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Summary: Threat Vector reviewed
Review: Michael DiMercurio has written an excellent sea thriller in the tradition of Edward Beach ("Run Silent, Run Deep") and Tom Clancy ("The Hunt For Red October"). I was particularly taken by his different perspective showing possible future warfare technologies. Also, DiMercurio's dialogue and character development is very strong, which is a pleasant surprise in techno-thrillers which commonly have weaknesses in these areas. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Subwar in the future
Review: Michael DiMercurio mixes characters you care about, with a fast moving plot, and imaginative subs of the future to keep the reader involved. If you have read his earlier books you appreciate encountering familiar faces; but if this is your first you will enjoy it equally. I have read a couple, and will now go back to fill in the blanks. One word of caution - if you are put off by very detailed technical descriptions of exotic weapon systems this may not be the easiest read. All in all a great job - I look forward to hopping aboard for a new ride.
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Summary: Supersub deals crippling blow to U.S. Navy
Review: Michael DiMercurio's novels contain many characters which(obviously)continue through the series. In Threat Vector, the supervillain from the first novel, Admiral Alexi Novskoyy, is sprung from jail in Siberia by a consulting company. This consulting company plans to use a supersub, the Vepr, to wreak havoc on the international oil trade. The Vepr, for a demonstration, must sink a cruise ship with the entire U.S. naval brass onboard, effectively decapitating the U.S. fleet. Michael Pacino, the main character, has progressed to the title of Chief of Naval Operations, and thus the book is fairly far removed from the other books, as he is no longer driving submarines. However, DiMercurio comes up with an excellent replacement, Captain Kelly McKee. Michael Dimercurio has, once again, worked wonders. Threat Vector is well written, engaging, and delivers a cast of characters perfect for the plot. END
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Summary: What a Delight!
Review: Michael DiMercurio's THREAT VECTOR is at once both a superbly written stand-alone novel, as well as the most recent and possibly the best in a riveting series of submarine techno-thrillers. Here is an entirely possible perspective of what could happen in the early decades of our post-Cold War era.With completely deserved confidence, DiMercurio walks that often uncertain ground between the worlds of fact and fiction, drawing upon his firm footing in the former to create the best of the latter. Writing as a former assistant engineering officer on a 637 nuclear attack submarine, his description, for example, of the workings of a pressurized water reactor and power plant is simply the best and most accurate this reader has seen. And, while all his descriptions contain the appropriate technical and military acronyms and specifications, the reader is not suffocated by them, as is often the case elsewhere. To this refreshing knowledge and credibility, he brings his substantial talents as a writer, weaving a believable and imaginative plot, creating poignant and engaging characters, and doing it all in an even-flowing and economic writing style. Da Vinci Maritime, headed by a cunningly skillful and greedy entrepreneur, will stop at nothing to garner profit by disrupting world oil trade, taking full advantage of political tensions and technical weaponry sophistications that could be just around the corner. A ruthless and vengeful former Russian Northern Fleet Commander, Alexi Novskoyy, is sprung from prison, emerging along with us, into a slightly foreign but dazzling near future. He is put aboard the Ukrainian super sub, Vepr, as a "consultant" to decapitate the U.S. Navy high command structure, and ends up pitted against the Unified Submarine Command, with its SSNX Devilfish, and the newest NSSN Virginia-class Hammerhead (the descendent of DiMercurio's boat in real life). Technical goodies abound. Email, palm-pad computers and live-time video conferencing have really come into their own, ramping up the speed and efficiency of communications. The boats are equiped with acoustic daylight array sonar (state-of-the-art at least on our Ohio-class Tridents), three-dimensional, high-frequency secure littoral bottom-sounding sonar for "seeing" in shallow water, ingenious over-the-horizon optical, radio and sonar sensors, and VR "Battlespace," all creating a further tightening of the tension of the underwater engagements. While the skill of the Captain and his crew (along with pure luck) determine the final outcomes, a cyberspace "Second Captain" can up the odds, and a crucial split-second advantage might also be gained by having 300 mph rocket-powered torpedoes (there are reports of 200 mph "cavitation weapons" being currently tested by the Russians), or Bora II torpedoes and Barrakuda mobile mines in your inventory, all with "plasma" warheads. These "surgical incendiary" weapons, cleaner descendents of atomic and hydrogen bombs, utilize a fission/fusion trigger to create a more confined nuclear plasma (the so-called "stellar" fourth state of matter), resulting in extremely high temperatures, minus "the wide-pattern radioactivity and blast effect" -- a not unreasonable extension of today's leading edge thinking in physics. (Los Alamos has become a private sector entity.) DiMercurio's descriptions of mechanical event sequences -- the arming, detonation and explosion propagation of the above described plasma warheads, the deployment of remote, over-the-horizon sensors -- have an elegant sense of animation to them that nearly brings the devices to life. (In this book things also fail every now and then.) The departures from the Norfolk Naval