Two massive ships are on a dual path to destruction. One is a freighter carrying nuclear materials to Japan; the other, a cruise ship heading for the Mediterranean. Neither will reach their destinations. Two factions—Japanese eco-terrorists and Middle East extremists—have joined forces to infiltrate the ships, incapacitate the crew, and change course toward a common target: The United States of America.
In Washington, Charlie Dean and a team of commandos are dispatched on a life-or-death mission to blow the hijackers’ plot out of the water. Their plan: board the ship unnoticed, pose as ordinary passengers, and overtake the terrorists. But time is running out. The seized ships are crossing the Atlantic with the combined strength of a full-scale nuclear torpedo. And New York City is just on the horizon.…
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The action moves swiftly to its Hollywood ending.” —Publishers Weekly
THE TRAITOR
“In bestseller Coonts’s assured new international thriller, Tommy Carmellini, the sardonic, laid-back CIA agent who became a star in 2004’s Liars and Thieves gets a shot at the big time.” —Publishers WeeklyLIARS & THIEVES
“Vintage Coonts...plenty of action and intrigue, with the added benefit of a new lead character.” —Dallas Morning News
Excellent.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
LIBERTY
Frighteningly realistic.”—Maxim
“Gripping…Coonts’s naval background and his legal education bring considerable authority to the story, and the narrative is loaded with detailed information about terrorist networks, modern weaponry, and international intrigue…the action is slam-bang.”—Publishers Weekly
From the Back Cover
THE ENEMY IS ON BOARD.
Two massive ships are on a dual path to destruction. One is a freighter carrying nuclear materials to Japan; the other, a cruise ship heading for the Mediterranean. Neither will reach their destinations. Two factions—Japanese eco-terrorists and Middle East extremists—have joined forces to infiltrate the ships, incapacitate the crew, and change course toward a common target: The United States of America.
DETONATION HOUR IS APPROACHING.
In Washington, Charlie Dean and a team of commandos are dispatched on a life-or-death mission to blow the hijackers’ plot out of the water. Their plan: board the ship unnoticed, pose as ordinary passengers, and overtake the terrorists. But time is running out. The seized ships are crossing the Atlantic with the combined strength of a full-scale nuclear torpedo. And New York City is just on the horizon.…
“Coonts knows how to write and build suspense. . . a natural storyteller.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“The master of the techno-thriller.”—Publishers Weekly
Stephen Coonts is the author of 14 New York Times bestsellers, the first of which was the classic flying tale, FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER. Born in 1946, Stephen Paul Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a coal-mining town of 6,000 population on the western slope of the Appalachian mountains. He majored in political science at West Virginia University, graduating in 1968 with an A.B. degree. Upon graduation he was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy and began flight training in Pensacola, Florida. He received his Navy wings in August, 1969. After completion of fleet replacement training in the A-6 Intruder aircraft, Mr. Coonts reported to Attack Squadron 196 at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington. He made two combat cruises aboard USS Enterprise during the final years of the Vietnam War as a member of this squadron. After the war he served as a flight instructor on A-6 aircraft for two years, then did a tour as an assistant catapult and arresting gear officer aboard USS Nimitz. He left active duty in 1977 and moved to Colorado. After short stints as a taxi driver and police officer, he entered the University of Colorado School of Law in the fall of 1977. Mr. Coonts received his law degree in December, 1979, and moved to West Virginia to practice. He returned to Colorado in 1981 as a staff attorney specializing in oil and gas law for a large independent oil company. His first novel, FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER, published in September 1986 by the Naval Institute Press, spent 28 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists in hardcover. A motion picture based on this novel, with the same title, was released nationwide in January 1991. The success of his first novel allowed Mr. Coonts to devote himself full time to writing; he has been at it ever since. He and his wife, Deborah, enjoy flying and try to do as much of it as possible. Mr. Coonts' books have been widely translated and republished in the British Commonwealth, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, China, Japan, Czechoslovakia, Serbia, Latvia, and Israel. Mr. Coonts was a trustee of West Virginia Wesleyan College from 1990-1998. He was inducted into the West Virginia University Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 1992. The U.S. Naval Institute honored him with its Author of the Year Award for the year 1986 for his novel, FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER. Mr. Coonts and his wife, Deborah, reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
This review is from: Sea of Terror (Stephen Coonts' Deep Black, Book 8) (Mass Market Paperback)
The first six of the Deep Black series with coauthor Jim DeFilce were great: full of action and the repeating zaney characters. With coauthor William Keith the beautiful but ill-tempered Lia DeFrancesca has all but disappeared. Charlie Dean mostly shows up at the end to shoot a few people. Rubin does have a small part, but not a particularly interesting one. And horror of horrors Coonts and Keith have killed off the loveable jokester Tommy Karr in their first collaboration Artic Gold--also a disappointment.
My advice is stick with the first six with Jim DeFilce who has injected energy and entertaining character development with other authors including Richard Marchinko, Larry Bond, and Dale Brown. He is also good on his own, for example Warbreaker.
I am not buying another Coonts/Keith collaboration.
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This review is from: Sea of Terror (Stephen Coonts' Deep Black, Book 8) (Mass Market Paperback)
I love stories of how hi-tech gizmos solve crimes and this one, as well as all of Stephen Coonts' Deep Black series, does that. But, I've become attached to Deep Black's key characters, Lia and Charlie. They show up at the beginning wrapping up other jobs they're on, sporadically throughout for reasons almost unrelated to the main plot, and then Charlie arrives at the end to save the day. As a result, the brilliance of the plot suffers. It is Charlie and Lia who usually come up with creative solutions to impossible problems and in Sea of Terror, the bad guys win too often. I'm quite sure if Coonts had allowed Lia and Charlie to be more involved, the cruise ship would have been rescued much sooner.
The other issue that bothered me was that Coonts spent too much time on political machinations. I don't like political thrillers (with the exception of Advise and Consent). We have enough in the real world.
Despite all of this, I still gave it a 4 out of 5. A big reason is that there aren't that many good techno-thrillers on the market, so I saver each one. But my recommendation to Coonts is, stick with the characters you've developed in this series. They are why we buy the book.
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This review is from: Sea of Terror (Stephen Coonts' Deep Black, Book 8) (Mass Market Paperback)
the main characters from the other books had been in this one.
I have enjoyed reading about Charlie and Lia's exploits around the world, the high tech gear they use, and the people who support them. All the way from the first book of the series have I followed them. I was excited for a new "chapter" in their story.
Unfortunately for me, the main characters I know and love are largely absent from this book's pages. More time is spent setting up the story, and then bolstering the story than is spent following Charlie trying to end the crisis. Lia seems to only be in as an afterthought.
There just seemed to be little to no real imagination in the writing. Plot lines were obvious, and it didn't have the feel of a techno-thriller.
There were a few great moments, but that was about it. It just wasn't worth my time in the final analysis.
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