The Gold Crew

by Thomas N. Scortia, Frank M. Robinson

The nuclear submarine Alaska is sent on patrol with its radio rigged to receive prerecorded messages that will prompt its crew to fire dummy nuclear missiles in retaliation for a Soviet attack--but something goes wrong

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Military Fiction

435 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Thomas Nicholas Scortia was a science fiction author. He worked in the American aerospace industry until the late 1960s/early 1970s. He collaborated on several works with fellow author Frank M. Robinson. He sometimes used the pseudonyms Scott Nichols, Gerald MacDow, and Arthur R. Kurtz.

Scortia was born in Alton, Illinois. He attended Washington University in St. Louis, where he earned a degree in chemistry in 1949. He worked for a number of aerospace companies during the 1950s and 1960s, and held a patent for the fuel used by one of the Jupiter fly-by missions.

Scortia had been writing in his spare time while still working in the aerospace field. When the industry began to see increased unemployment in the early 1970s, Scortia decided to try his hand at full-time writing. His first novel, The Glass Inferno (in collaboration with Frank M. Robinson) was the inspiration for the 1974 film The Towering Inferno. Scortia also collaborated with Dalton Trumbo on the novel The Endangered Species.

Scortia died of leukemia in La Verne, California on April 29, 1986.

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book far more than I thought I would. I picked it up on a whim (hard to pass up twenty-five cents for a hard back!) and hoped it would be entertaining. It was a bit more than I bargained for - it was a mystery and thriller and quasi-sci-fi all rolled into one. There was drama, love, and a gamut of other emotions in the book. It starts off slow, introducing various characters, but once it gets going it keeps moving. The military personnel do seem a bit stereotypical in some respects (mostly, that they are all hard alcoholics, on some level, and have a hard time staying in long-term relationships). I did not quite expect the book to "veer off" in the direction in which it went, but I think it helped the flow of the book and the overall narrative, on the one hand. As it was written at the end of the 1970s/beginning of the 1980s, there are definitely some strong Cold War elements (stereotypes) in the story (including the U.S. being pansies when dealing with that big, bad bully, Russia).

I cannot say this is the 'first' fictional story about an American submarine (or Russian submarine) going "rogue" and threatening the world as a result. In this story's case, the crew is supposed to be undergoing a "stress test/fitness test" to see if the men will be willing and capable of launching nuclear missiles in a controlled environment; the clincher is that the crew does not know they are being tested in order to see if they will follow orders, refuse to follow orders, or crack under the pressure of "WWIII" occurring over the land. The only three officers who know it is a drill and not "the real thing" are the captain, XO, and the ship's doctor. I wondered how things were going to go wrong, and the mission does go horribly awry. I did think the authors were quite clever in how they go about having the officers in charge come to believe it was no longer a drill. It was pretty crazy.

plot spoiler, here - It was also a mystery, because the Captain of the Alaska's Blue Crew discovers some discrepancies in the submarine's refit before it went back out on patrol, and he starts trying to find out what really went on during that "missing time" on the calendar. During his investigation, a "grounded" member of the Gold Crew goes crazy and attempts to kill his wife. The plot further thickens with this attempted murder, and Commander Renlow finds himself stuck in a mystery he would rather not have begun researching. He comes to find out that a specific blue paint emits toxic fumes that make people go crazy and try to kill each other; he then discovers that this same paint was used during the refit to paint the interior of the Alaska, as well as the 'fact' that the XO is taking medication that would have gotten him booted off the Alaska if not discharged from the Navy, it was such strong medication. So now he is worried about what the XO might do onboard the boat. Oddly enough, the XO's medication is what helps him stay sane on a naval vessel rapidly descending into madness, insanity, and paranoia.

It was an interesting book in that it was an odd mix of "low tech" and "hi tech" in terms of what the Navy used as well as the United States intelligence community at large. I had the impression the book takes place in the mid- to late-80s, based on some of the comments in the book, but I could be wrong. One of the "things" that stood out to me was that the United States supposedly had an anti-missile defense system composed of satellites with onboard lasers with which to defend the United States. It was pretty cool!

