Nimitz Class / Kilo Class.

by Patrick Robinson

Nimitz Class

It's as big as the Empire State Building, a massive floating fortress at the throbbing heart of a U.S. Navy Carrier Battle Group. Its supersonic aircraft can level entire cities at a stroke. It's a Nimitz-Class nuclear carrier, the most powerful weapons system on the planet. Nothing can touch it.. "So when the first stunned messages say only that the Thomas Jefferson has disappeared, the Navy reacts with disbelief. But as her battered escorts report in, the truth becomes inescapable: a Nimitz-Class nuclear carrier has been claimed by nuclear catastrophe - the mightiest military unit on earth, vaporized without warning by an accidental detonation of unimaginable power.. "But as Navy maverick Bill Baldridge begins to investigate the disaster that claimed his idolized brother's life, another chilling alternative begins to emerge from the high-tech web of fleeting sonar contacts and elusive radar blips. It points to a rogue submarine commanded by a world-class undersea warrior with the steely nerve and cunning of a master spy. Suddenly it's up to Bill Baldridge to track down this shadowy nuclear terrorist, who has already turned America's ultimate weapon into the biggest sitting duck in history - and who still has another nuclear-tipped torpedo in his tubes.

Kilo Class

It's one of the stealthiest, most dangerous underwater warships ever built... silent at less than five knots and capable of a massive nuclear warhead punch. It's the weapon every Third World dictator covets. It's the 240-foot-long Russian Kilo Class submarine, and Russia seems perfectly willing to sell it to anyone -- including those governments that frequently violate international law.

Whenever Moscow sanctions the sale of the sinister Kilo to a Middle Eastern nation, the Pentagon reacts with barely controlled fury. But Kilo Class, the chilling new novel by Patrick Robinson, posits the far greater but no less real threat -- Russia's acceptance of an order for 10 newly built Kilos... from the Chinese.

The US Department of Defense is well aware of China's intention to shut the US Carrier Battle Groups out of the Taiwan Straits and then to reclaim, by military force if necessary, the rich independent island that sits only 100 miles off China's eastern coastline.

A strike force of patrolling Kilos could achieve that objective for Beijing, and two of the 10 Kilos have already been delivered. Kilo Class is about US attempts to foil delivery of the other eight. The President's new National Security Adviser, the irascible Texas admiral Arnold Morgan, prepares to send the US Navy's deadliest Black Ops hit squads deep into dark Russian waters. Their missions are executed under the most crushing code of secrecy. One mistake could literally start World War III. The decision is sanctioned by the President of the United States. Now, the world's three most powerful nations silently lock horns -- Russia, determined to deliver the submarines to Shanghai for a payment of billions of dollars; China, determined to reclaim Taiwan by frightening off the US aircraft carriers; and the United States, brutally determined that those Kilos will never fly the flag of China above their bridges.

Out in the terrible depths of the icy North Atlantic, the US Black Ops nuclear submarine awaits its chance, guided by the silent American satellites passing overhead. Deep inside the remote waterways of northern Russia, a team of elite Navy SEALs prepare an extraordinary operation of destruction and mayhem. Moscow brings in an iron cordon of an escort for the submarine deliveries, as Commander Boomer Dunning, the Black Ops captain from Cape Cod, races his 7,000-ton nuclear vessel beneath the polar ice cap to head them off.

Genres: War

523 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2001

About the author

Patrick Robinson was a journalist for many years before becoming a full-time writer of books. His non-fiction books were bestsellers around the world and he was the co-author of Sandy Woodward's Falklands War memoir, One Hundred Days.

Reviews

[Ben Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The idea of being trapped underwater in a submarine is somewhat terrifying and exhilarating at the same time! I don't think we'll ever experience a true naval battle like times gone, but the idea of warships, submarines, and aircraft battling it out over the high sea has always appealed to me.

A great book with all the ingredients you'll need: suspense, submarines, a little romance and a whole lot of action! Great book!

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kilo Class by Patrick Robinson is totally terrific! What a thriller. Loved this long story and could not wait each night to listen to a couple more exciting hours.

I have not read Nimitz Class yet.

[Aristotle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book, like Raiders of the Reich, that seems to be a cheaper version of another series riding of the success of said other series. Robinson tries quite hard in Nimitz Class to be another Tom Clancy but what we’re left with is a rather depth-less and uncaptivating novel which at times bordered even cheesy. The narrative follows Bill Baldridge as he investigates the US Navy’s loss of a titular Nimitz Class Supercarrier to a rogue terrorist submarine. It also happens that Bill’s brother was the captain of the lost ship. Captivating. And I’ll be honest, the book showed a lot of potential in it’s opening chapters, hitting interesting geopolitical notes that you wouldn’t expect from a 90s military fiction. However, by the time the half way mark is reached, the book diverts to stereotypes and cliche storytelling which left me yawning.

[Joshua Finch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start by saying the title of the book is very poorly conceived, as it seems suited to a non-fiction book about the Nimitz Class aircraft carrier. Title aside, the story is ABSOLUTELY thrilling! The nuclear explosion that obliterates the carrier group is some of the most intense and graphic writing I have read, and the character development makes you want to turn page after page. This novel is NOT predictable, and the thrilling climax was something I was not expecting.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listen to the audio version of the book. I liked it.

[Robert Traydon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. Not as much naval action as I was expecting. The opening chapter is a cracker.

[Barrs Crowe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Randy said the author is too detailed and some of the details aren't accurate in Randy's experience aboard an air craft carrier during VN war.

[Nicholas Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes, you just need a good old story...the kind of story that grips you and a great down-time book where you don't need to take any notes. Nimitz Class sure fits that category. Great story great anticipation and overall a great experience.