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H.M.S. Unseen [Hardcover]

Patrick Robinson (Author), David McCallum (Reader)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (109 customer reviews)


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Book Description

April 7, 1999
It's the deadliest ship in the world.
You cannot see it.
You cannot hear it.
And it's just fallen into enemy hands.

Patrick Robinson became an instant hit with his widely acclaimed New York Times bestseller Nimitz Class and then did it again with his second gripping novel Kilo Class. Now this nationally bestselling author returns with his most suspenseful naval technothriller yet--a tense, unpredictable adventure that rivals the best of Tom Clancy and Dale Brown.

The most highly efficient and lethal underwater ship ever built--even better than the Russian Kilo Class, and nearly impossible to detect--the 2,500-ton H.M.S. Unseen is one of only four diesel-electric submarines ever owned by the Royal Navy. While out on a training mission off the coast of England, the unthinkable happens: The ship vanishes into the depths, baffling British and American military intelligence, including wily National Security Adviser Admiral Arnold Morgan.

"Submarines are very, very dangerous and very, very sneaky. You just don't want 'em wandering around on the loose when no one knows where they are. You have to keep an eye on them. If there's one thing that makes me real nervous, it's a submarine that's somehow gone off the charts."

One year later, Morgan's foreboding is about to be proven deadly.

On a routine flight, the Concorde, the world's safest and most secure domestic plane, disappears without a trace over the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. A few months later the brand new Starstriker jet, a miracle in American aeronautic technology and supersonic travel, vanishes. Both appear to be random, inexplicable accidents, until another plane--Air Force Three, carrying the vice president of the United States--is blown from the sky.

Searching for answers, the brilliant, irascible Morgan devises a chilling theory. Not only is Unseen still out there, but it's been modified to become the most dangerous anti-aircraft weapon at sea. And the admiral is convinced that only one man could have masterminded it: The world's most cunning--and reportedly dead--terrorist spy, Iraqi's Commander Benjamin Adnam, the incomparable operative who hired a nuclear sub and destroyed the carrier U.S.S. Thomas Jefferson a few years before.

Determined to stop his old nemesis before he strikes again, Morgan must use all his wits to find Adnam and the rogue sub hiding somewhere in a million square miles of dark ocean water, a mission the admiral knows is about as easy finding a needle in a desert--blind. But what Morgan doesn't know is that the fanatically religious military terrorist has a chilling agenda of his own--a plan that will bring these two intense warriors face to face.and only one will come out alive.

A breathtaking tale that races from the shifting sands of the Middle East to deep within the black waters of the North Atlantic; from the Oval Office to the bowels of one of the most powerful warships ever built; H.M.S. Unseen will keep readers guessing as they race to discover its powerful, stunning conclusion.


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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Patrick Robinson might not be the smoothest writer in the world, but for action on and around the sea he's as good as Tom Clancy or the late, much-missed Hammond Innes. Robinson's latest finds ace Iraqi terrorist Benjamin Adnam--supposedly killed at the end of Nimitz Class--alive and decorated in Baghdad. Ben instinctively knows that he is no longer useful to Saddam Hussein, and sure enough, he surprises and kills an official hit squad waiting for him at his home. Burning with the desire for revenge, Ben walks to Iran (a two-week trek through desert and marshes wonderfully described by Robinson) and convinces that country's leaders to help him launch a scheme that will punish both Iraq and the Great Satan, America.

Commander Adnam, trained as a submariner in England and Israel, hijacks the HMS Unseen,, one of the world's most dangerous and undetectable subs, refits it with Russian missile launchers, and uses it to shoot down three very high-profile airplanes, including a supersonic Concorde and a plane carrying America's much beloved vice president (this is 2006, by the way). As planned, the Iraqis are widely suspected--but national security adviser Albert Morgan recognizes Adnam's handiwork and begins a global search. There's a beautifully detailed journey, across Scotland and Ireland, before the book settles down into a smaller but satisfying story of Adnam's personal quest for some kind of redemption. --Dick Adler

From Publishers Weekly

The third near-future naval techno-thriller from Robinson (Kilo Class; Nimitz Class) breaks neatly into two stories. The first is about a hijacked sub and its brief but effective reign of terror against American and European aircraft. Iraqi terrorist Benjamin Adnam, escaping death at the hands of his countrymen, travels to Iran and offers his services to the reigning Ayatollah, with plans for a twisted revenge. He will hijack a British submarine that is about to be sold to Brazil, fit it with a missile launcher and attack American aircraft in such a way that Iraq, not Iran, will be blamed. When the British sub vanishes, and even before three planes are shot out of the sky (including one carrying the American vice president), Adnam's American nemesis, Admiral Arnold Morgan, discerns the terrorist's hand behind events. But no manhunt follows, as Robinson instead focuses on Adnam's inner turmoil and his fate as a traitor who's been rejected by his mother country and discarded by his surrogate home. Robinson uses this departure from formulaic plotting to deepen Adnam's character, from cold super-terrorist to lost and searching human being, meanwhile allowing Adnam's yearnings to spark a few final plot twists. The energy of the opening half flags in the novel's later part, however. Robinson is visibly developing as a writer, but he's not yet able to make the inner struggles of one man as exciting as the shooting down of a Concorde jet by a sub. Still, his willingness to challenge the rigid boundaries of the military thriller is welcome, particularly as his writing stays always on its toes. Simultaneous HarperAudio; author tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Harper; 1st edition (April 7, 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060193158
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060193157
  • Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (109 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #672,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Patrick Robinson is the co-author of the recent New York Times bestseller, "A Colossal Failure of Common Sense - the inside story of the collapse of Lehman Brothers."

