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weaselweader's review
4.0
A 21st century WW III submarine thriller
Readers who enjoy submarine thrillers will fondly recall the palpable, stomach-churning frisson of suspense that Tom Clancy generated when he created the genre with THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER almost four decades ago. Competing against that kind of a standard is obviously not a problem for Larry Bond. His scenario in which the USSR has crafted the technology to break the deadlock of Mutually Assured Destruction and execute a crippling, decisive, and unanswerable pre-emptive nuclear first strike on Washington DC and other mainland cities is convincing. Bond uses the scenario as a canvas on which to paint scenes of submarine warfare, innovative technology and political statecraft in broad, decisive strokes. ARCTIC GAMBIT is a page-turner. No doubt about it!
On a marginally related side note, my impressions of Hardy Lowell as a fictional president (by comparison to the reality of dearly departed Mr Trump), were all over the map. In short, Lowell was everything that Trump was not – decisive, intelligent, strong, informed, a powerful leader, a loving husband, courageous … The USA can be very grateful that Mr Bond’s novel, published in 2018 during Trump’s presidency, occurred strictly in his imagination. If it were based in reality, I’m convinced that you and I would not be here reading today.
Paul Weiss
Readers who enjoy submarine thrillers will fondly recall the palpable, stomach-churning frisson of suspense that Tom Clancy generated when he created the genre with THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER almost four decades ago. Competing against that kind of a standard is obviously not a problem for Larry Bond. His scenario in which the USSR has crafted the technology to break the deadlock of Mutually Assured Destruction and execute a crippling, decisive, and unanswerable pre-emptive nuclear first strike on Washington DC and other mainland cities is convincing. Bond uses the scenario as a canvas on which to paint scenes of submarine warfare, innovative technology and political statecraft in broad, decisive strokes. ARCTIC GAMBIT is a page-turner. No doubt about it!
On a marginally related side note, my impressions of Hardy Lowell as a fictional president (by comparison to the reality of dearly departed Mr Trump), were all over the map. In short, Lowell was everything that Trump was not – decisive, intelligent, strong, informed, a powerful leader, a loving husband, courageous … The USA can be very grateful that Mr Bond’s novel, published in 2018 during Trump’s presidency, occurred strictly in his imagination. If it were based in reality, I’m convinced that you and I would not be here reading today.
Paul Weiss
snowcrash's review
4.0
I have read the previous five Jerry Mitchell novels, finding the first four very good and the fifth mediocre. In the author notes of the fifth book, Larry Bond points out that it was originally a four book project that was stretched to five. This explains my surprise when I saw this book on the shelf at the local library.
It is better than the previous book. More political thriller along the lines of later Tom Clancy than pure submarine action. This time around the submarine of choice is SSN-23, the Jimmy Carter. This is a very cool Seawolf class sub, with a special forces section added in the middle. (For a bit of trivia of why this president got his name on an SSN instead of a CV like other presidents. It is very cool) The UUVs are back in action, with the author plausibly using the special section of the Jimmy Carter for their use.
Overall the action and possible direction of a potential Russia-NATO conflict work. The economic decimation of the Pacific Rim in the fourth book doesn't factor into what is happening here. It is Russia against NATO.
It helps a lot to have read the previous books to understand the interplay between returning characters. The submarine parts are good, just not enough of them. The Russian boats are represented only by how they are seen through the eyes of the Jimmy Carter. We are taken for a ride in a Russian helicopter ASW pair on the hunt. Also demonstrates why it is part art and science to find submarines.
It is better than the previous book. More political thriller along the lines of later Tom Clancy than pure submarine action. This time around the submarine of choice is SSN-23, the Jimmy Carter. This is a very cool Seawolf class sub, with a special forces section added in the middle. (For a bit of trivia of why this president got his name on an SSN instead of a CV like other presidents. It is very cool) The UUVs are back in action, with the author plausibly using the special section of the Jimmy Carter for their use.
Overall the action and possible direction of a potential Russia-NATO conflict work. The economic decimation of the Pacific Rim in the fourth book doesn't factor into what is happening here. It is Russia against NATO.
It helps a lot to have read the previous books to understand the interplay between returning characters. The submarine parts are good, just not enough of them. The Russian boats are represented only by how they are seen through the eyes of the Jimmy Carter. We are taken for a ride in a Russian helicopter ASW pair on the hunt. Also demonstrates why it is part art and science to find submarines.
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