Cold Is the Sea [Hardcover]

Edward Latimer Beach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1978

Hailed as heart stopping and almost unbearably suspenseful, Edward L. Beach's third novel is set fifteen years after the end of World War II as the US Navy converts its fleet of conventional submarines to nuclear-powered ships. The book focuses on the USS Cushing, whose sixteen missile silos carry more explosive power than all the munitions used in both world wars. The submarine is on a secret mission to the Arctic Ocean to determine whether her missiles are effective when fired from beneath the ice. When the Cushing is incapacitated with a suspicious Russian sub lurking in the vicinity, the scene is set for a dramatic novel rich in all the technical detail and submarine lore that have entertained millions of readers of Captain Beach's other fictional works.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 348 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co (September 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0030139163
• ISBN-13: 978-0030139161
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,987,789 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The premier Sub novelist, July 8, 2000

By 

T. Mazerolle "terrymaz" (Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cold Is the Sea (Hardcover)

I first read 'Cold is the sea' about ten years ago, and from that time I have become attached to life on a submarine. Edward Beach demonstrates and dramitizes the simple live or die choice of those who fight in a submarine. The book has become often read and the inspiration and bench mark by which I judge any exciting war novels.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars run silent, run deep on nuclear power, August 14, 2000

By 

Rottenberg's rotten book review (nyc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cold Is the Sea (Paperback)

Captain "Rich" Richardson, the navy hero of "Run Silent Run Deep" is back in action. Actually, reluctant inaction is more like it. A hero, with a row of medals to prove it, Richardson works tirelessly to return to sea. Marrying his sweetheart (ex-fiance of Jim Bledsoe, Richardson's rival killed in "Run Silent") and becoming a father has taken the sailor out of Richardson. After WWII, however, going to back to work means joining the most exclusive of the nation's services - the "Nuclear Navy". With a charachter - more than loosely based on Admiral Rickover - holding the keys to the nuclear navy, Richardson's combat history is more a liability than an asset, fixing Beach's hero firmly in the past, and not the atomic future. None of Richardson's training or experience prepares him for the cold-war intrigues that envelop him once he reports aboard his first SSN. while suspenseful and (likely) realistic, Richardson's depcition of submarine warfare seems little changed from that used to drive "Run Silent" and its sequel "Dust on the Sea", even though both were set in the pre-nuclear age, when subs spent most of their time on the surface, and the deeps seemed almost as mysterious to the subs as the were to the surface ships. Little of the silent claustrophobia of submarine-warfare comes across, and the scenes pf Richardson at work seem more reminescent of some cheesy WWII sub-thriller. As in previous Beach/Richardson novels, dialog drives the action. When charachters talk, it's often in long paragraphs that make the listeners seem like servile plebes.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another good one..., October 17, 2001

By 

Ken Bailey "mikoyan" (Ypsilanti, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cold Is the Sea (Hardcover)

This is another good book from Edward Beach. I remember when I read it that I couldn't put it down because I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Again, a very well written book by someone who was actually there.