Power Play by Patrick Robinson

Isn't there some old adage about not poking a sleeping bear?

It's 2018. Two years earlier, Israel bombed the Iranian nuclear program into dust partly because the vaunted Russian SAM defense system had been rendered ineffective because of some very high tech help from the US. This led to dozens of nations canceling contracts with Russia for a system the world knew could be beaten.

Now, the Russian President (a throwback to the Cold War hawks of old) is out to rectify that wrong. They've come up with a plan to strike back at the US with a surprise surgical nuclear strike (an oxymoron?) to the center of the American intelligence gathering industry. No, not the CIA. Try the NSA. But that's not all. A strike like that would result in near immediate retaliation by the Americans, so the Russians have also worked out a plan to jam the communication network that begins with the little briefcase that accompanies the President everywhere he goes - the nuclear football. If a strike can't be ordered by the US President, the Russians could then feign ignorance and try to shift the blame to terror groups. So the Russians need to plan . . .the actual detonation, missile accuracy, test the old SOSUS detection system in the Atlantic, how and where to transport the missiles/warheads/jamming device, disguise the ship, the crew. When successful, Russia will ascend to its rightful place as THE superpower.

A rising star in the Russian naval hierarchy thinks the political and military commanders are taking Russia down a path that doesn't end well. Essentially, he walks into the Israeli embassy and offers to supply information. After vetting his sincerity and veracity, the Israelis accept his information. His handler puts together the covert intel with what Israel learns and determines that the Russians are preparing to launch an attach on US soil and alerts his long-time friend, Navy SEAL team 10 commander Mack Bedford.

Mack massages the information and takes it to the US Navy CO at the Pentagon who's job it is to sell the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. These 3 put together their own plan. First, they need to set up a presence in the northeast Atlantic because the UK's welfare state has practically bankrupted the country to the point where its historic command of the seas has become a joke. Second, a plan must be devised to intercept the transport on the high seas, board it, grab the warheads and sink the ship with such cunning and surprise that Moscow has no clue of what happened.

The plans by the US are creative and (up to one point) entirely plausible - at least to the reader (have to ask a real SEAL if it's realistic). And while this book is largely about spycraft inside Russia and a lot of clandestine meetings within the US, the actual takedown, while hardly anti-climatic, unfolds without a hitch. Of course, everything goes exactly as planned is a tribute to the planning, training, and execution of the SEAL team. And if I had a complaint about Robinson's books it's that the final battle always seems to go just like they drew it up when most every other book in this genre will say that all plans become fluid in the first flush of battle.

My history with Robinson goes back to his earliest books (Nimitz Class, Kilo Class, et al. and it you want to give Robinson a go, Kilo Class is where I'd suggest starting) and have read all of his fictional political thrillers. Each book features the US Navy and, in most cases, the SEALs. His work has been compared to Clancy's techno-thrillers, but why were Clancy's books so widely praised and Robinson's work has yet to achieve the same notoriety? Got me. I've read all of Clancy's fictional thrillers and this story could easily have come from Clancy, Inc. But the big difference is that had Clancy done this story, it would've been 400 pages longer and 100+ more speaking parts while Robinson's treatment is very direct, taut, and streamlined. I've seen Robinson described as a guy's summer beach read thriller. If I was one to sit on a beach and read for hours on end, then I'd agree. But I'm not and instead read it over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Robinson was once in my power rotation based on his earliest books and then drifted a bit southerly in my rotation, but another killer book like this and he'll climbed right back.

East Coast Don

The Delta Solution by Patrick Robinson

When we last left Commander Mack Bedford, he had be summarily reprimanded by the Navy for being a bit overzealous in handing out battlefield justice. But he has been given a reprieve and returned to Coronado where he began his distinguished career as one of the best Seals ever. He has been given command of the Seals version of boot camp. As a legend, his word carries a bit of weight.

On the east coast of Africa, a war lord has built an enterprising business. Mohammed Salat owns a 'stock exchange' where he sells shares to help finance upcoming hijackings of ships by his band of pirates. The price of the shares go up as success with the commandeering of the ship, rise more with payment of the ransom, and further still when the ship arrives home safe. Old Salat has amassed a pretty substantial profit, now valued at nearly $80 million in cash inside his heavily defended compound.

They hijack a moderate sized container ship for about $5M, a fully loaded oil tanker for $10M, a massive natural gas tanker for another $10M. Salat isn't greedy. He asks for just enough to get the attention of the owners and their insurers. Ask for too much and they just might say No Way Josie. Better to pay the $10M than have the pirates send $100M work of oil to the floor of the Indian Ocean.

The pirates are pretty pragmatic. They want no blood spilled. Just let them call the bosses, relate the demands, then wait for money to fall from the sky. They leave and the ship goes on its way. But one time, an American on the crew kills one of the pirates and himself gets killed. A dead American on the high seas is not well received by the Pentagon.

