Customer Reviews

Cold Choices

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Let me say up front you would be hard pressed to find someone who enjoys submarine thrillers more than I do...unfortunately finding one that is really well written is easier said than done. I've been fortunate to have discovered what seems to be the majority of authors who actually have some talent in this area...Larry Bond comes with a writing history that rivals pretty much anybody, beginning with his co-writing credit (according to Tom Clancy) on 'Red Storm Rising'. Since then an impressive collection of military-themed novels have been produced, some great, some good and only a small number not worth mentioning...

Being the sub fan that I am, when 'Dangerous Ground' came out I picked it up rather quickly (I actually received an advance copy to be honest) and loved how it began...but as well told as it was, it simply grew slightly then entirely boring. I totally grew disinterested in the characters after about page 250, and it was sheer will that got me through the rest of the book. I was monumentally disappointed to say the least. Larry Bond had written some downright page-turners in his time, and was this a glimpse of what I could expect in the future? I am happy to say that the answer is NO.

'Cold Choices' has everything the prequel lacked--mainly an exciting and thrilling story that very seldom lets up. The title turned out to be amazingly fitting for just how difficult the job of sub commander really can be. What about the choices of a real-life submariner who (rarely) is involved in a mid-sea collision? Do they honor the decision from back home and leave immediately (or as quickly as the ship will allow), or do they stay and against direct orders do the RIGHT thing and stay and help, all the while risking the lives of every man on board? Cold Choices indeed.

One MAJOR prop to Larry for portraying almost frighteningly well what it feels like inside a submarine stuck underneath thousands of tons of cold water. It became almost difficult to breathe in a few parts (kudos again to Larry for the writing chops to pull that off) knowing just how dangerous the situation was, and yet keeping the tension high enough that you almost HAD to continue in order to find out what happens NEXT.

THANKS for making me glad I took a gamble on this one...it was WELL worth it. I look forward to more in the future. Congratulations.

I served in nuclear submarines back in the day, so I normally don't bother reading books about submarines. I can't get past the improper nomenclature, wildly inaccurate technology and bogus crew interactions to enjoy the story.

However, this book was recommended to me by a good friend so I took a chance. I am certainly glad I did. While Larry Bond never served in submarines -- I just checked his biography -- he did serve in the Navy and he gets it. I felt right at home aboard the Seawolf.

The story is about a US submarine, the USS Seawolf and a Russian submarine, the Severodvinsk. They collide and that's where the story gets really interesting. The people and organizations and their various reactions to the disaster are all extremely believable. As the story played out, a little voice kept saying, "it's all very plausible", and I kept on reading because the book is very riveting. Thanks for a terrific book! One wishes the real world would play out the way this one does. I can say for certainty that submarine crews would step up.

Having read and enjoyed several other novels by Bond, including his first book with a submarine theme, I quickly picked up Cold Choices. Although reading the book jacket tells you that two submarines collide, with the Russian sub sinking to the bottom, Bond does a solid job to set up the event. Character development with the officers and crew of both subs is solid and clearly provide depth as the story unfolds. The real action, however, starts after the collision, when Bond leads the reader through the excruciatingly difficult choices facing both sub commanders who have to deal with the situation at hand while also being mindful of the bigger picture of the broad geopolitical context. While perhaps not a page-turning thriller in the traditional sense, Bond nonetheless gets the reader turning the pages in rapid succession. All things considered, Cold Choices is a very compelling story and definitely better than Dangerous Ground.

My wife and I both enjoyed this book a great deal, although I don't think I can quite go for five stars. The action is authentic and continuous. The author really knows his stuff, and that comes through. I see some recent reviews complaining about unexplained terminology. Neither of us has any military or nautical background and we had no trouble with that, nor did we even notice anything hard to understand. The subject matter inescapably reminds me of Clancy's Hunt for Red October, but this book isn't so bloated and overwritten. Bond wisely refrains from Clancy's tendency toward polemics. This is just a good techno-thriller about our submariners and the risks they face. I appreciate them much more after reading this book.

Nuclear Sub Captain First Rank Aleksey Petrov is ordered to drive out of the Barents Sea any American naval vessel; even those observing the Russian military exercise from international waters. However, due to a human error, the ambitious and overly zealous Petrov watches in horror as his state of the art vessel the Severodvinsk collides with the USS Seawolf, whose mission was to map the seabed below the Russian naval training maneuvers.

While the American vessel can somewhat move on, the Russian sub sinks to the bottom of the sea. Seawolf Commander Jerry Mitchell, (see DANGEROUS GROUND) assumes the Russians gleefully left to gloat at a nearby submarine port. However, he quickly realizes the Severodvinsk has sunk. The brass from both countries want the incident to stay sunk, but Mitchell feels strongly a rescue of his naval comrades is a must regardless of the Pentagon or the Russian equivalent proclaiming otherwise, however he also worries his damaged ship might not be up to the task and could result in the deaths of his crew.

