Interesting book. I think I may have read it before - some if it is very interesting, some of it is so, so. It was good, overall. Had a decent flow to it. Character development for the villain was the main focus of the first few chapters. It is 'funny' how many future terrorists are let into specialized British programs [he said with a smile on his face].In this story, a Major in the SAS defects to Hamas because he feels a strange affinity to the people in Palestine. He hooks up with the widow of a dead Hamas soldier and leaves his former life behind after he saves her from possibly being killed by a fellow SAS soldier. Ravi [the former SAS dude] and his future wife Shakira make a brilliant team, hitting the Israelis where it hurts [and netting over $100 million in the process]. He then comes up with a plan to lay the Americans low. He communicates with Iran and works with the Iranians to convince the Chinese to purchase TWO nuclear submarines for $600 million which will be used to attack the Americans. His plan is to cause terror and financial ruin by attacking power systems and whatnot with a minimal loss of life through the use of conventional cruise missiles, making it too expensive for America to continue playing global policeman [especially in the Persian Gulf].After attacking at will up and down the West Coast, he takes the submarine into the Panama Canal. Through a fluke, the Americans track the submarine to the Canal, but China refuses to allow an American destroyer passage [as specified by the treaty that returned the Canal to Panama's control]. Arnold Morgan is furious and sends in the SEALs to drain the lake in the middle of the canal system, revealing the Russian nuclear submarine the terrorists were attempting to hide in the middle of the lake in the canal system. The US Marines are sent in to regain control over the Panama Canal at the end of the book, removing Chinese control and ensuring American interests are paramount in Panama for the next 1000 years.As in his other books, this book is written as both a thriller and as a warning. I think the warning is two-fold. The first warning is obvious: the inherent danger of a terrorist organization gaining control of a nuclear submarine, let alone two of them. Modern submarines are hard enough to detect as it is; it would cause untold havoc if a terrorist organization acquired the use of one of these weapons platforms. The second warning has to do with the Chinese acquiring control of the Panama Canal. The author feels that the United States never should have relinquished control of the Canal, especially in light of treaty violations on the part of the Panamanians. I have to agree with the author in principle, in this case. We should have given Panama the opportunity to become the fifty-third state of the Union [after Guam and Puerto Rico ;)] instead of letting control of the Canal slip away like we did.I thought it was an interesting premise: the Iranians using the Chinese as middle-men to acquire nuclear subs from Russia as well as ensuring the Iranians were trained to be able to operate such a weapon. Some of the segments of the story were very vivid for me, which makes me think I have read this story previously but forgotten that I had. The part that remains very fresh in my mind is when Ravi [posing as R. Kerman] visits an old friend to kill him in order to ensure Ravi's identity and the fact that he is still alive remains hidden a while longer from the attention of intelligence agencies worldwide [as well as the SAS]. The section involving the submarine being in the Panama Canal was also very familiar to me, which makes me think I had read this book previously.It is a fairly realistic book, on the one hand. The United States receives some comeuppance from Iran but is unable to determine who sponsored the terror attacks against the West Coast. Arnold Morgan determines Ravi [aka Kerman] is probably to blame but cannot prove this to be the case. I shall have to read the next book to learn what happens to Mr. Ravi and his ravishing, yet deadly, wife Shakira.
I last read this book in May 2011, it was the first Patrick Robinson book I had read at the time and since then I've read the series from Nimitz Class onwards and reached this title earlier this month. I was wondering about whether to re-read it or not but figured it wouldn't be bad to refresh my memory for the following title.I'm glad I did as it certainly is an action filled tale of terrorism and undersea skulduggery. The story revolves around an SAS soldier who defects to HAMAS and employs his years of training and front line expertise to help his long lost 'home' country/religion. Being a series about submarines predictably they end up buying a submarine via Iran/China (although not so predictably it's boring, you just know from the series where it's going, the actually manner of purchase is not dull). Brings back memories of the Ben Adnam escapades however the plot is different enough that it doesn't feel stale, and amazingly for a novel about the US military/navy it doesn't end with them on top.
