Customer Reviews

Silent Waters

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

 

 

Darius McCann is the commander of the USS Hartford submarine and Amy Russell is the superintendent in charge of making the repairs on board. Before Amy boards the sub with Darius to make a needed repair, Lee Brody, petty officer second class, spies someone in the torpedo room. He inquires as to who they are and what they are doing but before he gets his answer he is knocked out.

After boarding Hartford, Amy does some preliminary testing but the results don't show much, then Amy receives a call telling her there is a fire on the docks. She is on her way up when she gets side tracked and heads to the sub's office with McCann. They are in the office when someone slams the door shut and locks them in.

On the docks, investigators realize the fire was set as a decoy and everyone is scrambling to find out why Hartford is leaving the dock unauthorized and why commander McCann and a civilian are on board. It becomes evident that Hartford has been hijacked. What's not clear is whether or not commander McCaan is a hostage or an accomplice.

Finding a nuclear reactor, McCann has to disable it before the hijackers can use it. He and Amy go toe to toe with the hijackers. Since torpedoes have been fired, capturing them is no longer an option. They need to kill them to stop them.

McCann and Amy have to work together to save themselves and a fellow crewmember. A turn of events has them rescued. But getting off Hartford is only part of the fight. They need to find out who the hijackers are, as they still pose a threat to the United States and until they are stopped no one is safe.

Silent Waters is realistic, thrilling and suspenseful. The entire time I was reading, I was picturing the events unfolding on the big screen. This story is completely engrossing and extremely entertaining. McCann is a hero in every sense of the word. Amy is the perfect partner for him both romantically and intellectually. Silent Waters is fantastic. It has an action-packed and riveting storyline. I highly recommend this exciting and romantic story!


Nannette
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Because of problems with its navigation system, Los Angeles class submarine USS Hartford docks at the Electric Boat shipyard for repairs. One night while ship superintendent Amy Russell is on duty, the sub is hijacked, with her aboard. She had been in the control room going over the ship's navigation systems with its skipper, Darius McCann, when the sub was taken. The two of them are locked in a room but manage to escape and wreak havoc on the hijackers' plans. On land, Lieuitenant Colonel Sarah Connelly and Commander Bruce Dunn are investigating the sub's disappearance and finding a lot of clues that don't add up.

Meanwhile, it's the last day before a presidential election. The authors have taken the liberty of assuming that all Americans hate President Bush as much as they do, and created a caricature of their opinion of him in President Will Hawkins, a cold-hearted, war-mongering bumbler that the nation has tired of. His opponent, humanitarian and all-around good guy Senator John Penn, is everything Hawkins is not. In addition to Penn's all-around good-heartedness, he's the black half of a biracial couple, and out of his three children, one is gay and one is handicapped. How...quaint that one family can cover so many agendas, though they did neglect any mention of a beloved house staff of illegal aliens.

The political propaganda in this book is nauseating. I suppose it never occurred to the authors that a person may pick up a work of fiction because one is tired of the political bipartisanship that saturates the media. Instead, we're subjected to their personal views with no attempt at restraint. I tried to be open-minded and even ignore it, but wound up insulted by the propaganda they're trying to shove down my throat.

That aside, this is a second-rate thriller that concentrates more on the drama of events than on the action, and while one of the romances works, the other is just cumbersome. Its premise is implausible and its villain eye-rollingly obvious. It's safe to say my bookshelves are safe from any more Jan Coffey novels.

The USS Hartford nuclear submarine needs to make emergency repairs. However, Commander Darius McCann soon realizes that there is more to the stop then just a repair. Terrorists have gained control of the sub leaving him and his engineer Amy Russell in a precarious position of trying to stay alive while thwarting the enemy.

Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Connelly and Commander Bruce Dunn conclude something is not right about the Hartford. They team up to figure what that is and soon reach the horrifying conclusion that cold-blooded killers, probably suicide bombers having access to nukes, have gained control of the vessel driving it on a path that is taking it to a panic stricken New York City.

SILENT WATERS is an action packed thriller that never slows down from the moment that the Commander realizes his ship has been taken until the final climatic countdown to either the ultimate terrorist act or its prevention. The key players seem genuine especially the beleaguered Americans racing against time to stop a potential suicide bombing that will make 9/11 seem trivial in scope. Jan Coffey provides a strong thriller with a superb political twist that will stun the audience.

Harriet Klausner

I'm only half-way through this, and I can't wait to get back to it each day.

Ha! Several have written the political-left view is annoying, but it's great in my view. It's unusual to find a military book with a left slant--I love it.

I'm glad to have found this author. She has good character development, complex scenes and good info about technical details (think Tom Clancy), and a kindly viewpoint on the whole thing.

Bravo!

It took me but two pages to realize that this team of authors uses their political stand to create the plot of this drama. It is truly a good story... movie type thing... but I was disturbed by the fact that I could pick out an anti Bush/Republican approach and a pro John/Theresa Kerry pro democratic slant. I liked the plot... but not the political smell of a leftist liberal feel. Can't endorse their politics but sure do like their drama. I suggest that they can sell more books if they don't lean so far left. Make it more a moderate appeal.

Trite and transparent. Political views disguised as fiction. I expected a lot more from the McGoldricks. Never again.