Red Shark

Jake Scott shows his skills again (War Plan Red) in saving the day. Whether he is invading a Chinese drug lord's island or doing the 'sub-chase thing', it's a thrill to follow this man and his adventures. The words kept me glued to the skirmishes and successes of the participants. I was disappointed when the book ended, I could have kept reading about the crews and their adventures for days. I am addicted to this kind of story and hope that Sasgen will allow us the privilege of more stories of Jake Scott. Submarine technology is way over my head, but I certainly have learned a great deal through the information presented. I hope everyone who has an interest in international issues and intrigue will rush out and buy a copy of Red Shark.

The gist of this book is a conspiracy between aging Japanese imperialists and nut job North Koreans. The target is the good ol' USA, and of course, they have developed three nasty nukes. This book holds together. I might quibble technically about the effectiveness of the Mark 48 torpedoes vis-a-vis former Soviet (eh, I mean Chinese) weapons and the political dynamics inside North Korea, but by and large this was a pleasant surprise. If anything the book could have been a bit longer. The sub chase at the end of the book had potential for at least fifty more pages and fair number of obstacles. I'm sure I will be checking out Sasgen's other books.

Wow.! What a thriller: high tech and high speed. I read it so fast the first time that I'll have to read it again to hang onto some of the details. Sasgen really uses his knowledge of military technology to increase the thrill-a-minute pace. For instance, even though I read "Aviation Week", I'd never heard of minature UAV's. I thought Sasgen had made it up but I went to Google and, sure enough, we do have minature UAV's. How'd you like to have one of those fly into your bedroom? That's what Sasgen does with it. I hope this book is made into a movie: underwater explosions in Dolby Sound!!

Jake Scott, the hero of Red Shark and Sasgen's earlier book, War Plan Red, is becoming a familiar, welcome figure for me, this being the second of Sasgen's books that I've read. (Too bad a young Harrison Ford isn't available to play him when one of his books goes Hollywood and makes it to a theater near you.) Let's hope that should the real-life North Koreans act as nefariously as those in the book, we'll have a real-life Jake Scott on our side to save the day. This book really moves, and while it's long, it's a fast read. There are enough plot, action, visuals, and three-dimensional characters to make two movies from each of Sasgen's books. The man obviously doesn't skimp on his research either. I never doubted any of the technical stuff involving submarines, high-tech weaponry, and military protocol; it's not hard to suspend disbelief here. His descriptions of foreign settings also rang true, particularly for those countries in the Far East where I'd spent some time way back when. And there's even something for the ladies, too (and guys who aren't testosterone-challenged); there's a love/sex interest in both books, enough perhaps to make the book crossover from the thriller/war genre into the something-for-everyone mainstream. All in all, this book is definitely worth your time. P.S. One minor quibble: Red Shark, War Plan Red, Red Scorpion ... Enough with the "Red" already, huh?

Who knew I could get this caught up in the exploits of a maverick submarine commander? Once again the author brings us an over-the-edge tale backed up by a wealth of detail that lends an air of chilling reality to the story line. Sasgen is a good writer. He has the seldom seen ability to seamlessly integrate background description - locale, details of submarine operation -into the story without slowing down the pace of the action. Sasgen handles the "politics" cooly, constructing a spare reality that has this reader thinking "it really could happen" and hoping that somewhere in the submarine service there is a "Jake Scott.