Hunter Killer

This is one fun book. Patrick Robinson has whipped together a plot that will keep any military/techno/political thriller junkie vastly entertained. A young Saudi Prince who does nothing but party and snort drugs rams his power boat into the Queen Elizabeth II. Just another day in the carefree life of almost 35,000 members of the Saudi Royal family supported by the nation's monarchy and oil wealth. Well, not all 35,000 royals are such fun lovers. One senior Saudi Prince is so upset that he approahes those always lovable French with a proposal to overthrow the reigning monarch and put himself on the throne. The plan calls for treachery, inflicting massive pain on billions of innocent, greed, dishonesty and requires a complete lack of morality. The French love it. And so the fun begins. Robinson deploys an arsenal of state-of-the-art submarines, special forces, political players and the skills of Jimmy Ramshawe, an underling at the NSA. The plot is excellent. Lots of twists and turns all serving to advance the story without causing the reader to blink in disbelief. The characters are a bit uneven. Some are larger than life and unbelievably so. With others, Robinson paints well. The action is never ending and Robinson does an excellent job of not telegraphing his punches. If you're given to biting your nails, wear gloves while reading "Hunter Killer," lest you munch straight through to your knuckles. An excellent thriller and one that I obviously thoroughly enjoyed. Jerry

This latest instalment from Patrick Robinson really packs a punch! It has everything - submarines and underwater action scenes, oil terminals and tankers blowing up, political conflict and the consequences of terrorists' actions on the rest of the world and how does one deal with it - would a new war making the mistakes of Iraq just add to the problem? Oh, yes, and you also get graphic descriptions of what wine everyone drinks and where it came from, and what food everyone eats and how one main character, the ongoing protagonist Admiral Morgan barbecues his steaks and lamb chops in a paragraph or two. This is very typical Robinson fare, but is fun to read these days. I quite fancy a few drops of the wine in the book actually! Anyway, the story is a great and highly plausible one. A spoiled rich Saudi prince crashes his yacht into the Queen Mary 2 after a binge drinking and drug session, killing himself and a British princess. Prince Nasir, heir to the Saudi throne and a fundamentalist Muslim to boot, decides he has had enough of the Saudi King and his monarchy behaving like decadent greedy Roman emperors, spending all their riches on themselves and not letting Saudi citizens benefit from the country's oil wealth. So he enlists the help of another enemy of the USA and its allies - France. The French President, seeking financial and political gain from a Saudi oil crisis as the French buy up Middle Eastern oilfields and refineries, covertly orders his DGSE(their version of the CIA) agents to bring in the help of a Moroccan, Colonel Jacques Gamoudi, and also Admiral Morgan's enemy Colonel Ravi Rashood, a HAMAS terrorist leader. Together, using the French Navy's latest submarines, they plan to strike secretly at Saudi oil terminals - AND topple the monarchy by creating dissent in the Saudi armed forces, taking over military installations and creating anarchy in the capital Riyadh. The result is that a global energy crisis looms - the price of oil rockets leading to chaos and the threat of economic collapse. Admiral Morgan, a retired National Security specialist, is recalled by the President to the White House to help prevent the crisis and track down those responsible. James Ramshawe, a brilliant young naval intelligence officer, helps the Admiral, using obscure threads of evidence, to track Rashood and Gamoudi, but he himself is now being hunted by French special forces who wish to cover up their involvement before world opinion turns against them! The ending is not what you would expect, but does lead the way to some interesting possibilities for future novels! Once again, another winner from Patrick Robinson, which is closer to tomorrow's news that you'd dare imagine, even though this book is set in 2010. Great build up, intriguing politics, blazing action scenes in Saudi Arabia and explosive military action to boot - and wine buffs might like to read as well(ha ha).

The Saudi princes and other family members have spent the money coffers of the Kingdom nearly dry with the extravagant swinging lifestyle.Their spending has taken Saudi Arabia to the brink of financial ruin.Prince Nasir has had enough of his wasteful and big spending relatives.Nasir approaches the President of France with a plan to eliminate the Royal family,make Nasir King, and give France exclusive oil rights.The President readily agrees to this deal.With the use of two nuclear submarines,French special forces soldiers,and the hiring ofColonel Jacque Gamoudi(known as Le CChasseur-The Chaser)Hamas General Ravi Rashood the French make this happen.These forces cause untold damage on oil installations on the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.They are also able to depose the King Of Saudi Arabia.The French are in total control of the situation.Mass chaos in the markets of the world and the economies of the world ensues.The American President calls in Admiral Arnold Morgan and Lieutenant Commander Jimmy Ramshawe to save the day.They immediately start implementing a plan.La Chasseur becomes hunted by French Special Forces who want to kill him and American Special Forces who want to expose France. This is a very good book that you will read from cover to cover.Buy it and you won't miss out.

This is a very solid novel that reads like it is from the current news. The characters I found to be very real and authentic, and the dialog and pacing is great. The technical details are well researched. I highly recommend this novel. It also provides real background on what is going on in Saudi Arabia (the author discusses the dwindling wealth per person in the kindgom, and the extravagent lifestyle of the 35,000 princes who run the kindgom, which is increasingly unpopular). CIA sources have already predicted scenarios of this type occurring in the near future. Very solid novel.