Readers will feel a bit claustrophobic as Larry Bond provides an insightful look at life on a submarine especially during a crisis. The story line is loaded with action and overloaded with gizmos. Although the brass in both capitals act in their usual political expedient manners that have become too common in literature, fans will enjoy the dilemmas of the two captains. Mitchell could not care less what the fat cats several thousand miles away demand, as he must decide between the risks to his crew vs. a rescue. On the other hand Petrov does care what Moscow thinks so he must decide whether to accept help that will end his career but save some of his crew or die with them; the choice is not as easy as it sounds because he does not trust the Americans to rescue them if they collect what they came for.

Harriet Klausner

I'm late to the party on this one - reading it in paperback.

I had the honor of meeting Larry Bond at a Las Vegas Consumer electronics Show in the late 1980's. He was there to sell his new computer game "Harpoon". As a serving Army Intelligence Officer at the time we had a brief conversation about the future of computer war gaming which I entered into the very next year. I've been a fan of his ever since.

The book has very well developed characters who interact well in a fast paced story. Even a retired Army Officer like me was able to pick up the Navy vernacular, synonyms and methodology. Equally developed were the Russian Naval staff ... Bond drawing on Russian military non-response to both the Kursk disaster - as well as the antics of the Russian Air Force shooting down Korean Airlines 007 with an American Congressman from Georgia aboard.

As a person of Russian extraction (2nd Generation American) the development of Russian Navy Wives and Mothers came directly from the post-Kursk hearings and a good peek into the Russian Psyche. The use of the internet had much more effect in the novel than the protests from the families of the Kursk.

Whether or not we maintain a technological lead on the remnants of the Russian Navy is indeed speculation. The technology war continues.

The antics of the puzzle palaces that make up the decision making apparatus of the US Armed Forces remains real as I remember it - just different uniforms dishing out the same old bureaucratic non-decision making slop. Only in a novel can real decision making occur.

A very troubling aspect of the novel made me uneasy - as I kept up with the antics of the characters involved I kept on reflecting on 'something'. Having recently read "Blind Man's Bluff" and other books on the fate of the USS Scorpion and Thresher ... I was blown away by Bond's very last page content- about the names of his characters ... brought a tear to this old soldiers eye.

Larry Bond has done it again. Cold choices is the type of book that you have a hard time to put down after you start to read it. When he writes you almost feel you are one of the characters in the book and you are fighting alongside them.The book takes it's twist and turns and events that turn out differantly than you may have thought would happen. Overall it is a book to read and then at some later date read it again. I am not very good at writing about things but Larry Bond is excellant and I look forward to his next book.

Let's see, I was late for dinner twice, late to bed many times, almost late for work several times, developed hypothermia in a 80 degree room. This book nearly got me in trouble with all my bosses! The character immersion is very satisfying and blends quite well with the technological aspects of the book. Simply put, it was GREAT!

In Larry Bond's best-selling novel, DANGEROUS GROUND, techno-thriller fans met Lt Jerry Mitchell, a former naval aviator who made a mid-career switch to submarines after his Hornet fighter crashed with the resulting injuries sidelining him forever from flight status. Having returned successfully from a dangerous mission aboard the USS Memphis, an out-of-date aging rust bucket, Mitchell has now been assigned as the navigator aboard the sleek, ultra-sophisticated USS Seawolf, one of the US Navy's most modern and fiercely capable nuclear attack submarines. Their mission - complete a secret hydrographic survey of the floor of the Barents Sea and leave behind stealthy surveillance technology that will keep the navy on top of Russian submarine movement out of their far northern Arctic bases.

Despite the crew's best efforts, their presence is detected by Aleksey Petrov, the commander of Russia's newly commissioned nuclear sub, the Severodvinsk. A testosterone drive cat-and-mouse game of brinksmanship results in a catastrophic underwater collision that sends the Seawolf limping home badly damaged. Unknown to the US crew, the Severodvinsk has been sent crashing to the sea floor and is completely disabled, unable to communicate with their Russian base and trapped with no working emergency escape pod to the surface. All the clocks are ticking - food, water and oxygen - but the clock that's ticking the loudest and most quickly is the one recording carbon dioxide levels. When the air scrubbers can no longer reduce CO2 levels below a toxic 5% level, a painful inevitable death quickly follows for all the trapped men.

No mystery from the point of view of plot in COLD CHOICES, just a superbly built thriller built around naval technology, politics, cold-war posturing and space age peace-time military maneuvering. COLD CHOICES is a first rate techno-thriller that will have you turning pages just as quickly as you can manage. But as Larry Bond pointed out in the author's note preceding DANGEROUS GROUND, a techno-thriller ought to be much more than a compilation of technical data which anyone can find with proper research. In the case of COLD CHOICES, Bond has done a superb job, not only with individual characterization, but also with a compelling description of submariner culture - their attitudes, their loyalties, their black sense of humour, their fears and their bravery.

Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

Story is slow getting started, but never lets up after that. Lots of plot twists that I didn't see coming. I really enjoyed reading it.