Book Review: Clearwater

Reviewed By: David Ball

Clearwater     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Bill Buchanan
Class/Genre:   Military   Mystery   Submarines
Berkley, March 2000, $ 6.99, 475 pp.

Clearwater is a new technology for tracking subs from satellites by watching their wakes. It's only effective to 100 meters, but that's enough to change submarine warfare forever. In a time of drastic budget cuts, the US depends heavily on this technology for ASW ( Anti-Submarine Warfare). Shortly after they show that Clearwater CAN be used to destroy a ballistic missile submarine before it can launch it's missiles, a US submarine, the Maine, is hijacked by a traitor.

The book details the search for the Maine. Her new captain, Mike Mandrone, is a former Navy officer who had his career and life destroyed because of the book he authored and his testimony before congress. He showed that subs were obsolete because of the new technology and the navy was unable to dispute his claims. As a result, the budget was cut for any new submarine construction. Unfortunately, he was correct, but the US depended too heavily on the first generation of the new technology. Mandrone has had years to think about how to deal with Clearwater. In the employ of a foreign government and getting his data from Clearwater itself as the result of another US traitor, he has 21 Nuclear tipped cruise missiles to use to create a diversion pulling the US navy away from its normal patrol routes in the pacific.

The book is very well written. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Buchanan makes the characters come alive and takes the reader on a rousing adventure. The good guys have their faults and Mandrone is shown to have some good points. It's very realistic. I highly recommend this book.

David Ball

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, David Ball

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