Rating: 
Summary: Offensive, basically unreadable story
Review: Having read dozens of books of this genre and now several by Patrick Robinson, I would suggest readers avoid this author like the plague. His rabidly anti-asian slurs and reactionary rants are frankly offensive.All Chinese are stupid, all (Democratic) politicians are yellow, the U.S Navy are all superheroes. Predicable and inane plots (such as they are), lousy writing, basically unreadable. If you like the sea and good stories, stick with Patrick O'Brien or early Tom Clancy.
Rating: 
Summary: A Chinese Ambassador named Who Flung Dung? Come on!!
Review: There's a Navy admiral patterned after Patton who calls the ambassador that, to the resigned amusement of his secretary/ girlfriend--the guy is such a cliche! When you get to the parts actually involving the sub's crew, this book is okay--intrepid skipper, brave officers and crew--but once you get ashore, watch out! There don't seem to be very many particularly mature people on dry land. Can it really be true that the military mindset about the civilians they lay their lives down for is a bit like the police perspective of us--useless scumbags but they gotta protect us anyway? The Chinese brass come off noticeably more pragmatic--they all seem to have a healthy respect for our country as an adversary. It's no big trick to ignore the swaggering sinophobia in this book--Gwynne Dyer once said that the way you turn a civilian kid into a fighting man is to teach him how to stop thinking of the enemy as people--but I really think Robinson could be another Edward L. Beach if he'd just fact the fact that he doesn't know how to write about landlubbers. Listen up, Cap'n Pat--think Ed Beach, not Herman Wouk, okay?
Rating:
Summary: dismally bad, untenable premise, terrible editing
Review: I call this an "airplane novel"- the sort of thing I buy with low expectations in an airport "bookstore" to pass the time on a 3 hour flight. The main premise of this novel is that the most spohisticated US submarine could somehow become entangled in a Chinese ship's "towed array". That in itself is goofy at best, but it becomes completely silly to suppose the the 9,00 ton US boat and crew would surrender in international waters when fired upon by a few Chinese sailors and a machine gun in a minesweeper. Let's hope the Navy has more guts than that! The senior level of cammand in the US military is portrayed as crass political types and cowards who would rather appease the Chinese than make a fuss and go so far as to keep the capture a secret. Worst of all, perhaps is the complete lack of editing. It's bad enough that the writer uses long, run on sentences constantly (I counted one with five commas). It's worse that he regularly starts sentences with "and". What's really annoying is that the publisher didn't bother to hire an editor to correct any of these errors. The combination of bad writing, no editing, lousy imagination and unrealistic scenario combined with abysmally rotten character development makes this one of the worst novels I have read in years. I'd line the birdcage with it but the pages are too small and I don't want to embarass the bird.
Rating:
Summary: No one does it worse
Review: The book jacket claims "No one does it better, not even Tom Clancy." This is an insult to Mr. Clancy, and a completely fraudulent statement. As a fan of the genre, I am saddened that drivel like this is being printed to fill the demand that the popularity of Mr. Clancy's books has created. The second chapter was probably the most disappointing... because I was hoping that it would be better than the awful first chapter. The development of the characters can only be described as moronic... and an insult to the intelligence of readers. Each character is "developed" by means of stereotypes, blunt descriptions of personalities, and completely one-dimensional actions. Dialogue is just as bad... One entire paragraph of dialogue in an early chapter is presented in ALL CAPS to illustrate to the readers that the character is shouting. Unless you are James Joyce or ee cummings, use of variant punctuations is much less preferable than simply saying, for example "He shouted." The only parts of this book that aren't bad are the descriptions of action scenes. But even those are fraught with plot holes, fallacies, mistakes and stereotypes about military equipment, tactics, and attitudes, out-and-out racism, and grammatical errors. What disturbs me more than the fact that this author has written a manuscript this bad, is that an editor for Harper actually allowed this manuscript to be published. This should have been left on the trash heap when it came in.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting for a while but ends up a disappointment
Review: First of all, I'm glad I took this out of the library and didn't buy it. I might be more critical if I lost cash on this book. The ending seems thrown together. We don't learn the fate of several of the major characters. When we do learn several character's fates, they are either dissapointing, implausible, or downright ridiculous. As an American, I of course want to believe that the SEALS are indeed superheroes, but let's be realistic here. He also spends a GREAT deal of time letting us know his opinions of Democrats in general, and President Clinton in particular. However, he then proceeds to make his precious Republican President look like the biggest horse's behind in the history of the United States! The description of the rescue mission is indeed very exciting, I will admit that. I had a hard time putting down the book for a while. I don't know how authentic it was, not being a military man, but it sure sounded good to me. Overall, this is an interesting read, but if you are a fan of his, you may feel a bit let down, especially at the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Starts off great, but....
