Vertical Dive (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: hovering computer, weekly ops, firecontrol party, Master One, Peter Vornado, Jean-Paul Gardes (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

DiMercurio plunges you into the sea of undersea warfare. -- C.A. Mobley, author of Code of Conflict

DiMercurio really knows his subs...His characters step right off the sub deck and onto his pages. -- Larry Bond

Product Description

During NATO exercises, the French navy unveils a nuclear submarine so advanced that it can elude any radar system in the water. But France's maritime marvel becomes its own worst enemy when a band of Algerian terrorists hijacks the boat-and threatens to wipe Paris off the face of the earth before turning their missiles against America and Russia.

Two NATO subs are called into action: the USS Hampton, captained by veteran sub warrior Burke Dillinger, and the USS Texas, commanded by the iron-willed Peter Vornado. With Paris being evacuated and time running out, the coming conflict will pit the ultimate in technological weaponry against the courage, skill, and determination of Dillinger and Vornado.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Onyx (December 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451412036
• ISBN-13: 978-0451412034
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #257,439 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not his best, but a decent read, January 14, 2006

By	D. Crain "nanohead" (NJ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've read all of Michael DiMercurio's books, and this one is kind of weak unfortunately. It is competent, well written and standard DiMercurio fare, but not as action packed as most of his works. I think he had a bad year personally last year (as he points out in his personal comments in the book), and quite possibly it ended up on the pages of the book.

Having read all his other works, it seemed as though he never really got where he wanted to go. The action didn't really start until nearly 75% of the way through, and then it was decent sub warfare. The beginning 75% was very detailed, and the book could have been a good 300 page longer if the back end of the story was as complete as the front end. But this time it was not. No big deal, I still love his writing and will still buy his books. I pre bought this one as soon as it was announced on Amazon.

I love submarine action, and other than Joe Buff, Michael DiMercurio is the tops in this game.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Predictable, Depressing, and Bloody, December 22, 2005

By	Ian Kirby (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

Bought this book for reading material on a business trip. I found it very slow to get going and strangely depressing. The plot - terrorist hijackers, as usual - didn't get under way until almost halfway through the book. The first part was a lot of run-of-the-mill potboiling and military exercise. The action section was really gory, almost to the point of making me wince. Not in a good way either. I didn't really see the point. All in all Vertical Dive is a pretty hack pulp fiction testosterone trip without anything new to say. Spend your eight bucks elsewhere.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Just wasn't there for me, December 31, 2005

By	S. N. Gaines - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I truly like military action novels, so I was let down by this book.

I found the opening scenes, with an exercise being conducted in the middle of a massive hurricane to be somewhat unbelievable to say the least. While I do know that risking ships and personnel during wartime is part of the deal, risking ships and the same people for an exercise, and one that is essentially a "bet" between the French and American presidents is ludicris.

I also found the paranormal nonsense to be just that, nonsense. It greatly detracted from the storyline, and that plot was telegraphed ahead of time so blatantly that I pretty much had the book figured out from about page 50 or so.

The gratuitous sex scene was totally unecessary to the book, and seemed to be there just to "fill a square" in the accepted novel formula.

It seemed to me that this book was just a reason to let the reading public know about Mr. DiMercurio's divorce. While I'm not doubting the seriousness of that situation, I question his using my money to exorcise his personal demons.

A waste of money.