Hunter Killer

This naval thriller of the cold war and space race era was described by the "New York Times" when it was published in 1966 with the words "action at hurricane velocity" and it delivers this. I first read it as a boy of twelve a few years later, and even at that age I could spot some pretty serious credibility issues with the plot, but it didn't stop the story grabbing my attention. Even now that, with an adult perspective, the plot appears even more ridiculous than I thought at the time, I can still lose myself in this book for an hour or so. The story is set in what was from the perspective of 1966 a future era, shortly after the first manned mission to the moon and later than the early 1970's. It is narrated by Captain John Garland, and the first line of the novel is "Geoffrey Peace was dead." (Garland and Peace appear in several of Geoffrey Jenkin's other novels.) But is Peace really dead - or his "death" part of the elaborate cover scheme for a secret project? A new Anglo/American rocket system has the potential both to affect the balance of power against the Soviets in the cold war and to boost the space programme - but it has fallen foul of political manouvering on both sides of the Atlantic. To fool both the Soviets and domestic political opponents, elements of the British and US Administrations are plotting to surprise the world with an unexpected mission to the moon, flown by a very high-profile pilot - the Vice President of the USA. Our heroes embark on the Hunter-Killer submarine HMS Devastation, and from the very beginning the voyage is eventful, with every classic submarine story cliche and a few new ones, from a dangerous encouter with a huge undersea creature to the discovery on the sea bed of the ruins of a drowned city. But it is when they rendezvous with the US submarine Willowtrack which is bringing the Veep, that the fertiliser really hits the ventilator. Unfortunately, the secrecy surrounding the project has been kept so tight that people with a real need to know - from the CIA to the commanding officer of USS Willowtrack - have not been told what is going on. One of them jumps to a false conclusion: as one of the characters puts it, their mission "is to be sold down the river because some bloody fool thinks we've kidnapped the Vice President." Suddenly half the world is searching for the Devastation, the Veep, and the other characters in the story. Can they bring off the mission - and should they even try? Despite all the utterly implausible elements to this story, it is gripping, memorable, and exciting, and I recommend it. Other nautical thrillers by Geoffrey Jenkins, some of which feature characters who also appear in this book, include: Scend of the Sea A Twist of Sand A Grue of Ice