Before that, he co-authored Lone Survivor for Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell which was #1 on the New York Times non-fiction bestseller list for eight months in 2007.

Patrick is also the author of eleven international bestselling suspense thrillers, including To the Death, Nimitz Class, Hunter Killer, and Diamondhead, the first book in his brand new series.

He lives in Ireland and spends his summers in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

 

Customer Reviews

109 Reviews
5 star:
 (34)
4 star:
 (29)
3 star:
 (17)
2 star:
 (15)
1 star:
 (14)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (109 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Good beginning, terrible end..., June 10, 1999
This review is from: H.M.S. Unseen (Hardcover)
I loved Robinson's two previous books, and liked that one... until page 200. Then the story grinds to a halt and proceeds at snail's pace to a very disappointing end. I read the second half of the book by skipping 9 pages out of 10 and didn't miss anything important. There are already too many bestselling authors (Cornwell, Clancy, Follet to cite a few) that are currently writing books way below the standards of their beginnings... I just hope that Robinson didn't join the lot. I guess I also just got sick of buckshot in Admiral Morgan's coffee and of his racist habit of calling muslims "towelheads"... also Robinson seems to have a love for series (sinking 11 Kilos in the previous opus and shooting three airliners in this one) that doesn't help with the predictability of his plots. A good editor could have (should have) taken care of that.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Ending Weak, December 21, 1999
This review is from: HMS Unseen (Audio Cassette)
This is for the recording. The action in Patrick Robinson's "H.M.S. Unseen" moves at quite a pace. Robinson introduces techncial issues rapidly and efficiently to show how a submarine could shoot down airliners (including one with the Vice President of the United States). The motivation of Commnader Benjamin Adnam is understandable, but the author does not make a good case for Adnam's conversion into a distressed penitent ...attempting to make admends for all his crimes against humanity. The characterization of the American Admirals suffers in the recorded version. I listened to David McCallum (of "Man From Uncle" fame) on my daily drive. McCallum failed to convert his educated British accent into a reasonable facsimile of an American twang. Further, the author puts too many "F---this" and "holy sh--" and "Jesus H. Christ" into the admiral's dialogue. I found it offensive. American admirals have long since passed the stage of bumbling colonials, unable to make a coherent statement under stressful situations ---- especially admirals who are supposed to be giving daily briefings to the U.S. President. (By the way,"stewardess" is out and "flight attendant" is correct.) Finally, the ending is weak. It is difficult, based upon the characterization of Muslim Commander Adnam, to believe that he would end it all that way.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars This dude grew on me..., March 20, 2000
By 
R. L. MILLER (FT LAUDERDALE FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book is the third in what I hope will be a long series. But you know, when I bought "Nimitz Class" because the concept almost intrigued me, after the first read, it almost wound up getting contributed to my church's book sale table. Speaking as a Tom Clancy fan, Robinson was an acquired taste. To compare him to Clancy is a mistake--Robinson concentrates heavily on ships, where Clancy only did one book which spent that much time on the water: "Red October". If you picture somebody who falls between him and Clive Cussler, you've got Patrick Robinson. Where he's like Clancy is that his characters are plain ole life-size, not Homeric like Cussler's Dirk Pitt. The only problem I see is that his American characters aren't always that convincing. In "Kilo Class", he had a Yank using a Brit vulgarism my countrymen would never do unless we were doing a Michael Caine impression. But don't let that stop you from buying this book--in the same way the Colonel does chicken well, Robinson does Navy well.
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First Sentence:
THE LIGHT WAS FADING ALONG HAIFA STREET, and it was almost impossible to spot any Westerners in that seething, poor section of Baghdad. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
ops area, periscope depth, navigation officer, torpedo room, national security advisor
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ben Adnam, Arnold Morgan, United States, Admiral Morgan, Royal Navy, North Atlantic, Bandar Abbas, Bill Baldridge, Admiral Badr, Martin Beckman, Middle East, Air Force Three, Benjamin Adnam, Bob Trueman, Admiral Mulligan, Kathy O'Brien, Douglas Anderson, Flower of Scotland, Jesus Christ, New York, Secret Servicemen, Gulf of Iran, Fort Meade, John Mulcahy, Brian Lambert
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