6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Two rungs below awful, September 10, 2007
This review is from: Dark Pacific (Paperback)
This is easily the worst book I've read in years. Here's why:
- Inane dialogue. Sailors spend pages trash talking with no purpose. This is evidently the author's way to establish his "creds" with some sea talk. But the only time people actually talk like this is when they're bored and have nothing to do, not in the middle of a crisis. If things are really that boring, there's no point writing a book about it.
- Deus ex machina. The plot involves hooking 7 fast sealift ships together into a huge floating airfield. Several pages cover the actual linking up of the ships. But then, without a word of explanation, "a miracle happens" and a solid deck appears overhead, then the aircraft start landing. How could the ships have carried all that material, much less had a way to hook it all together well enough for aircraft operations? And have this happen virtually overnight?
- Physics thrown out the window. For example, after the airfield is operational, one of the characters notes how low the ships now are in the water. Huh? Wasn't all the mass on those ships when they sailed, or did the airfield just fall out of the sky during the miracle stage, suddenly making the ships heavier?
- Repetition, repetition, repetition. I lost track of the number of times characters complain about the Navy doing things the business school way. OK, mention it once or twice to make a point, but this is obviously one of the author's pet peeves that he pounds on ad nauseum. Other peeves get similar treatment.
- No adult leadership. I spent my career in the Air Force, but from my dealings with USN acquaintances, I'm pretty sure they like to keep officers in the loop, especially when out of the ordinary events happen, like submarines showing up, torpedoes launching, etc. Granted, this is set in a future where things are downscaled and manning is thin, but the chain of command problems here are ludicrous.
- Boring. Pages and pages go by with nothing useful or interesting happening. This book is a "page turner" in the worst possible way - you keep turning pages just to see how much worse it's going to get.
I haven't read the author's other books - they may be better. But if you want an authentic slice of military life, or even a mildly interesting read, this isn't it.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Great Author, Bad Book, June 17, 2007
This review is from: Dark Pacific (Paperback)
Before I rant, let me make sure I state that I have read everything this author has put out. I loved the last two book series and I couldn't wait to start this one.
That being said, this book is bloated. There is far too much time spent with unimportant conversations taking place between the main characters and a massive amount of plot development that ultimately went almost no where.
There are two main plots. One involving the NCIS and one involving the main characters. The NCIS storyline introduced new characters and spent significant time developing the plot. Unfortunately, at the end of the book, this entire plot is left unaddressed. The author took you right the point of them solving their mystery, and then the book ends. No closure at all.
After pages and pages (and more pages) of the main characters chatting amonst themselves (with decent attempts at comedy), this plot comes to an decent end.
I finished the book thinking that David Meadows "phoned this one in". It's no where close to the quality of his other books. That all being said, I purchased all three of the books of this new series and am now starting on the 2nd. I hate hammering Mr. Meadows on a book, but I feel a bit cheated on this one.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Dark Pacific, May 10, 2007
This review is from: Dark Pacific (Paperback)
I found this book to be a disappointment. The plot is slow, with too much padding by describing each persons every body movement, much too often. I also found his political and religious bias to be just a bit too pronounced. Overall, the scenario is a depressed situation where only low level enlisted men know what is happening and the leadership either incompetent, spies, or other unpleasant descriptions.
This book sounds like the product of a disgruntled employee, with an imagination.
I wasted my money.
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