Rating: 
Summary: A hopeful start of a better follow up?
Review: Having read all Patrick Robinson's previous "submarine-work" I must say that Barracuda 945 was a bit of a dissapointment to me. The errors in the book concerning the typing were a bit disturbing. The most disturbing however was Patrick Robinson's urge to give his opnion on Hollywood and former politicians and their politics in this book. Some of the comment on these former politicians was functional, yet I found there was too much of comment.The only thing I can hope for is that Barracuda 945 is a kind of an upstep to a follow up that will be just as good as Nimitz Class, HMS Unseen, etc.
Rating: 
Summary: wretched
Review: Here, let me save you a few excruciating hours: Evil Islamiac terrorists buy a nuclear submarine and secretly sneak across the ocean to blow stuff up. However, a good solid American right-wing administration, led by hard-talking, cliche-speaking laughable caricature Arnold Morgan chase them down- almost. This book not only has no style and a contrived plot at best, the endless preponderance of simple-minded, sheerly idiotic right-wing rants and slights to democrats, greens, and anybody else who'se not a jackbooted thug wearing american-flag underwear will truly, as one reviewer says, turn a Bush supporter iinto a Dean fan. Please, for the love of humanity, save your money and don't waste your time!
Rating: 
Summary: Scary and thought provoking
Review: I am an avid reader whose main interest is military history. Since 9/11, I have wanted to learn as much about terrorism as possible and, consequently, have read many factual books on the subject. This is my first readership of a novel about terrorists. In all my 70 years, I can never remember reading a book as scary as this one. There were at least 4 instances when I had to close the book because it scared the hell out of me. Yet I had to pick it back up time again to go on and finally finish it. I don't know how realistic the terrorists' acts are, but they seem very plausible. It seems very possible to me that these terrible acts can really happen to our country. I hope they do not.
Rating:
Summary: A heads up for other Amazon review readers
Review: I have noted that a number of reviewers here seem to spend a lot of time reading books they don't like and then write reviews trashing them. It makes me wonder if they don't have an agenda other than literary.
It is obvious that the book is not friendly to liberals or the democrats that gave the canal back to Panama. Perhaps some of the reviewers downgrading the book have their own political agenda that has nothing to do with the merits of the book itself.
I have enjoyed all of Patrick Robinson's books, and I consider this one of his best. If you like this one, consider Lion's Game by Nelson DeMille.
Ben Adnam was a character in two previous books who was killed at the end of the second. He was one of those terrorists you love to hate, but Robinson has a new villain, Ray Kerman. If you enjoyed the antics of Ben Adnam, then you will like Kerman.
It is too bad some reviewers are pushing an agenda, it reduces the value of reviews in Amazon
Rating:
Summary: Too implausible, too opinionated
Review: I like P Robinson's other books but this one is both a stretch as well as a platform for childish name calling. Obviously, he hates democrats but this is supposed to be a novel not a billboard. I have yet to see a good military author resort to terms like "conservation minded tree-hugger" or "whining democratic congressmen". I'm ex-Navy and enjoy good military fiction but Robinson can peddle his war mongering jingoism elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Let's Hope This Remains Fiction - Riveting Stuff
Review: I note that those who are reviewing this book seem to be very positive or very negative. My guess is that one's political outlook and view of the world we live in may well color one's impressions of this work. I happen to believe that this is a very dangerous world we are living in and that it has been made more so by some of the political decisions of those who were in charge during some criticsl times. The author identifies Carter and Clinton as being two "leaders" who have contributed to our problems of national safety and makes a compelling case in that regard. If that doesn't float your boat, then you will probably not enjoy this book. A young Iranian flees Iran with his parents and is raised in luxury and privilege in England. He enters the military in England and rises to be one of the most respected SAS officers in the British army. His SAS group is advisng the Israeli Army during a sweep of Palestinian strongholds and things get badly out of hand. The resulting chaos causes Maj. Ray Kernan to swittch sides in the conflict and return to his Iranian homeland as a General for Hamas. He is now General Ravi Rashood and his conversion is good news for the terrorists and bad news for everyone else. We are priviy to some of his exploits which clearly identify him as an exceptional leader and a ruthless killer. Over time, a plan is developed for the acquisition of a nuclear submarine. This is not as far fetched as it sounds and a plausable scenario is spun by the author as the deal is made and executed and the submarine departs Russia for a trip of terror down the West Coast of the United States. The story plays out from there with fascinating explanations of why this is everyone's worst nightmare in combatting terrorisim. I found the book very hard to put down and I also found the ending, which is essentially a "To Be Continued" to be perfectly satisfying, given the status of things. I had never read this author before. I look forward to more.
