Tempest Down [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Jeff Rovin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 2004

From the New York Times bestselling writer of Tom Clancy's Op-Center series, a relentlessly paced techno-thriller that plunges readers into the icy depths of the Antarctic.

An experimental U.S. Submarine, the Tempest D, with a propulsion system five-times-faster than traditional drives is to be tested in the remote South Polar waters. Chinese intelligence learns of the test and sends their own submarine to observe. When an underwater collision causes the sumarines to become trapped under the Antarctic ice, they need each other to survive. Meanwhile, a U.S. military team codenamed L.A.S.E.R.-- Land Air Sea Emergency Rescue-- is sent on an unprecedented rescue mission . . . under the Polar cap, every minute matters.

Combining inernational political intrigue, exotic locales and insider details, Tempest Down delivers the same high-tech edge that Jeff Rovin brings to Tom Clancy's Op-Center books.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rovin, author of Tom Clancy's popular Op-Center series, takes the reader on a bone-chilling ride to Antarctica in his first stand-alone military thriller (after two horror novels, Fatalis and Vespers), packed with military strategy, submarine warfare and personal sacrifice. Meticulous Maj. Tom Bryan is field commander of the U.S. military's new LASER (Land, Air, Sea Emergency Rescue) team, a highly qualified unit trained to save trapped or stranded military personnel. The team gets its first chance to act when the Tempest, a high-tech submarine, goes on a top-secret scientific test run in Antarctica and encounters the Destiny, a Chinese submarine on an elusive mission all its own. Trouble ensues, and the LASER and Tempest crews must stave off an international political crisis while engineering an underwater rescue mission. Do they risk exposing the Tempest's secrets or do they save the lives of dozens of sailors? The large, lively cast includes a stubborn rear admiral nicknamed "Stone," a Chinese intelligence officer afraid of defeat and an arrogant, regulations-obsessed mission scientist. Rovin weaves a story so intricate and intense, readers will find themselves clutching the edge of their seats. The copious tech talk will deter some, and Rovin's writing is choppy, but the nail-biting suspense and rousing heroism may push Rovin out of Clancy's shadow for good.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Booklist

After a career of distinguished anonymity doing the Op-Center series for Tom Clancy enterprises, Rovin emerges as a thriller writer in his own right, though with a rather Op-Center-like elite trouble-shooting group at center stage, setting up primarily covert operations and performing them, if necessary. Rovin's group star is L.A.S.E.R. --Land Air Sea Emergency Rescue, that is--and it quickly moves from rescuing to covert operations. The latest thing in American submarines is trapped under the Antarctic ice, you see, and a Chinese submarine is on the prowl to "rescue" the Americans --and loot their secrets. Then the Chinese submarine also becomes trapped, and the brotherhood of the sea, depicted quite movingly, comes into play, and so does L.A.S.E.R. The subsequent yarn has all the fast pacing, state-of-the-art technology, and knowledge of international intrigue that this kind of thriller requires, as well as characterization and ideological balance rather better than those in most of the competition. Looks like Rovin has rather a future in the genre. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Unknown; 1st edition (March 22, 2004)
• ISBN-10: 0312307616
• ASIN: B000HWYYXA
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #539,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Jeff Rovin asks too much, May 24, 2005

By 

B. Parsons - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tempest Down (Paperback)

As a reader of techno-thrillers, I expect a bit of "willing suspension of disbelief" in order to appreciate the work of a writer who wants to push the technology envelope. But unless I'm traveling to a galaxy far far away, I don't expect to have to abandon the laws of physics. For Tempest Down, it's not just that Jeff Rovin didn't bother to do a little home work (although it's clear that he didn't), it's that he either doesn't understand or chooses to ignore some very basic truths and so undermines his entire premise. This story focuses on the rescue of submariners whose vessels are trapped on the ocean bottom off the Antarctic coast pinned under a submarine ice fall. Unless there have been big changes since the last time I checked, ice floats. While to my mind this is one of the more egregious flaws, it is not by any means the only one. For example, Rovin's understanding of the effects of pressure (kind of important in underwater stories) is barely rudamentary and there are many narrative faults as a result. His primary plot device, the super-cavitation drive, seems to be tool that would would make his super secret submarine about as stealthly (important to a submarine) as a fire engine driven through a daycare center. But now I'm just being mean.

Tempest Down is not a bad read if you don't ask more of your entertainment than some intrigue and a little excitement. If you like story that is well thought out and tightly woven, you won't like this.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Physics be damned---full speed ahead, June 30, 2005

By 

Mark J. Borgerson - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tempest Down (Paperback)

Other reviewers have pointed out the glaring errors in physics and submarine operations in this book, so I won't repeat them. For me the problems started on the front cover of the paperback with "Beneath the Arctic Ice a battle for survival is being waged". Sounds good---except that the story takes place in the ANTARCTIC! I haven't figured out whether this was a conscious error on the part of the publisher---who realized that subs really DID go under arctic ice on a regular basis) or a dumb oversight by a designer who hadn't bothered to read the book.

The other thing that bothered me was either the lack of simple geographic knowledge or inability to do simple math. The story has a converted small oil tanker sailing from Kings Bay, Georgia to the Weddell Sea (30.8N to 70S)---a round trip of at least 12000 nautical miles if you ignore inconvenient land masses and a stopover in the Falklands---in just 14 days. That mandates a speed of advance of at least 36 Knots! If you can get converted oil tankers to sail at that speed, why bother with supercavitating submarines!

If you've ever served in the military, you'll also be amused by the laughable confusion over the military ranks of some of the characters. The author seems not to realize that a captain's rank in the Navy is two steps above a major in the Air Force. However, the captain (position) of a research submersible might have the rank of Lieutenant---which is the same as a captain in the air force.

These are not difficult facts to research, and you'd think a reputable publisher would have editors with enough technical background to correct these flaws early in the publishing process.

If you have no knowledge of geography, physics, or the military, you might enjoy this book. Otherwise, go find a maritime thriller a little closer to reality---like something by Clive Cussler (or even better, David Poyer).

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Clueless about submarines, June 5, 2005

By 

E. Neasham "GTO Nut" (Benton City, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tempest Down (Paperback)

I bought this book only because it listed the author, Jeff Rovin, as the writer of Tom Clancy's Op-Center. That series isn't bad. Based upon Mr. Rovin's solo results however, Tom Clancy must do a lot of rewriting on the Op-Center books before they are released. Having spent 22 years in the US Navy associated with submarines, from World War II diesel boats to the latest nukes, I feel I am pretty knowledgeable on submarines. I have never seen a book on submarines that had so many technical errors. Now I realize that sometimes the author must take liberties with reality to advance the story line, but Mr. Rovin makes technical errors that are ludicrous and could have easily been made more realistic without hurting the story at all. Example: the ventilation fans quit running and the oxygen supply drops dramatically! Power is transferred from one boat to the other, underwater, via torpedo signal wires. A research submarine is able to ascertain the wattage of energy being dumped into the water, this from a boat that only a very limited amount of power left.

It is obvious that not only does Mr. Rovin know almost nothing about submarines, but also he isn't willing to work with someone who does, to make the book more believable. I read completely the book to see if it got any better. It didn't.