Shadow Hunter

"Shadow Hunter" is Geoffrey Archer's second book, published in 1989 towards the end of the cold war. Compared to "Sky Dancer" (Geoffrey Archer's debut novel) the writing style has become smooth and consistent. ("Sky Dancer" was very good for a first book, but the writing was somewhat uneven.) There are a fair number of similarities between this book and Tom Clancy's "The Hunt for Red October", published in 1984. Both stories involve a renegade submarine captain and the exciting underwater hunts and battles between the out-of-control submarine and other submarines and naval vessels from the same nation and enemy nations. In "Shadow Hunter" the renegade captain is British, the commander of the HMS Truculent, a British nuclear-powered attack submarine. He sets off on a mission of his own, sailing Truculent up along the coast of Norway and east towards the Russian naval bases around Murmansk, and ignoring orders from the British naval command. Why? It becomes obvious that the renegade captain is suffering some kind of nervous breakdown, but the reasons for this are not apparent until later. Nor are his intentions clear. Does he plan to wage his own private war on the Russian Navy? Will he inadvertently start WW III? Or does he have a completely different goal? In the mean time the Soviet General Secretary is manipulating a Russian Navy Admiral in an attempt to create a crisis that will strengthen his hand in the Soviet Politburo. The British are doing everything they can to prevent the captain of HMS Truculent from doing whatever it is he's doing. And the American Navy is also involved, playing their usual role in the constant show of force vis-à-vis the Soviet military powers. This mixture of various plot-lines results in a very exciting story. I find "Shadow Hunter" to be a better book than "The Hunt for Red October" because I think Geoffrey Archer is much better at making characters who are real people, not one-dimensional clichés. This makes the book more believable and enjoyable to read. However, I do find certain aspects of the plot in "Shadow Hunter" to be rather unrealistic, and this is the reason for the lack of the fifth star. The idea of a submarine captain suffering a breakdown is an exciting and scary scenario, and was a good idea. (Even though I'm sure that the various navies of the world have contingency plans for the crew to handle the situation.) But what I can't accept is the refusal of the British to enlist the aid of their American allies, and to warn the Russians about what is happening. This just doesn't make sense, considering the terrible consequences of what the captain of HMS Truculent could do. In spite of this unrealistic element in the plot I really liked "Shadow Hunter" and recommend it, especially if you're a fan of techno-thrillers. Rennie Petersen