I did like the character development (or, regression, depending on the character(s)) over the course of the novel. I thought the authors did a good job in creating these characters and making them believable. The "ending" of the book is interesting in that it has an epilogue that describes the "post-histories" of some of the major characters. It was interesting to read how their lives "turned out" after this top-secret mission gone awry. Obviously, some of the characters had better development than others; that is the nature of things. But I thought the authors did a fine job of describing how the crew of the Alaska was slipping down a slope from being a disciplined crew into an almost mob-like state. I also thought the authors did an incredible job of describing (creating) the "sexual tension" between Renlow and Cheryl (considering they ended up having an affair, and she did not attempt to stop his advances; she clearly wanted him at that moment as much as he wanted her), of building it up over the course of the story (until they consummated their passion for each other, which was unfortunate, on the one hand). I also thought the dynamics and tension between Elizabeth and Renlow were also interesting; there was so much anger and aggression and not-quite-hatred between the two of them, yet they still loved each other and kept trying to reach out to each other to make their marriage work. I also liked how van Meer went from being a "jerk" (of sorts) into the unexpected "hero" of the story; I did not expect that or see it coming. It was very well done.

It was "interesting" that Commander Renlow regularly accused his wife, Elizabeth, of cheating on him, especially with the Gold Crew's captain, Commander Harris, and yet it is Renlow who actually has an affair in the book. He has a "good friend" named Cheryl Leary who is dating the XO of the Gold Crew. The authors do not say how long the two have known each other or why they are so close, but Renlow has no issues with stopping by her home in the middle of the night on more than one occasion. The last time he stops by, he and Cheryl end up making love (it happens, is very low key, and nothing graphic in the telling), and he decides he will divorce his wife after all. It was very odd, in that it 'fit' the flow of the story, and yet it seemed totally unnecessary to the flow of the story. There are also numerous comments made about military men and women who cheat on their spouses throughout the book; a very sad commentary and state of affairs (no pun intended), that is for certain. I was happy, though, at the end to see the two of them decide their marriage was worth saving and that they remained together. It was a nice change of pace, in that regard.

I also thought it was an interesting tale about how nuclear missile submarines are almost countries unto themselves, are individual "nuclear powers" and if the wrong message is sent, one submarine can cause catastrophic damage. It kind-of reminded me of Red Alert, in that respect, in how you have these men in charge of incredible destructive potential and how, after a certain point, they are truly "on their own" and out of touch with their "upper command" in terms of the destructive firepower at their disposal. There is some pretty serious trust that is placed in these men who could, theoretically, destroy the world on their own cognizance and without orders. However, despite the glee with which authors like to portray American submarines (or bombers) as "going rogue," historically, these human commanders, despite their failings, have not gone "rogue" and threatened the world with nuclear fire and brimstone (as so many authors like to portray).

I thought it was also an interesting, "humorous" story in that it has these "powerful" men who believe they are in "command, in control," and the actions of the Alaska and her crew quickly reveal that these men are not nearly as powerful as they would like to believe themselves to be, or that they wield quite as much control as they thought.

This book really reminded me of other books I have read where the Russians were the instigators and they never backed down. It is an interesting dichotomy that presents itself in these kinds of books written at the end of the Cold War. Russia tends to always be the 'aggressor' on some level and the United States tends to be the 'defender.' Even when it is an American crew that goes crazy and plans to attack the Soviet Union, somehow, America tends to still be portrayed as "subservient" and spineless when it comes to standing up to the Russians, the Communists. It was kind-of the same in this novel; the American leaders were presented as more willing to back down and cave-in to Russian demands instead of staring them down a la the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Also, the "ending" of the novel was too "high stakes" and almost anticlimactic. Of course, things are going to somehow work out; of course, things will be "okay"at the end of the novel. I think there have been two specific novels I have read in which I did not expect the endings to occur the way they did. The first was The Triton Ultimatum, in which a super-duper advanced USS ballistic missile submarine is hijacked (stolen) from a US naval base and its payload is used to decimate the world and ensure the United States remained 'on top' as the ONLY super power in existence. In fact, it ends with a political official who had not originally been in line for the Presidency becoming the American President (Caesar), and he was the one who had masterminded the attack. The other book was the novelization of the made-for-TV movie World War III. The book and the movie both end with the Earth being destroyed in thermonuclear fire (well, the book does, anyway; I do not remember how the movie ends). Of course, there is also Red Army, in which the Russians win WWIII in Europe. Granted, I do not know how I would have felt if the missiles had all been launched and the world had been devastated; I could easily have seen it going in the direction of the US going ahead with launching a "First Strike" to take Russia out of the equation completely.

