Barracuda 945

Rating:
Summary: Poorly Written For Robinson
Review: This book has a very good idea from the conceptual standpoint. The trouble is the good part of the book is only 50 pages long. I kept trying to figure out how the author was going to cram all that was needed into the few pages remaining and of course he couldn't. Why he spent the first 300 plus pages developing a character is beyond me. He could have done it in the first fifty pages and left the rest for good stuff. If you enjoy Kilo Class and USS Seawolf you will not enjoy this one. If you must read it wait for the paperback or go to the library. Now if you want great submarine books try Michael DiMercurio as no one does a better job under water.

Rating:
Summary: Not a good effort by Robinson
Review: This book should be called Barracuda 945 Part 1. Robinson uses this book as a platform for expressing his opinions on the Clinton Administration, Hollywood and the Oil Industry while straying from his roots as a sub warfare fiction writer. There is NO sub tactical warefare in this book and the author shows the U.S. ineptness at dealing with an enemy nuclear sub. Don't expect an ending because the author chose not to bring to a conclusion any of the story's major threads, which leaves this reader unsatisfied. I thought Robinson would learn his lesson from Hollywood that sequals are not better than the original.

Rating:
Summary: Nice plot, horrible writing
Review: What do you say when an author takes a good plot and mangles the execution?
First, the research is falty. The author has no idea how the US would react to this type of threat. Has he nbever heard of AWACS?
Second, the author seems to think more words are better. A little background is nice during a story, but why pad everything?
Third, a black and white view of politicians is both childish and self-defeating. The author made the characters seem clueless in his voice over political tirades.
Fourth, misplaced jargon makes the story ludicrous in places. How many English/Iranians use California pop expressions?
Fifth, the dialog in general is pittiful. Words and phrases chosen for educated characters are weak, trite, and Bush league. (Sorry, could not resist.)


Rating:
Summary: Horrifyingly bad
Review: When Nimitz Class came out, I thought Patrick Robinson had taken the world by storm by bringing the wonderous world of submarine warfare into mainstream reading. The following books have succeeded in going down in style, and up in the barf-o-meter. Kilo Class was good, HMS Unseen OK, USS Seawolf marginal, Shark Mutiny terrible, and now this book that pretends to be good reading. Yuck.
I bought this book because I was on a one week business trip to Germany and wanted to take something I could enjoy. I had plenty of free time, but I chose to watch German TV that I could not understand than this book that made me think of how I could have better spent my money. The ending of this book is nothing but a launching pad for the dazzling career of General Ravi Rashood. Gimme a break. Weak plot, weaker motivations.
The character of Admiral Morgan is now so over-dramatized. I was actually hoping that the attempted assasination of his character in this book had succeeded. I was disappointed.
The good thing about Nimitz Class was it's attention to engineering detail. This book does away with all pretenses to be well researched. Mr. Robinson chooses to employ words such as "zillions of gallons of water" rather than do a quick calculation of his own. And this example is only representative of such shortcuts (just an excuse not to do research).
What can I say. I'm a Patrick Robinson groupie. Even if his next book is like this tripe, I'll buy it. But Mr. Robinson, if you can't write anything good, can you please not write anything at all? Please?

Rating:
Summary: It will get you emotionally involved
Review: While it is difficult to believe the premise of the book, it is carried out so well that I suspended my disbelief and got caught up in the story. The premise is that the Chinese purchase a nuclear powered submarine from the Russians and turn it over to a crew of terrorists, who launch the non-nuclear cruise missiles against economic targets on the west coast of the United States. The targets are all in the energy industry, with the goal to force the U. S. to buy more Middle Eastern oil at inflated prices, some of which will be funneled to the terrorists. Neither Russia or China would ever do such a thing, as their very association with the submarine would be an act of war and invite massive American retaliation and worldwide condemnation.
However, the secondary premise is credible and is one of the most frightening scenarios that could happen. An extremely intelligent and well trained commando murders two of his comrades and joins the Islamic terrorist organizations. He immediately rises to the level of commander and alters their strategy from that of suicide bombings to one of meticulous planning, training and execution. Their operations are extremely successful, leading to a meeting with the leaders of Iran. At that meeting, the scheme to purchase and use a nuclear submarine is hatched.
The tension in the story is palpable and ratchets up your emotions to points where you find yourself swearing at the terrorists along with the American officials. Unfortunately, the author lets his political views into the story. His bashing of Bill Clinton sometimes weakens the story. If there is ever a situation where missiles are being fired on America, I fervently hope that the people tasked with defending the country spend their time identifying the perpetrators rather than bashing the former President who ordered the Global Positioning System (GPS) signals altered so that everyone can achieve military positional accuracy.
Sometimes, the quality of the writing of a story is best demonstrated by how well it overcomes what you know are major weak points in the plot. In this story, I didn't believe the premise, but was swept up in the tidal wave of a well-told tale.