Patrick Robinson USS Seawolf 5 CDs (abridged)

Reader: David McCullam

The story is gripping, a sub captured, the crew being tortured, the SEAL's being sent in to rescue them. The whole concept is a bit farfetched but fun.

The first section details the mission up to the capture of the sub, its exciting as we follow the sub around sneaking in and out of Chinese waters, evading capture, etc. The actual capture seemed a bit goofy, why didn't the sub just sink when they attached the cables? but you have to give some leeway to get the story rolling.

Then there is the in-between section where the crew is being moved to their jail, being tortured, the SEAL team is being formed, etc.

The big story is the mission to rescue the captives, its all written with exact detail and seemed very believable to me (an armchair quarterback with zero practical experience)

Finally the weakest part of the book is the wrap up. I really feel that the book should have ended at the "fist pumping in the air - rah rah" moment, instead we are treated to a series of bad things and the whole book ends with a whimper - I'm trying not to give it away here, but for me the ending was really depressing.

The characters are perfect in their own way, the chinese are perfectly bad, no redeeming qualities, the US forces are perfectly good, no bad decisions are ever made, no mistakes happen, no hidden agendas, nothing. This is a straightforward action book, your not reading it because you want a complex CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) your reading it because you want the US to kick some serious booty.

And it does, the action sequences are great and very realistic. As with all of Patrick Robinsons books you follow along like a travelogue, there isn't any "oh my god" sequences of sudden understanding or of a secret plot revealed - you know the one, where suddenly all those unexplained things that have been happening now make sense, in these books each step of the process is methodically layed out and followed.