e-Book Incident In Mona Passage: A Novel Of The Next War Beneath The Sea download

I spent my navy career in submarines (1 diesel, 1 s4w attack, 1 s5w attack and 1 s5w FBM) with tours at 3 nuclear prototypes, 2 as an instructor. The descriptions on the SSN-609 and it's power plant bear almost no resemblance to reality. The same applies to descriptions of naval submarine tactics and protocol. Through out the story there are numerous in-consistencies such as a person is a chief on one page and seaman on another; made it hard to keep track. Apparently no one proof read the story. Attack submarines do NOT have two crews, only missile subs. Unlike surface ships submerged submarines lean into a turn. Granted this is a (science) fiction story but very poorly written with far too much (incorrect) repetitive detail.

This book is difficult to describe. In some ways, it's brilliant. Other aspects are so bad that it's difficult to reconcile them with the good parts. "Incident in Mona Passage" could have been a post-Cold War version of "The Hunt for Red October." Unfortunately, it falls short in many ways. The first two thirds of the book are tedious to read, as the author elaborates numerous painstaking details about Navy procedures, acronyms, and lingo. He gives the same treatment to laboratory procedures and biological warfare. As an engineer, I didn't mind the overdose of facts too much. The slow pace also helps to convey the fact that life in a warship consists of months of tedious routine, punctuated by moments of suspense and adrenaline. Towards the end of the book, the tension builds as the story moves towards a climax that is every bit as good as Tom Clancy's best. Unfortunately, the ending manages to destroy everything that the story had built up to that point. I was left in a bewildered state of shock, wondering what the author could have possibly intended to convey by ending the book in that way. Instead of reaching an epic and memorable conclusion, the story fizzles out and dies.

After pondering it for a while, I can only conclude that the author has not really written a novel. It's a collection of facts in the form of a narrative. The characters are only there to support the flow of information. When all the information has been conveyed, the characters are disposed of and the story ends without any attempt to tie up loose ends or reach a conclusion. I was left with many unanswered questions, about the story and about the book...what happens next? Did the author die before finishing the story? Who decided to publish this? Those are not the kinds of questions a good book should leave you with!

Agree with reviewer Craig Finch -- and more.

The Author must have done an exhausting amount of research to go into such authentic-sounding detail about both biomedical matters and submarine nuclear power systems, but his amateur mistakes in both subjects are so glaring that the whole book is derailed. For example, early on he says that a gene sequence affects only males because it's on the X chromosome. WRONG! Females have two X chromosomes; males have an X and a Y (so it's the Y chromosome that carries only-male genetic material). There are countless errors in naval procedures, including two howlers: He has people saluting on board a submarine (the Navy salutes only outdoors or when under arms), and his officers address enlisted men as "Mister" (which is reserved for junior officers, below the rank of Commander/O-5 only).

If you are looking for an exciting navy story, probably better pass this one up. The naval interest and action are outweighed by the depressing nature of the tale. You won't get any uplift from this!

So the US has a nuclear sub fitted out as a lab to research the worst viruses in the world, for use in offensive operations. The merit of doing it in a sub is that it gets around congressional restrictions on doing such things in the US (hey, ring any bells here?) Sailors get infected, of course, or there would be no story. One of the illnesses makes people chew off their own fingers, among other nastinesses.

Into this is dropped (well, boat-transferred, actually) a woman expert on disease spreading and control: she doesn't like the boat's purpose one bit, nor its uptight captain, and never really recovers from the exhaustion of the sudden journey to the sub. It's not a nice atmosphere.

They are in the Caribbean and what should happen next but that the Cubans decide to send out a sub of their own to play a little harassment game. Things just get worse from there.

The author is determined to share every last scrap of knowledge about the Navy, its traditions, formalities, ships and weapons. You know the sort of thing: "The 41,000 ton Wichita class oiler can carry 160,000 barrels of fuel, 600 tons of ammunition, and 300 tons of supplies for underway replenishment...." Same goes for lengthy explanations of weather formations, microbiology, and nuclear power plants. It's OK - up to a point. Doesn't often stop at that point, unfortunately.

One thing that did open my eyes, however, is that a modern active sonar sweep is not like the "pings" of old. It is a huge blast of sound - 200db, no less, if the author is correct. Now I fully understand why the Navy is blamed for the deaths and strandings of whales and dolphins. These highly intelligent mammals often drive themelves up on a beach. either to escape the suddenly terrifying ocean, or because they have lost their navigation ability or sanity when the tremendous shockwave blasted their ears and brains.

I'll give two stars because the writing is OK and the unfolding of the story can be interesting for the likely audience, those who like to lap up the arcane knowledge. For me personally, more like one star.