Barracuda 945 (Paperback)

That’s why Patrick Robinson’s decision, seemingly made about half way through the story, to turn this into a party political broadcast for the Republican party, is so unfortunate. Minor issues like plot and character development are cast to one side as the book becomes nothing more than a platform for an extraordinary series of crass and utterly irrelevant attacks on all things Democrat with poor old Bill Clinton, in particular, really getting both barrels.

If Mr Robinson insists on enlightening the rest of us with his devastating political insight, perhaps he could do so with a letter to the Washington Post or something like that rather than ruining a potentially good book. If you’re looking for an intelligent and enjoyable thriller try Tom Clancy’s early work or anything by Gerald Seymour.

Robinson brings out only one book a year, and I am always waiting in eager anticipation of his next, and this was no exception, other than the fact that this book is by far his worst and least enjoyable. The characters are flat and feel lifeless, and never seem to venture out of the office. Arnold Morgan once made me laugh out loud with his wit and rudeness, and now I find it tideous and boring. The punch lines just weren't there this time round, and Ramshawe's character just seemed to piece the puzzle together with seemingly inconsequential evidence to save the day.
Given that Robinson has had a year to write this book, I found it thoroughly disappointing and lacking in any real excitement. Even the ending where the Navy SEALS track Kerman to his hide out is lack lustre and dull. This book isn't a patch on Nimitz Class or Kilo Class - truly classic Robinson.
I truly hope Robinson can come up with something better next year. Perhaps it's time to retire these characters and create new ones.

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.