Published by St. Martin's Press on August 21, 2018

I’m a sucker for submarine novels. I probably read them as I would a horror novel because I would be terrified to be in a submarine, particularly when torpedoes and depth charges are trying to sink it. I’ve rarely met a submarine novel I didn’t like, and I liked The Iceman more than most.

Malachai Stormes is a World War II submarine commander who has a well-deserved reputation for being aggressively crazy when it comes to killing Japanese soldiers and sailors. His insubordinate attitude doesn’t sit well with all of his superiors, but they let him slide as long as he keeps sinking enemy ships. His latest success earned him a promotion and a bigger sub in the Pacific. He takes command in Australia and is quickly dispatched to Guadalcanal with orders about torpedoes that the reader expects him to ignore. One of the book’s themes is the shoddy nature of American torpedo manufacturing and the tendency of submarine captains to ignore senseless orders that assure their torpedo use will be ineffective.

Malachai takes his sub, the Firefish, on a number of missions, sinking tankers and destroyers and shooting an occasional hole in an aircraft carrier. The missions are tense and exciting, as they should be in a submarine novel. Malachai is determined to be innovative, as he demonstrates (to his crew’s horror) by staying on the surface to attack tankers so that he can shoot them with the deck guns. He also has to deal with a nasty fire (never a good thing on a craft that is underwater and filled with explosives) and with a crisis at the novel’s end.

Apart from dazzling submarine warfare scenes, the novel builds interest through Malachai’s interactions with his superiors, his XO, and a woman in Perth. His superiors are unhappy with his willingness to criticize their orders, although they can’t do much about it given his record of success. His XO can’t handle Malachai’s bloodthirsty intensity, particularly when he sinks a Japanese seaplane and then orders the deaths of the survivors so that they can’t reveal their knowledge of the sub attack if they happen to be rescued. The woman in Perth, on the other hand, enjoys Malachai’s company despite his cold-hearted, controlling, and isolated nature.

The Iceman combines suspense with realistic images of war and a believable submarine captain who was damaged by life even before the war threatened to strip him of his remaining humanity. The love story holds no surprises, but it nicely balances the war story. I could complain about some scenes that might be a bit too predictable (has there ever been a fictional submarine captain who didn’t take his sub below its rated depth to test its true crush depth?), but frankly, I enjoyed every underwater scene, predictable or not. Thriller fans, war story fans, and particularly submarine fiction fans should get a kick out of The Iceman.

RECOMMENDED

Classic World War 2 submarine book! Captivating and solid non stop action. Malachi Stormes is captain of submarine stationed in Australia. Book goes into great detail about attacking patterns and all the geometry involved. Chararcters are well developed. Book starts at beginning of war and takes off. Thoroughly enjoyed!!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this advance copy of The Iceman by PT Deutermannn in exchange for an impartial review.

The main character in this World War II submarine thriller is Commander Malachi Stormes, USN. It begins off the French coast in 1942 where Stormes takes his sub dangerously close to the entrance of a heavily mined German port where he torpedoes and sinks a group three U-boats as they leave the harbor. For this he is decorated by the British and promoted to full captain by the American navy. He is sent to the Pacific and given command of a newer submarine, the USS Firefish, based in Perth, Australia. After the fall of the Philippines and the rapid advance of the Japanese, Australia is the only safe base available. For the Firefish’s first mission they are sent out to patrol the main channel, known as “The Slot”, that the Japanese are using to attack the ships surrounding Guadalcanal. The mission is a spectacular success and the crew is thrilled of their accomplishments, but are a little afraid of their new skipper. They call Stormes “The Iceman” because he is so daring and calm in action, and willing to take dangerous chances to accomplish his mission.

I have read a couple of WWII submariners' diaries and Deutermann’s descriptions of submarine life and action are very accurate and descriptive. He also stays away from the standard submarine plot devices giving a very fresh look at the Silent Service. He includes descriptions of the day to day life on a sub while including enough thrilling action that it is never boring. He even manages to throw in a little romance without it getting in the way of the main story. It deals a lot with the very real problems the skippers had with the torpedoes in use in the early war. They were very erratic and often failed to explode. The Navy refused to listen and blamed the problems on poor tactics by the submariners. The book provides an interesting look at the politics involved. Although somewhat of a student of WWII I learned a lot from this book which reads like an outstanding cross between a history book and a thriller. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone with an interest in wartime action and the Pacific war and submarines in particular. Stormes is a fascinating character with an interesting background and real human foibles. My only minor quibble is his repeatedly referring to his cigarettes as “cancer sticks.” I between that term was first appeared in about 1958. But apart from that very minor compliant I very much enjoyed this book.

I just finished reading “The Iceman” by P.T. Deutermann. I was anxious to read this, the fifth in Deutermann’s sea stories as I had enjoyed all the others. Deutermann’s book” Pacific Glory” is , in my opinion, the gold standard for all books, both fiction and non-fiction, about World War II in the Pacific Ocean.. Mr Deutermann is retired from 26 years of active duty in the U.S. Navy, and the son of a career naval officer. It is safe to say that the author has some personal knowledge of naval operations. As with the 4 other sea stories written by Deutermann, “The Iceman” accurately describes the horror of the war in the Pacific and the valor of the young men who served there. The story follows Commander Malachi Stormes, skipper of the American submarine, the USS Firefish on 5 missions in the western Pacific in 1942. Based out of Perth, Australia, Stormes leads his crew as they battle the naval bureaucracy, faulty equipment, and the Japanese. This book is a work of fiction, but it reads like non-fiction. This is another winner for P.T. Deutermann.

When I asked for a copy of this book to read and review I expected to read about a screamer of a commanding officer whos hubris and incompetence put his crew and boat in constant danger. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The CO, nicknamed the Iceman by the crew, is a dedicated and knowledgable submariner who only wanted to sink Japanese ships. His icy personality was brought about by his early past and he has dificulty relating to the crew and officers in a human way. Of course, that all slowly changes as the story progresses. This is a well crafted World War II novel with realistic battle action. Very good book!