KCR: SSN by Tom Clancy

USS Cheyenne, Image via WikipediaThis is the worst ever book by Tom Clancy (though mostly written by Greenberg, based on the GAME of the same name), no kidding. Even the Amazon reviews bear this out: majority of the review is 1 out of 5. Average is barely 2 out of 5.

The Setup: USS Cheyenne, the last of the Los Angeles-class SSN, is called into action when the Chinese People's Army Navy invaded the Spratly Islands, to grab the oil there. However, they's also captured a US flagged exploration ship there, which is an act of war. When Chinese submarines and ships started engaging civilian US-flagged ships, the US navy retaliated by declaring total war on Chinese Navy, and Cheyenne is leading the way. When the Russians decided to sell a lot of their subs to the Chinese, the game of cat-and-mouse turns ever deadlier.

While there's nothing wrong with such a premise, the book basically turned Cheyenne into a supersub that can't be touched, does everything right in 15 different missions, sinking the Chinese Navy twice over (including all the fancy subs and ships sold by the Russians). And the rest of the US Navy? Didn't do much of anything, apparently. Cheyenne got all the action to herself.

WTF?!

Don't consider this a Tom Clancy book. Consider this a game tie-in that has Tom Clancy's name on it.

Rating: Skip it, unless you must have everything that has Tom Clancy name on it

And yes, there's a VERY old game upon which the book is based.