Base piers of the Bush-class destroyers, Christie Whitman & Tom Clancy, and the nuclear-powered cruiser, Admiral Hyman Rickover, not to mention that of the Devilfish herself, simply give you goose bumps. The tension of the near-future submarine battle engagements, and the events leading up to them, are knitted together and rendered real by the true-to-life nature of DiMercurio's characters. His are vividly complex, heroic but flawed people who think, feel and sweat just as you and I do. Commander Kelly McKee hides his violently trembling hands from his executive officer after successfully sinking an entire battle group and nearly losing his own boat in the process, tragically not yet aware that his wife has died in his absence. Brooding darkly behind everything is Michael Pacino, now calling the shots as Chief of Naval Operations, himself an almost tragic figure, having lost in years past both his father and his own submarine, the SSNX's predecessor Devilfish, to the sinister Novskoyy, yet again his (unknown) nemesis. Painting the struggle between two such men in the submarinal setting, where everything is unknown except (hopefully) "own-ship" and "threat vector," is part of DiMercurio's art as a writer. Even his minor characters glow with splashes of humanity many readers can immediately relate to. Pacino's Vice Chief of Naval Operations, Pauly White, has paid the price for quitting smoking by regaining his taste for food, therefore putting on the pounds, and then becoming "...an exercise fanatic, as habit-bound with that as he'd been with cigarettes." Interesting innovations have also taken place in command and crew make-up, as far as who, and for that matter what, is now admitted to the submarine service. If you liked the testosterone and drama of HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, and the gut-wrenching stark realism of DAS BOOT, you will love THREAT VECTOR.
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Summary: Hang on for the read of your life.
Review: More than just the edge of your seat Michael DiMercurio's best yet. This book was more than a edge of your seat technothriller it was an emotional rollercoaster ride. He has the ablilty to play with all of your emotions and vividly protray his characters to their max. Read this one and you will forever be hooked on Michael DiMercurio
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Summary: A Great Story by someone thats been there
Review: Mr. DiMercurio puts you right in the middle of the control room of a fast attack submarine. As a former submariner I can say that this book is one of the best submarine books I have ever read. It makes me Think I'm back on the boat again..with all the rush that goes along with it.
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Summary: The best book I ever read. Kept me up all night.
Review: No book has ever been able to touch me. I can never seem to get involved with the people. But this book was different. Not to ruin anything, but it saddened me, I cried at one point. It is a very strongly writen peice of work. Sure the world he has made is way out but, it makes you wonder what can realy happen. DiMercurio truly is "A master rivaling Tom Clancy."
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Summary: Rig For Dive...it's going to be a wild ride!
Review: On the heels of "Pirahna Firing Point" comes "Threat Vector," and if you're a DiMercurio fan, you WILL NOT be disappointed. Characters such as Kelly McKee jump off the page with vitality, and techno information is provided with such detail, you feel as though you are inside the sub with the crew. The tension is so palpable, that at several points I found myself flipping a page or two ahead, "to see if that torpedo hit or not!" (Couldn't wait.) Many techno-thrillers come off as sterile, relying on the gadgetry, etc. DiMercurio's character's form the backbone of the novel, and they carry the day. Bottom line; click offline now, and go buy it.
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Summary: Dolphins Do it again!
Review: Once again, Mike Dimercurio weaves a tale of suspense & thrills, bringing back his sea hero, Michael Pacino. Once I started, I could hardly put the book down. There are new characters to the series, as well as a great resurrection from the past. (Especially if you are a fan) Dimercurio's sub action is great, and the writing leaves you on edge until the battles are over. He has dredged up a clever idea with dolphins, reminiscent of the US Navy in the 60's, only much more high tech. Move over Tom Clancy, DiMercurio is rapidly becoming the master of this genre. OK Michael, whens the next one coming out?
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Summary: AMBUSH FROM THE SEA...
Review: Submarine commander and war criminal Alexi Novskoyy has been sprung from prison by a multibillion-dollar organization with a very special mission in mind. The company has designed a new submarine - the Vepr - which they will use to wreak havoc on international trade. To test its new weapon, Alexi must sink a cruise ship carrying the entire brass of the U.S. Navy - effectively decapitating the American fleet. The legendary USS Devilfish is called in to stop the catastrophe, only to be ambushed by the ultra-advanced Vepr. With the Devilfish down, the Navy sends Captain "Kelly" McKee and the newest sub in the U.S. arsenal to hunt down and destroy the super sub. What they don't realize is that Alexi has his own plans, which have him heading straight for the shores of America. For more information and a preview, see the ussdevilfish website or write the author at Readermail@ussdevilfish.com. THREAT VECTOR U.S. Navy term meaning the direction from which the enemy's most lethal and immediately dangerous element approaches. The definition assumes that the afloat commander knows who the enemy is . . .
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