Rating:
Summary: Good Story with bad writing and rabid right-wing propaganda
Review: I read this book on the advice of friend. I was very disappointed. There is a reasonably good story, but the writing is second rate. The are many technical errors. There are a multitude of needless and mind-numbing destriptions of minutia that do nothing to advance the story. This train wreak of a book is further worsened by the author's parroting of the far right's view of the world and his mindless jingoism. If that wasn't enough, 90% of the book reels along like a drunken sailor, only to have what should have been 50% of the book jammed into the last 10% of the book.
Save yourself some time and don't read this piece of tripe.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as previous efforts
Review: I really enjoyed Robinson's previous novels. However, this one leaves much to be desired. The protagonist, an SAS officer, undergoes an epiphany that is quite a stretch to accept. After this he becomes a dedicated and dangerous terrorist. The action then plods along in a rather formulaic manner - interspersed by polemics against Democrats and former President Clinton. Please, Mr. Robinson, you have more talent than you've brought to this effort! Potential readers: skip this one & read his previous novels.
Rating:
Summary: (4 1/2) A GREAT READ But NOT For Bill Clinton Fans
Review: I really enjoyed this book and found myself becoming completely absorbed in the story. This was the first book by Patrick Robinson that I had read, and given the length I was somewhat concerned that it might be overburdened by detail, as many books of this genre have tended to be as author's have followed Tom Clancy down the path to boredom. However, the methodology utilized by the author kept that from occurring although there were certainly a few instances of unnecessary digressions or more detail than necessary to advance the action and create an aura of believability. After the action involved in a brief but essential prologue which occurs in 1995, the remainder of the story occurs during the years 2004 thru 2008, and while I concur that the essential details of the plot are quite improbable, I do not consider the general outline of the story to be as far outside the realm of possibilty as some other reviewers. In fact, one reviewer has criticized as totally impossible one essential element of the plot that actually is historically accurate - that is the fact that the Clinton administration under terms of the Panama Canal treaty negotiated by the Carter administration essentially allowed control of the Canal to be turned over to a company that many people believe is an agent of the Chinese government. The fact that the author is a very knowledgeable military journalist who obviously possesses excellent political contacts is one of the factors that made the book so enjoyable for me. The way such details are inserted into the story in most instances make them much less disruptive to the flow of the story than other books of this type. However, as my title indicated, there are several sections late in the book with scathing criticisms of the Clinton administration by some of the characters, and while I actually agreed with the commentary and enjoyed it I agree with other reviewers that it was probably overdone in the context of this story. The outline of the story is very simple, and I actually wish that I hadn't read the book jacket but will not reveal anything here that the publisher has not revealed in the promotional material. (However, if you have already decided to purchase the book and don't know the plotline, you might want to skip this paragraph and let the story develop as you read it.) A brilliant former high-ranking SAS officer with a detailed knowledge of military tactics defects to a Middle Eastern terrorist group and quickly rises to a position of importance as one of its key strategists. He devises a plan to obtain a nuclear submarine (which are almost impossible to locate and track while submerged if manned by a patient well trained crew); his goal is to create enough havoc (while minimizing the loss of life) so that the United States will withdraw from its activities in the Middle East. Arrayed against him are the Admiral Morgan, the President's National Security Advisor, and the military and intelligence resources of the US government. The action is fast paced, there are several interesting subplots, the character development is good, and I gained a fair amount of knowledge from the descriptions concerning some of the political and military aspects of the story. Two final important points. First, this book had two very thoughtful reader aids that added greatly to my enjoyment and which are much too seldom employed by the publishing industry. There is a cast of all the principal characters involved in the several different theaters of action which is arranged to promote maximum ease of use by the reader, you don't have to keep flipping back to refresh your memory if your reading is interrupted. It also has maps of most of the areas involved, although these should also have been placed together at the front instead of somewhat randomly interspersed with the text. Second, this book demands a sequel. The ending is very clever and completely satisfying, and yet - the major adversaries (who respect each other enormously despite their desire to confound each other's goals) are implicitly destined to meet again since their titanic struggle is unresolved. Disclaimer: In the interest of full disclosure, I was furnished a review copy of this book by the publisher based upon my interest in this genre as evidenced by my previous reviews of similar books. I have no relationship and have never met either the author or anyone employed by the publisher, and furnished no guarantee that I would even submit a review. If anything, in order to prove my objectivity I perhaps presented my criticisms in more detail than they deserve. Nevertheless, people in my business have belatedly learned too much disclosure is preferable to not enough, so this addendum is offered in that spirit. Tucker Andersen
Rating: 
Summary: not quite as good as the other five
Review: I thought that the book was not quite up to the standards that I would expect from Patrick Robinson. The book was still a good read I just thought it lacked the "on the edge of your seat excitement" factor that I dearly loved in his previous books. The action with the Navy SEALs was decent but again lacked wow and zest.
I would recommened that anyone that was going to read this book should read the first five. If not the first five at least Nimitz Class and H.M.S. unseen.
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