Customer Reviews

Phoenix Sub Zero

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a formal Naval officer, I did enjoy reading this book (and his others), but there are some technical inaccuracies and editing problems that were irritating to someone who knows something about the underwater world. I'm always willing to suspend disbelief for a book, but the author needs to make his situations and/or inventions plausible in the context of the fictional universe. From my point of view, DiMercurio fails in this aspect. I won't give it away, but there is a scene in this book where the conditions would kill the participants in a minimum of three separate ways.

On the hardcover book, his bookjacket biography is self-aggrandizing at a minimum. He went to US Army jump school as a Naval Academy midshipmen .. the bio says he served as a paratrooper. He attended US Navy scuba school, which is a fairly short training program, and the bio states he was a USN Diving officer (which is actually a very different program, one that requires a minumum of three months of training. I know. I went through it.)

Still, the books are worth reading, esp. if you get them from a library. Just don't expect great literature.

This is a very strong 4/5 stars, if you keep in mind that Mr. DiMercurio is consciously moving from submarine fact into science fiction as his naval service time drifts into the past. This story had aptly motivated characters on both sides, high stakes, believable imagination, twists balanced by plausibility, and fluid writing. However, the ending dragged a bit, keeping my vote a whit below the 5 star level. I was disappointed with the follow on Barracuda, but I will give Piranha a try just because of this good story.

Phoenix Sub Zero is DiMercurio's third novel, and is even more thrilling and engrossing than his previous two. The scope of the plot is much larger, covering much of the globe, from the deserts of Iran all the way to the polar ice cap. The Destiny-class Hegira is a very well thought-out and described in detail, with interesting descriptions of an artificially-intelligent neural network as the sub's computer system. The action scenes, of course, and spectacular, and described in intricate detail. I can't wait to pick up the author's next novel, "Barracuda: Final Bearing"!

After reading Phoenix Sub zero I found myself in a deja vu' situation. I have read Voyage of the Devilfish and this book seems a little bit like it. It has a good plot and a believable scenario but it threads together like Devilfish. A hunt for a super-sub. A super torpedo, both boats blowing up.

I am hoping for a turn around with Barracuda Final Bearing the next book in the Pacino saga

Phoenix Sub Zero is everything that DiMercurio's past novels are: Fast paced, Fast Action and plenty of techno-wizardry. I don't think that it takes a rocket scientist to recognize where the story leaves established facts and enters the realm of fantasy, but as long as the story keeps us rivited, WHO CARES?

The one thing (for me, anyway) that really set 'Phoenix Sub Zero' apart from the previous adventures in print by DiMercurio is the rescue ending. Sure, there was never any doubt that 'Patch' was going to pull off a last ditch save of the Eastern Seaboard by doing whatever it took to keep the Hegira from firing the potentially devastating Scorpion, but it was the 'how' that kept me transfixed as the story unfolded. After all of the sub novels that I have read, DiMercurio still reigns as the Supreme Commander of adventure sub-fiction. And personally, as long as he can continue to write fun and exciting sub novels, I plan on being a loyal reader.

A scenario where all the Middle Eastern and North African countries become an Islamic super-coalition forms the basis for this excellent and riveting submarine action thriller. When a Navy SEAL attack on a military installation in Turkmenistan fails, the Islamic dictator Sihoud escapes to the Mediterranean and the United Islamic Front's(didn't Tom Clancy 'borrow' this angle for a large part of EXECUTIVE ORDERS a year afterwards?!!) latest ultramodern sub, the HEGIRA, with a neural network computer and supersonic Scorpion cruise missiles armed with plutonium glue warheads targeted at Washington. And as the story develops, two 688-class subs try to stop the HEGIRA. One is sunk, the other forced to bottom out in scenes which give you a genuine sense of claustrophobia! This book puts you right in the thick of the action as well as on-going heroes Admiral Donchez and Captain Pacino try to stop the UIF's weapon of mass destruction! Definitely one that is unputdownable. The action and thrills come thick and fast, the weapons systems of the future are well explained and feasible and the characters are very well crafted, with more dimension and feeling that some other techno-thrillers I've read. On the whole,highly recommended even for non-military readers.

First, what's this thriller - copyrighted in 1994 - about?

Islam has raised a huge army with all sorts of conventional and advanced weapon and has set out to conquer everything and establish a world-wide Caliphate, under the leadership of a fanatical central ruler. They are aiming an especially nasty blow at 'Merica by sending a super-advanced nuclear sub to deliver a super-nasty type of radiation knockout blow to Washington. The valiant submariners of the US get after them under the seas...well, I think you know how it turns out, but there's many a tough loss along the way.

Good and bad (or, as Bob Heinlein used to say, "Orchids and Onions"):

The good:
DiMercurio is a skilful writer and knows a LOT about submarines (though a naval officer reviewer found some glitches). The book is a guaranteed page-turner. The undersea battles will keep you on the edge of your seat. Also - given that he wrote this in 1993 or 1994 - his perception of lots more trouble coming with the world of Islam was accurate. I doubt that at that time he had identified Osama as the prime threat - more likely the sheik who did the first WTC bombing. But he saw the extended rise of fanaticism and a mastermind.

The bad (missed targets):
Contrast this with today's world-view, such as Michael Scheuer's "Marching Toward Hell" which I'm currently reading. Scheuer points out that what the fanatics have been able to demonstrate is that modern high-tech, high-powered weaponry is absolutely not necessary to tie a "superpower" in knots. The insurgents in Iraq use AK47s, IEDs and RPGs and seem to have no need of anything bigger. Osama bin Laden is rumored to favor sending critical messages by donkey runner - so much for satellite intercepts.

DiMercurio also falls into the George Bush fallacy that for some inexplicable reason, the Arabs have taken such a dislike to Western society that they want to exterminate our freedoms and take us over, converting the US to Sharia law. As Scheuer clearly explains, the "freedom " thing is irrelevant: worse, it is a denial of the real reasons for Islamic hostility: addressing them might defuse a lot of the current hatred. The actual reasons, as Osama and others have clearly explained, are to do with stationing foreign troops on Islamic soil, supporting tyrannical regimes like Saudi Arabia, and being 100% for Israel in all conflicts.

So - if you want a thriller that will respond to a certain "suspension of disbelief" this could fill the bill...but caveat emptor.

While it may not have been a super accurate flood of minutia, it is a credit to his writing style. Its a tense book that had just enough action to keep me on the edge of my seat. It was the first submarine book I read while i was deployed in iraq. Due to Dimercurio's skill it got me started on a very long string of Sumbarine books that I have yet to stop reading.
Great place to start.

Another good book by a submarine-adventure author I enjoy. Amazon provides a good way to find early books by authors one enjoys. Books are consistently in the condition advertised and are shipped promptly.

If you like Tom Clancy you'll love Dimercurio