In response, they activate a new platoon of Seals, Delta platoon, and put Mack Bedford in charge. Pick out the best of the best Seals, experts at climbing and stealth by water or air approach so they can board a hijacked ship, take control, and exact the only kind of punishment that these thugs understand.

The pirates get greedy and hijack a small luxury passenger ship. Bad luck for the pirates as one of the passengers is the father of the SPECWARCOM - the head dog of the Seals; not someone you want to be mad at you. Bedford's Delta platoon has been training for months and the handcuffs are off - Bedford is told to regain control of the ship, eliminate the pirates, then proceed to Somalia where they are to attack and destroy Salat's compound and, if possible, take Salat alive. You could almost hear a disembodied voice saying, 'If you or any of your team are caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your action.'

Needless to say, all goes mostly according to plan. The pirates and their transport end up in a heap on the deep floor of the Indian Ocean and the Seals overpower Salat's guards, destroy the compound, steal back the money, and take Salat out alive.

If it all seems too easy, that's sort of Robinson's stock in trade. Bad guys are doing bad things to the US and the Seals are called in to take out the trash, which Robinson does very ably. Mack Bedford is a compelling an likable character. Too bad, though. Bedford and the Seals are, at least until the assaults on the ship and the compound, a bit of a supporting cast as the Somali's and their operations take the main stage. I guess that's OK. This is pure military thriller escapism and makes no pretensions about being anything else. I've thought most all of Robinson's efforts have been worthy, this one included.

East Coast Don

Diamondhead by Patrick Robinson

Navy SEALS are on duty in Iraq. A squad from SEAL Team 10 gets the call that a fellow squad has been attacked with a new killer missile that can penetrate tank armor and then ignites into flame, burning everyone inside alive. Upon arrival to the site, Lt Cmdr MacKenzie “Mack” Bedford eyes a group of towelheads across the river appearing ready to load up another. With the bad guys is one person who looks out of place, in a suit with a distinctive red handkerchief in his breast pocket. He is using a scope on a tripod, then 2 more missiles streak across the river detonating 2 more tanks, killing members of Mack’s squad. The bad guys now hold up their hands and walk across the bridge because surrender means staying alive, but Mack knows these guys just incinerated his friends, runs up and mows them all down. The resulting court martial exonerates Mack of murder, but he is discharged and summarily sent home to the coast of Maine.

The missile, known as the Diamondhead, is manufactured secretly in France and sold to Iran. The industrialist in charge, Henri Foche, is also the leading candidate for President from the ultra right wing Gaullist party. Back home in Maine, Mack’s young son is fighting a deadly disease that only a hugely expensive operation done in Switzerland might help. Add to that, a family-run shipyard in his hometown has for decades had a standing contract with France to build frigates, but Foche has pledged that all weapons for France will be made in France and will cut off all foreign contracts. That would shut down the local shipyard. The patriarch asks Mack if he knows anyone who might accept a contract to assassinate Foche. He gets some leads, but they don’t pan out. By chance, he reads a story on Foche in a magazine and recognizes him as that guy with the red handkerchief. Mack then accepts the contract himself and arranges for his son to get the needed surgery with the $2 million he will make for the job.

Now, the story shifts into serious overdrive as Mack plans out how he will get to Europe, all his disguises, obtain a sniper’s rifle, get to France, find Forche, set up for the kill, take the shot, then escape and work his way back to Maine. Absolutely riveting stuff, if you ask me. Once he gets to France, don’t be planning to do anything that can’t wait.

I stumbled across Robinson while wandering the shelves at B/N a number of years ago. While he has a number of fiction and non-fiction books out, his action thrillers are what hooked me. His stories are usually the U.S. vs. some Islamist nuts with the heavy lifting done by the Navy, especially the submarine fleet and the SEALS: Nimitz Class (bad guys manage to sink a US nuclear aircraft carrier), Kilo Class (China has ordered 9 Kilo class subs from the Russians and the US is going to make damn sure none get delivered), HMS Unseen (bad guys manage to steal a British sub and take down civilian aircraft flying over the Atlantic), and on and on. His last book, Ghost Force, was something about SEALS and a new Faulkland’s war that I was less than impressed with, so when I saw this title on the new release table at B/N, I was hesitant, but the library had it (no wait!) and I plunged in.

This really is all about Mack Bedford hunting the animal whose weapons, uniformly declared a crime against humanity by the U.N., have been killing American Special Forces right and left. Any other characters are minor players. While many of the mysteries posted here are about crackling dialogue, this one is about planning, execution and the chase. Over half the book is involved in carrying out the execution…er…assassination, of Henri Foche by Mack . . . the dialogue of the French police hunting him (and his various alter ego disguises) is almost a afterthought. Read this for the action. Here’s hoping Robinson finds a way to get Mack Bedford back with the SEALS or involved with other stealthy stories.