What follows is a disaster--not for the world of Islamic fundamentalism into which he slips as neatly as a shark into a welcoming ocean but for the West which trained him. Robinson proceeds to demonstrate how a properly trained commander trusted by the Iranian ayatollahs and their terrorist proxies could do damage so much more severe than 9/11 that it takes the breath away.

This feels like the first of a sequence--Ray Kerman becomes Ravi Rashood, finds true love and works mischief while half a world away a CIA analyst puts the story together and plans some eventual come-uppance. This is an interesting thriller because Robinson has some real political agendas, however reactionary they may be, and because he has a certain sense of how things work. --Roz Kaveney

The prior review from "petersym" offers an interesting contrast into the detail of the book compared to my review and certainly has more detail on the military aspects of the book. I hope though that I offer a view to people who have limited knowledge of this field.

I always like to start with a positive and as such I will. As a completely non-military person Patrick Robinson does have an ability to bring to life all of the military terminology and put it in a way that even a mere mortal can understand, he does sometimes go over the top with this but still, it adds valuable context to the narrative.

I am afraid this is where the positives end...

I have never quite read a book where no one, and I mean no one makes a mistake. It is quite incredible. From the young but brilliant, Lt Ramshaw, to the deity of Navy intelligence that is Arnold Morgan to the stunningly brave and tactically astute Ray Kerman and finally onto to the resilient Shakira Rashood who becomes the first women to operate aboard a submarine and who is also at the cutting edge of navigation. Now I am all for efficiency in a novel but this is ridiculous. If the world was truly this efficient then we would have no unemployment, no homelessness and communism would be adopted across all nations.

Ray Kerman goes through what can only be described as an emotional journey to a land he believes is his homeland to find the people he believes he belongs with. This alone could have made a story I would have happily read. What a shame that the author decided gloss over this and make it a simple transition for what I imagine would be one of the most heart rendering decisions of a mans life. The simplicity of the description this transformation is at best a lack of detail and at worst down right shoddy writing.

Once the action kicks in you begin to look at the story with a slightly glazed look. It begins to belie any concept you may have of possible, which isn't in itself a bad thing, but in this case really doesn't work. I found the constant caricaturing of both the Chinese and the Russians to be not only boring but xenophobic and do question whether the author has ever bothered to take the time to understand these cultures before he rips into them.

By the time I was on the penultimate chapters of the book I had completely lost interest in the outcome and couldn't really careless if the entire West side of America had been blown to pieces, unusually really because you would think one would care about such an occurrence!

The story is clearly left open for a sequel and to be honest I do not care whether he does or doesn't go ahead and write it. Those of you who are fans of techno thrillers and specifically Patrick Robinson will want to read it I am sure and that is of course your prerogative. To the rest of you I would recommend reading something a little less partisan and a little more intelligent.


Magnifies the best & worst of Robinson   September 1, 2004
 6 out of 9 found this review helpful

Barracuda 945 showcases all thats right and wrong with Patrick Robinson.

The story is very much more of the same. Real fans will love it, while those who aren't so keen may think they've read it before. In a nutshell, an Arab born SAS man (Ray Kerman) is sickened by Israeli actions in Hebron, defects to HAMAS and masterminds several strikes against Israel. So far so good... what better terrorist than an SAS man? It almost like a gamekeeper turned poacher.

Then he goes to Iran and masterminds a brilliant strike against the US using a Russian nuclear submarin (the Barracuda type 945). At this point you have to suspen your disbelief. While an SAS man would be great at infiltrating Israel, you've got to wonder what he'd really know about subs. His masterplan involves getting Iran (on behalf of HAMAS) providing a submarine crew and money. The Chinese buy the sub from Russia and give it to the arabs to attack america. When the US get a little angry everyone will deny ever having the sub.

As with Robinson's previous Ben Adnam books (Nimitz class, HMS Unseen) the idea of having a terrorist with a sub is great. He's realised that his fans like reading about mass distruction wrought from the sea by master terrorists & as a result Kerman is the major character in the book. Unfortunately the whole plot is a bit too much like HMS Unseen to be considered original.

Many reviewers have complained that Robinson is very right wing. He is. His criticism of Bill Clinton is very accurate.. only the most die-hard democrat would claim that Clinton didn't weaken the US military. Certainly he allowed the Panamanians to give control of the Panama canal to China (without spoiling the plot this is quite important) and allowed China to get access to some very powerful US missile technology. Unfortunately rather than being satisfied with making the point once he has to reinforce it again & again & again.

As with his previous 5 books Robinson's main advisor is Falklands task force leader Admiral Sandy Woodward. While I have great respect for the Admiral, Robinson seems obliged to highlight his every achievement. I refuse to believe that any US admiral would ever say "A nuclear submarine is the most destructive weapon on earth. This was shown in December 1982 when Admiral Sandy Woodward torpedoed the 13,500 ton Argentinean cruiser Belgrano 182 miles off the coast of the Falklands". 5 pages later "thats ten times more explosive than Admiral Sandy Woodward used to sink the 13,500 ton cruiser the Belgrano". As with his politics its about as subtle as an A-bomb. If (British born) Patrick Robinson is so proud of the Royal Navy then why doesn't he write about it rather than than focusing on the americans so much? In his books the only real role for the Brits seems to be breeding terrorists!

Without spoiling too much it all ends like every one of Robinsons books. SEALS blowing things up & the "damn chinese" defeated. It sets things up nicely for a sequel. All in all this is an easy to read page-turner. If you've read his previous books you'll like this. If Bill Clinton is your favourite presidnet of all time, don't bother.


Not his best, but still a good read   May 19, 2004
 0 out of 4 found this review helpful

I started reading Patrick Robinsons books a long time ago, and eagerly awaited this one and was disapointed with the disjointed story. However, I still enjoyed the book and would recomend it, with a note of caution. I have just finsihed reading his latest 'Schimitar SL2' and found it much better - to my relief.


Obviously not every beginning must have an end!   February 10, 2004
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

Potentially unfairly, I started this book off the back of the latest Gerald Seymour and yet after the first 100 pages was so hooked into the potential of the story I would have ranked it even higher.

The presentation of ideas well thought through and systematically linked set the scene for a memorable 'battle' between the practical General and the strategic Admiral, although the annoying introduction of the wunderkind Lieutentant scored negatively for me.

Imagine my surprise therefore when the author decided that as he himself couldn't distinguish who would triumph between the pair, he would instead write the conclusion for a completely different novel!

The disappointment I felt was compounded by the fact that the start was so good but I also believe that I should discourage anybody else from purchasing this book and thus avoid a similar feeling of time-waste!