Review: After the first few chapters of this book, I was so excited, I thought I had found a great new writer. I jumped online and bought two more of his books. However, I soon grew tired of his character development. Every American was brave, strong, smart and hugely talented in some fashion. Every Chinese character was weak, cowardly, sneaky, etc. You get the picture. I like patriotic books a la Clancy, but this was a bit too chauvinistic.
Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: I give this book two stars for action, but that's it. The plot has major holes, such as the Chinese conveniently hiding the prisoners on an island jail, readily accessible to the SEALS. Where was the Chinese air force during the escape?? The right-wing comments were way overdone. A second term President completely falls apart?? My biggest problem with the book is the ending. It's completely unsatisfying. Its a bummer. The deal about Crocker's dad writing a tell all book did not fix it. And how about some closure on the incompetent Chinese leaders? This book does not meet the standard Patrick set for himself in his previous books.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of time & money - 1 star only 0 isn't an option
Review: I am a Naval Officer (which is why I'm staying anonymous) and have served aboard U.S. submarines, surface ships, aircraft, and even have met Navy SEALS. Granted, I have enjoyed Mr. Robinson's previous titles to a certain extent, and have always been able to look past the obvious inaccuracies laid out in his stories. The main objective is, after all, entertainment, is it not? This latest book, however, is a complete waste of time and money. The technical inaccuracies are far too numerous to count; characters are merely carbon copies of well known stereotypes, and most importantly Mr. Robinson seems to severely underestimate the resolve of the American people. Other people have compared this book to "real life." All one needs to do is compare this book to the incidents involving the Navy EP-3 several months ago and it is apparent that this story would not play out in a fashion anywhere near what happens in the book. The part of the story that distressed me most was how the President simply backed away from the crisis at hand and handed control to his National Security Advisor. Last time I checked, there was this piece of legislation called the National Security Act, and oh yes, something called the Constitution that provides just a little bit more guidance on how American military forces are supposed to be used. There is also the little fact that what the Chinese did would constitute to many countries as an act of war, not some quiet and embarrasing diplomatic incident to be shuffled under the carpet. Another thing that sticks out is the personification of the Chinese. Don't think I am a fan of the Chinese, but I do not favor this "so sorry" attitude that seems to prevail throughout the book. If Mr. Robinson ever takes the time to read some of these reviews, I encourage him to spend a bit more time researching his topics. Take an example from Tom Clancy - he spends time with the people he write about - I know, I've seen him out there. How would he feel if I, an American Naval Officer, ever tried to write a fictional story about an Irish writer without ever visiting Ireland?
Rating:
Summary: Ignore this book
Review: I have read numerous submarine novels by authors such as Tom Clancy and Michael DiMercurio. Their books are far better than this. USS Seawolf is one big cliche. First of all, the characters are all one dimensional. The Chinese are portrayed as the evil supervillains, while the Americans are all red blooded patriots. The plot is simplistic. Plus, Robinson's writing style is mediocre at best. His descriptions are good (possibly the only good thing about this book) but his dialogue is sub-par. If you want a good naval novel, read Hunt for Red October, or Phoenix Sub Zero (by Michael DiMercurio). Just not USS Seawolf.
Rating:
Summary: Clive Cussler Watch Out!
Review: This is one of the most dismal reads I've had in a long time. The prose is juvenile, the plot confused, and the premise implausible. As an added bonus, the book is cluttered with the most rabid of right-wing fantasies (such as Clinton was responsible for various spies in the LANL labs and in California, though the spies had plainly been in place for many years, if spies they were). The characters are at best 2 dimensional comic book cutouts, with the motivations of Jesse Ventura and the Amazing Spiderman in one muscle-bound tower of manliness. At least Clive Cussler is fun to read; this mess makes me wonder if the publishing houses have run out of capable authors.
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