โAn edge-of-the-seat yarn about an aging nuclear submarine on a secret mission to Russian watersโ by a New York Timesโbestselling master of military action (Publishers Weekly).
The USSMemphis, a dilapidated submarine that that should have been mothballed decades ago, has been given one last mission by the newly elected president.
The task: To sneak illegally into Russiaโs coastal waters and recon the leaking nuclear fuel containers hidden on the floor of the Arctic Ocean. More than just an environmental nightmare, this radioactive burial ground houses enough nuclear capability to destroy most of Americaโs major cities.
The Memphisโs commander, Lowell Hardy, had been looking forward to flag rank and pleasant duty upon the subโs decommissioning. Now heโs trapped in an inconceivably dangerous mission that could easily end his career, if not his life and the lives of his crew. But itโs the crew who feel Hardyโs tension as he tyrannizes everyone on board to ensure theyโll be ready for anything.
Jerry Mitchell, an ex-naval pilot with political connections, is a novice submariner unprepared for his job as a weapons officer. He may be the missionโs greatest liability . . . or its ultimate salvation. Dr. Joanna Patterson is a civilian scientist reporting to the presidentโand every bit as demanding as Hardy.
Amid flaring tempers, faulty machinery, lethal radioactivity, and the raging arctic seas, the submariners seethe with a rage that threatens to break through the surface at any moment. What they donโt yet know is that the mission is not what it seems. Lurking beneath the frigid, black, radioactive waters is a secret far deadlier than anything naval command could imagineโa secret so menacing the Russian Fleet is hell-bent on destroying the Memphis and all who sail in her . . .
โA superb storyteller . . . Larry Bond seems to know everything about warfare, from the grunt in the foxhole to the fighter pilots far above the Earth.โ โThe New York Times Book Review