Power Play, a thrilling new Trident Deception short story by Rick Campbell. The Russians have their newest class of nuclear attack submarine and is taking it, K-561 Kazan, on a shakedown cruise. Unbeknownst to them, however, this new submarine is being followed by an American submarine, the USS Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh is to gather any intelligence they can on this new Russian submarine while avoiding detection by the Russians. But what first appears to be the rollout of a new type of submarine, might well be something completely different. Instead the Pittsburgh witness a torpedo firing exercise—and the radical new technology might well not be the submarine, but the torpedo.
RICK CAMPBELL, a retired Navy Commander, served on four nuclear-powered submarines, finishing his career with tours in the Pentagon and the Washington Navy Yard. On his last submarine, he was one of the two men whose permission is required to launch the submarine's nuclear-warhead-armed missiles.
Upon retirement from the Navy, Rick was offered a two-book deal by Macmillan / St. Martin's Press for his novel The Trident Deception, which was hailed by Booklist as "The best submarine novel written in the last thirty years, since Tom Clancy's classic - The Hunt for Red October". His first six books were Barnes & Noble Top-10 and Amazon #1 bestsellers, and the 7th and 8th books in the series are scheduled for release in April 2024 and spring 2025.
To learn more, visit Rick Campbell's website and his "Submarine 101" page at www.rickcampbellauthor.com.
ebook Review - In author Rick Campbell’s short story, “Power Play,” the Russians have a new class of nuclear attack submarine and is taking it on a ‘shakedown’ cruise - testing/training. Unbeknownst to them - the Russians, their new submarine is being followed by an American submarine, the USS Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh is tasks with gathering intelligence on this new Russian attack submarine while avoiding detection. But what first appears to be the rollout of a new kind of submarine, might well be something completely different. Instead, the USS Pittsburgh witness a torpedo firing exercise and the radical new technology might not be the submarine, but the torpedo instead! Former Navy submarine veteran turn author, Rick Campbell continues to deliver heart pounding action adventure under the seas in his Trident Deception series. Based on his knowledge aboard US Navy submarines and his research of Russian subs, Campbell makes the reader feel as if they are right there in the story, on the submarines! Although the short story was the set up for the full novel, “Treason,” — it lead me to move the Treason book up on my ‘To Be Read’ list. Intriguing, adventurous, just flst out action-packed, Power Play accomplished its intention with me. I’ll be reading the full story in the book Treason by sooner than later. Great military thriller short story…
Clancy, this is not. Way too much telling and not enough showing. I lost count how many times the narration described before or after the actual conversation. Too much filler.
As far as the plot, while it is intriguing, the execution comes across as flat. And, most importantly, this is only an unfinished short story.
Plot: The Trident Deception Series consists of several full-length novels in the military genrè. A retired Navy author provides page-turning excitement of near-miss disasters in American conflicts, primarily with Russia. Suggest starting at the beginning of the series, as several characters - like the President, Chief of Staff, a navy seal, and a strong female lead traverse all novels written to date - will be more.
Liked: If you are a fan of The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy - you'll love The Trident Deception Series. All are nail-biting, page-turning stories. Some graphic violence; if you're a victim of wartime PTSD, these might not be for you. Clean reads, no sex, no objectionable language. Learned a bit about submarine tactics.
Not so hot: Audio speed is a bit slow for my taste; I bumped the rate to 1.4 on the iPhone.
Written by Rick Campbell, and narration is fine; there are several, each book in the area of 10-15 hours of listening in audiobook format, released from March 2014 to date by Blackstone Audio.
Rick Campbell added even more intrigue and seat of one’s pants action in this short story, Power Play. His expertise of the world of Naval submarine warfare shines brightly in all his stories and he is a kind enough author to translate the technical parts for the fans who have not lived that life. His use of the timeline and characters he has created is amazing. The reader can even become invested in the lives of the bad guys, thanks to Mr. Campbell’s character development. The only possible negative would be the abrupt ending to the story, but it is rectified by the preview of the upcoming book beginning on the next page. I highly recommend this book series to anybody that enjoys a great thriller!
Like all of Campbell's books this short story is really great. It is a wonderful run-up to his book treason which should be out in March, which I have had the opportunity to read early. You will love it . It is action-packed from the very beginning . It keeps you in suspense and it has all of the same characters and many more. I highly recommend you buy the book Treason when it comes out.
A short story very nicely done. Tantalizing, with enough detail to keep you wanting more. I would call it a real page-turner, but it's not long enough for that.
Chronologically, this fits between book #4 (Blackmail) and the not-yet-released book #5 (Treason).
Full disclosure: the author is a Naval Academy classmate and friend. I am a named character in book #4.
I've never read anything similar to th his it is engaging but less compelling than the other reads. I guess there was a reason these were on the editors cutting floor. But i am still a fan. Headed to his next book to see how it ends.
This is a very short short story. Well paced, interesting. But it just stops, no resolution, no ending. The problem is presented and the story ends. Not satisfying.