KCR: Vortex by Larry Bond (novel, war)

Cover of VortexVortex is a techno-war thriller from Larry Bond in the vein of Red Storm Rising, and this one has an interesting scenario. The war is brutal, and the opponents are unusual enough to intrigue.

Premise: An assassination of South African government allowed hardliner Boers to restore apartheid. In order to distract the population and grab the diamond mines, the new government invades the neighbor Namibia. The local government picks an unlikely ally: the Cubans, and Castro sent his expeditionary forces to help defend Namibia (in exchange for lots of $$$). The Boers have to also fight internal dissent and external threat. When Boer escalate to tactical nukes, Cubans respond with nerve gas, which forces the Americans and the British forces to get involved...

The plot by now is almost formulaic... A tiny incident sets in motion great events that few can predict, like a tiny snowball rolling downhill, and soon huge swath of destruction lies in its wake. There's even a bit about some courageous reporters, good old American derring-do of special operation forces, and more.

If you like thrillers of this vein you should love this book.

Rating: worth reading, esp. if you like this genre

KCR: Red Phoenix by Larry Bond (novel, war)

Cover of Red PhoenixLarry Bond helped Tom Clancy plot "Red Storm Rising" and basically help make Tom Clancy a household name after "Hunt for Red October" (when that book launched, it was only read by navy fans). Red Storm Rising is about a theoretical war between NATO and Warsaw Pact when USSR decided he needs to neutralize Europe in order to invade Iran for its oil. Somehow Larry Bond's name did not end up on the cover of that book. Larry Bond actually have military experience (in the Navy). So he wrote his own books.

Red Phoenix is about a theoretical invasion of South Korea by North Korea. Russia supports North Korea, and China decided to stay neutral. US have to ship in forces and fight alongside South Koreans. The action is great as it is in the same style of Red Storm Rising, that pioneered the rapid jump among various viewpoints at the local level. You get to experience the tank platoons fighting across the hills of Korea, the guards trying to repel the enemy commando attacks, the fighter pilots trying to wrestle air superiority, and the political intrigue behind the scenes in the Kremlin and in the Whitehouse.

If you like the style, it is a very good read.

KCR: Dangerous Ground (novel, military, submarine)

Dangerous Ground by Larry Bond is not quite his usual fare. Larry Bond is probably best known for collaboration with Tom Clancy for "Red Storm Rising" (even though Larry Bond's name was not on the front cover), and later his own novels "Vortex" (South Africa) and "Red Phoenix" (Korea), both of which are in similar vein to Red Storm Rising... large regional conflict.

Dangerous Ground takes us to a much different scenario... about one sub, one special mission. The USS Memphis, 688 (Los Angeles) class sub is about to be decommissioned, but just before she did, she was sent to do one last special mission... Infiltrate the "backyard" of Russian waters, and find out what sort of nasty nuclear waste was dumped there. The crew is tired and expected to go home when this dropped in their lap. The captain is a stern taskmaster who sees this mission as impossible. The two civilian contractors are not getting along with the crew because they're civilians. Then the sub found something that they are never supposed to find, and thus may be hunted by the Russian navy...

The book is told through the viewpoint of Jerry Mitchell, former naval aviator, now a submariner. He's new enough that he's not accepted, and in fact, some are working at cross-purposes to him. The problem is noen of this feel like much of a conflict, but rather, like a slow adventure novel where nothing really happens for much of the book, and even then it's more of a complication instead of an outright conflict. The mission isn't until 2/3rds into the book, and even then the actual "big threat" didn't appear until almost to the very end. You just don't get this "collision course" feel that good techno-thrillers give you.

What this book will give you is a very good sense what it takes to be a submariner in the US Navy, like how the boat is run, who's in what department, how the rooms are organized, how drills are done, how to deal with emergencies, how to "qual" for the dolphins (i.e. get formally qualified as a submariner by passing tests in almost every department), and some underwater unmanned vehicle control stuff.

Somehow, this book just doesn't work for me, you may have better luck, esp. if you like the subject.

Rating: Try it (but it's a bit of "meh" for me)