evil nemesis, Soltan Gris, back to Voltar, their home planet. But dirty politics there has made the Emperor a drug addict and put power in the hands of nefarious, paranoid Lombar Hisst, so Heller and the Countess return to Earth, where more cliffhangers await. Even as a re-creation of the freewheeling pulp fiction of earlier times, this futuristic thriller is heavyhanded and unsuccessful. Literary Guild alternates. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

The best-selling Mission Earth series by the late L. Ron Hubbard winds its way to the conclusion of a unique chapter in publishing history. Disaster is volume 8 of the 10-part saga revolving around the misadventures of the zany characters in the Voltar Confederacy. The previous series entry was Voyage of Vengeance (Booklist 83:1335 My 1 87). Expect the final two volumes to follow fast on the heels of this one. MAB.