H. M. S. Unseen by Patrick Robinson (1999, Hardcover)

Description: H. M. S. Unseen by Patrick Robinson (1999, Hardcover). H.M.S. Unseen - Dust jacket in ACCEPTABLE condition with plenty of shelf wear. Hardcover in VERY GOOD condition. Pages in GOOD condition, off-white, with yellow slightly dust stained edges. “It's the deadliest ship in the world. You cannot see it. You cannot hear it. And it's just fallen into enemy hands. Patrick Robinson became an instant hit with his widely acclaimed New York Times bestseller Nimitz Class and then did it again with his second gripping novel Kilo Class. Now this nationally bestselling author returns with his most suspenseful naval technothriller yet--a tense, unpredictable adventure that rivals the best of Tom Clancy and Dale Brown. The most highly efficient and lethal underwater ship ever built--even better than the Russian Kilo Class, and nearly impossible to detect--the 2,500-ton H.M.S. Unseen is one of only four diesel-electric submarines ever owned by the Royal Navy. While out on a training mission off the coast of England, the unthinkable happens: The ship vanishes into the depths, baffling British and American military intelligence, including wily National Security Adviser Admiral Arnold Morgan. "Submarines are very, very dangerous and very, very sneaky. You just don't want 'em wandering around on the loose when no one knows where they are. You have to keep an eye on them. If there's one thing that makes me real nervous, it's a submarine that's somehow gone off the charts." One year later, Morgan's foreboding is about to be proven deadly. On a routine flight, the Concorde, the world's safest and most secure domestic plane, disappears without a trace over the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. A few months later the brand new Starstriker jet, a miracle in American aeronautic technology and supersonic travel, vanishes. Both appear to be random, inexplicable accidents, until another plane--Air Force Three, carrying the vice president of the United States--is blown from the sky. Searching for answers, the brilliant, irascible Morgan devises a chilling theory. Not only is Unseen still out there, but it's been modified to become the most dangerous anti-aircraft weapon at sea. And the admiral is convinced that only one man could have masterminded it: The world's most cunning--and reportedly dead--terrorist spy, Iraqi's Commander Benjamin Adnam, the incomparable operative who hired a nuclear sub and destroyed the carrier U.S.S. Thomas Jefferson a few years before.Determined to stop his old nemesis before he strikes again, Morgan must use all his wits to find Adnam and the rogue sub hiding somewhere in a million square miles of dark ocean water, a mission the admiral knows is about as easy finding a needle in a desert--blind. But what Morgan doesn't know is that the fanatically religious military terrorist has a chilling agenda of his own--a plan that will bring these two intense warriors face to face.and only one will come out alive. A breathtaking tale that races from the shifting sands of the Middle East to deep within the black waters of the North Atlantic; from the Oval Office to the bowels of one of the most powerful warships ever built; H.M.S. Unseen will keep readers guessing as they race to discover its powerful, stunning conclusion. Amazon.com ReviewPatrick Robinson might not be the smoothest writer in the world, but for action on and around the sea he's as good as Tom Clancy or the late, much-missed Hammed Innes. Robinson's latest finds ace Iraqi terrorist Benjamin Adnam--supposedly killed at the end of Nimitz Class--alive and decorated in Baghdad. Ben instinctively knows that he is no longer useful to Saddam Hussein, and sure enough, he surprises and kills an official hit squad waiting for him at his home. Burning with the desire for revenge, Ben walks to Iran (a two-week trek through desert and marshes wonderfully described by Robinson) and convinces that country's leaders to help him launch a scheme that will punish both Iraq and the Great Satan, America.Commander Adnam, trained as a submariner in England and Israel, hijacks the HMS Unseen,, one of the world's most dangerous and undetectable subs, refits it with Russian missile launchers, and uses it to shoot down three very high-profile airplanes, including a supersonic Concorde and a plane carrying America's much beloved vice president (this is 2006, by the way). As planned, the Iraqis are widely suspected--but national security adviser Albert Morgan recognizes Adnam's handiwork and begins a global search. There's a beautifully detailed journey, across Scotland and Ireland, before the book settles down into a smaller but satisfying story of Adnam's personal quest for some kind of redemption. --Dick AdlerFrom Publishers WeeklyThe third near-future naval techno-thriller from Robinson (Kilo Class; Nimitz Class) breaks neatly into two stories. The first is about a hijacked sub and its brief but effective reign of terror against American and European aircraft. Iraqi terrorist Benjamin Adnam, escaping death at the hands of his countrymen, travels to Iran and offers his services to the reigning Ayatollah, with plans for a twisted revenge. He will hijack a British submarine that is about to be sold to Brazil, fit it with a missile launcher and attack American aircraft in such a way that Iraq, not Iran, will be blamed. When the British sub vanishes, and even before three planes are shot out of the sky (including one carrying the American vice president), Adnam's American nemesis, Admiral Arnold Morgan, discerns the terrorist's hand behind events. But no manhunt follows, as Robinson instead focuses on Adnam's inner turmoil and his fate as a traitor who's been rejected by his mother country and discarded by his surrogate home. Robinson uses this departure from formulaic plotting to deepen Adnam's character, from cold super-terrorist to lost and searching human being, meanwhile allowing Adnam's yearnings to spark a few final plot twists. The energy of the opening half flags in the novel's later part, however. Robinson is visibly developing as a writer, but he's not yet able to make the inner struggles of one man as exciting as the shooting down of a Concorde jet by a sub. Still, his willingness to challenge the rigid boundaries of the military thriller is welcome, particularly as his writing stays always on its toes. Simultaneous HarperAudio; author tour. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.From Kirkus ReviewsRobinson, rising master of naval technothrillers (Nimitz Class, 1997, is now being filmed by Universal Pictures), returns with his second supersubmarine tale, something of a sequel to 1998's Kilo Class. As in Nimitz Classwhere a US aircraft carrier disappeared in the Arabian Sea without a tracea very rare advanced-design, diesel-electric submarine, H.M.S. Unseen, seemingly evaporates into the unknown off the English coast while headed for Brazil. A year later, a Concorde jet also disappears, this time over the North Atlantic, and soon thereafter a supremely high-tech, supersonic Starstriker jet vanishes as well, leaving nary a splash in its wake. Then Air Force Three, with the American Vice President on board, is blown from the sky. Whats causing all this havoc? Well, believe it or not, H.M.S. Unseen has been subnapped by Iraqi terrorists and is now under the charge of Commander Ben Adnam, the wiliest terrorist seen in many a year. Adnam comes up against his own match, however, in the figure of National Security Advisor Admiral Arnold Morgan, though not before misleading Morgan into having the US fire missiles on Iran, letting that country take the vengeance that shouldve been wreaked on the real ringmasters whod shot down Air Force Three. Far more smoothly written than Tom Clancy's mammoth digital readouts. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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