One other thing - I thought the dynamics between the men and the women over the course of the book was interesting. The authors "talk about" how the women would become used to running the household on their own during the three months their husbands/men were at sea, and how angry they would become with the disrupted routines at home upon their husband's (man's) return home. It is probably not something most people outside of the military really think about, but I felt the authors did a fine job of presenting the "wives' viewpoints, perceptions, and attitudes" in the book. It was an interesting perspective I do not think I had ever read before in a fictional story.

Other than the adultery, there was one part in the book I did not like. It was toward the end, when Warden goes of the 'deep end' in his own mind as he plots the future course of the planet, mentally. He is presented as being some kind of "closet religious nut" who believes it is America's Manifest Destiny to lead the world into a brighter future by the grace of God and the only way this bizarre "Christian utopia" can take place is if the United States launches a first-strike nuclear attack against Russia and Russia's satellite countries. It really bugged me that they made this guy out to be some kind of "wannabe Christian" who clearly failed to represent any kind of Christian ideals in the book at all. It was totally unnecessary and unneeded in the novel; it was a distraction; and it took away from the overall quality and content of the novel.

Overall, I enjoyed this book far more than I thought I would. It was well-written, it moved at a decent pace, it had good character development, and the ending threw me for a bit of a loop. I would almost say the chapters dealing with the countdown were some of the best, as I was wondering how everything would get resolved by the book's end. It held my interesting throughout the entire book (not something I was necessarily expecting, considering when it was written). I am glad I took a chance and read this book.

[Tekken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meenutus ajast, kui Ohio-tüüpi raketikandja oli tehnika viimane sõna. Mulle meeldis - pinge püsis lõpuni, tegelased olid usutavad ja finaal... no finaal oleks võinud nats uljam olla.

Julgeks väita, et nii mõneski suhtes on "The Golden Crew" parem kui sama temaatikaga "The Hunt for Red October".

[Michael Burhans · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very scary book. The one set of nuclear weapons not directly under control is that set on submarines. What happens if due to some miscalculation an environmental toxin gets introduced to a closed system that results in mental instability of the entire crew of a nuclear missile submarine? Not much good likely. Scary, plausible, and gripping book.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best considered as a piece of alternate history set in the late 1980s, this techno-thriller from Thomas N. Scortia & Frank M. Robinson is as taut and intense as anything written today. A Trident nuclear submarine has left port ostensibly for a three month shakedown but unbeknownst to practically all on board it is the subject of a psychological test to see if the crew will launch the missiles if they actually thought WW3 was imminent. A taped set of messages that gradually increase the pretend hostilities is to end in a Red Alert and four dummy missiles are to be launched. What could possibly go wrong? Well…quite a bit actually. A recent refit has seen a new paint used to touch up all the inner walls, and unfortunately the fumes contain a chemical that triggefrs paranoia and aggression. After a few days the entire crew, except for the XO, are at each other’s throats and the captain and medical officer (who knew of the drill) now think that it is real. An encounter with a Russian sub has not helped. Only the XO can stop the sub launching all its missiles and triggering an actual global conflagration. The trouble is that the XO has been on tranks for depression (which have cancelled the paint’s effects) and make his reports seem unreliable. The tension mounts steadily throughout the novel and I had trouble putting it down - it’s that good! This is not a drill! Be afraid…be very afraid. RECOMMENDED.

[Karen Phelps · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good

[George Mazurek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book!

[Christopher Stevenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book that led to the ABC Movie of the Week; "The Fifth Missile." Moral, if serving on a submarine don't go under in a boat with walls and bunkers painted with lead-based paint. lol.