FROM THE DARKEST DEPTHS OF THE SEAS TO THE BLAZING DESERT SANDS, THE WORLD'S MOST LETHAL WEAPONS ARE DANGEROUS HANDS!
Navy Captain Peter MacKenzie is struggling to repair his personal life when he gets a credible order. Central Asian nationalists seeking independence from the Soviet Union have seized the capital U. S. S. Kentucky, the most elusive of, deep-diving minisub and the world; they plan to turn its nuclear missiles on Moscow. With their country on the brink of collapse, the Soviets need an American to hunt the Kentucky. They get MacKenzie.
MacKenzie, now captain of a Soviet sub, hones his crew tirelessly in a fierce fight to prove himself. At the same time, he's being stalked on board by a Soviet Naval intelligence officer; and his estranged CIA agent wife is searching for the rest of the Kentucky's missing nuclear weapons, planted amidst the Soviet Union's richest oil fields.
From the icy depths of the Arctic Ocean to the Straits of Gibraltar, McKenzie races in secret toward a treacherous target that threaten the world with war. . .
A fair to middling submarine adventure. I wasn't really a fan of the main character...I didn't really like the side mission his, apparently super-spy wife, was engaged in across the world. Winning over the Soviet crew seemed entirely too easy...
...and this book was published in 1992, but there's a Soviet Union...and it's not alternate history, near as I can tell.
A lot of this novel was the main character and his wife working through their emotional damage so that they could have a touching reunion in the end. Mayhaps if I didn't jump into this story in book three and had started in book one, I'd care and/or be invested in it...but coming into it with little to no background just made them both seem like whiney crybabies...
But, the main action is onboard a Russian submarine...an old Victor II...which doesn't seem to be a hindrance in 1992...but, still fun. :)
The cover isn't really related either. There are Los Angeles-classes in the novel, but in the background...and the Kentucky isn't a DSRV, so it being piggybacked doesn't really fit...but, it's an "exciting" action shot, I guess...
Review 23. Peter Mackenzie #3 Destroy the Kentucky by Bart Davis
Page Count : 367
This is the 3rd book in the Peter Mackenzie series by Bart Davis and this book is quite different to the other two books.
Linked to the 2nd book, Raise The Red Dawn, this book features a new minisub (the USS Kentucky) which has been developed using the propulsion technology from the Red Dawn which was salvaged by Captain Peter Mackenzie.
The Kentucky is a 40 foot minisub which can dive to over 5,000 feet and is armed with MK48 torpedoes and nuclear armed Tomahawk missiles. Silent as the grave, the Kentucky cannot be located with conventional sonar systems.
Captain Mackenzie has suffered a terrible accident with a tragedy which has greatly impacted his mental health. Physically recovered but still struggling mentally, Captain Mackenzie is back in command of a nuclear submarine on a milk run mission, when he is assigned to a mission in cooperation with the Russian Navy.
He will command the Russian attack submarine Riga in a dangerous mission. His goal : To Destroy The Kentucky.
While Mackenzie is trying to destroy the Kentucky, his wife, Justine is in Turkmenistan trying to locate 2 of the Kentucky's nuclear missiles which have been removed from the submarine.
This book was a fantastic case study in submarine warfare, but also a story of how a man who was at the top of his game can be knocked down by a tragedy and his struggle to return to his old self.
I will definitely read this book again in the future.