This is a salty one, sorry! 🧂

TL;DR: Mission doesn't start until the 70% mark. Slow. Cringey dialogue and characters. Unable to suspend my disbelief. Unlikeable, annoying, know-it-all, attraaactive female character. Did I mention she's attractive?

Very slow to start. The opening scene is repeated around 6 times, as the "we're in trouble and why" message makes its way up the chain, mercifully, eventually reaching the president.

Military dialogue and behaviours that are very difficult to believe. During the very first briefing for the mission (there are a lot) it is said that two admirals are invited on stage (so everyone knows who they are) and they proceed to wave to everyone.

Lots of "Hi" and "hey". It all feels far too casual and informal. The team of 6 goes around the table to introduce themselves, then are told to go around the table a second time to say what name they wish to be called.

The master chief says he would be "honoured" to let the lone female crew member use his private shower facilities once a day. Honoured!

Samantha, golly is she annoying, but she is sooo attractive. They can't have that onboard, what about the mission!.. This is about where I started skipping forward, only to find out that they start sleeping together before it even begins.

Then skipping further forward to find where the mission finally starts - 70%. 70% of the book is spent on preparation before the sub even departs.

I left it there.

A good book, but I was expecting a little bit more action. Wouldn't put this book on top of a tbr pile, though, but I don't regret reading it

Thanks to Samuel and NetGalley for allowing me to read The SOOF.
It was a difficult book to read as a lot of the ARC was not properly formatted.
I enjoyed the first half of the book, particularly the technical descriptions which were really interesting.
However I am not so sure about the amount of influence which Dr. Stone had on the personal lives of the crew of the Hawkbill.

This wasn't the greatest book. I couldn't get into it as it was strange to me. It sounded like a good book, but all in all I just couldn't get into the story, The plot was boring.

Okay, I was expecting a submarine based action story, which this….isn’t. It’s an odd book as a sub commander and a female subject matter expert seek to work together to sort a Russian facility that could prove dangerous to the entire world. Obviously they start off at loggerheads before falling madly in love.
I found it very slow going with clichéd dialogue (designed to tell the reader what is going on) and little of the action I was hoping for. A more pedestrian style than this sort of book deserves too. Just didn’t work for me but that might be that I was expecting something very different.

I was in for a surprise. "The SOOF" isn't quite what I expected, but it's an entertaining read with likable characters you'll root for.

It began when Norway notice unusually high military activity and classified communications in the Arctic Ocean's Barents Sea. Lt. Odd Bergstrom who specialized in submarine acoustics detects mysterious submarines. Norway Intelligence Service (NIS) contacts the CIA before heading to Langley. Word is that a military coup is underway in Russia and an underwater/ice facility was built in the Sea of Okhotsk. It's concluded that the SOOF must be destroyed

I like that the MC in this submarine warfare novel is a woman! Dr. Samantha Stone is a civilian. Stone is an environmental scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory and she's the star of the novel and the only woman in this (possible suicide) mission, lending her expertise and knowledge in the Sea of Okhotsk.

What I didn't expect is that majority of the book is set in Pearl Harbor where the submarines' crew, DEVGRU SEALs, and Dr. Stone spend months in preparation and training. The actual action begins after they leave Hawaii for Japan and onward to the Sea of Okhotsk, in the last third of the novel.

What bugged me a little is that Dr. Stone is super smart and 100% perfect. She's the only person who comes up with ideas, works on problems for SEALs, and anticipates the Russian Navy's tactics. Why only her when everyone tasks for this critical mission is the best? She spots the enemy before the best of the best sonar tech on board. There are a bit too many praises and hugs going around as well even from the POTUS who wants a hug from Dr. Stone. It was rather unbelievable and felt a little cartoonish. I do like her quirky and funny side and a blossoming connection with one of the characters. Overall "The SOOF" is an entertaining, and exciting novel.

Geopolitical Thriller

WOW!!! What a timely read! Non-stop action with an incredible build-up to a nail-biting ending. Although fiction, the actions in THE SOOF speak to current events. A world power unafraid of unleashing a catastrophic environmental action. A must read! I received an ARC from NetGalley, and the opinions expressed are my own.