what a tedious read😭 i was curious since one of my favorite movies is a thriller involving submarines and nuclear warfare but here i was just lost. between the hyper specific US navy verbiage and terms, the 4783992 different POV’s and the absence of in depth character development or even just presentation, i 1) didn’t care much and 2) was utterly lost most of the time. that makes me sound stupid but i was getting the russian words mixed up and i probably should’ve googled a map of the area tbh but if you aren’t very well versed in those areas (geopolitics and US submarines), you probably won’t enjoy that book either. 2⭐️

I have read most books in this series and this one is just as good as the others. There is a splinter group in the Kamatcha peninsula called the Children of the Gulag. The want to establish their own country in Siberia and are willing to take any country's help and do anything to make this happen. A lot of the world leaders dealing with this situation are torn on what to do which propels the book along. The book is a little far fetched but really fun as the action packed pages keep moving along.

The “Silent Service” utilizes vessels that ply the sea in secret. Clandestine voyages are essential for the security and safety of every country. Russia also has a sophisticated submarine service comparable to the United States.

Russia considers the Sea of Okhotsk to be within their sovereign territory. The United States maintains the 12-mile limit and considers any water beyond the limit to be international waters. Russia considers their limit to be 150 miles from their shores. The above-mentioned sea is totally surrounded by Russian lands and is therefore considered part of Mother Russia.

Henrietta Foster is the Commander of the submarine Gato which routinely enters this sea to protect U.S. interests and to monitor Russian shipping. Russia is not happy about this event. Acoustical equipment can identify most ships worldwide by the sounds of the machinery and equipment on the craft.

When the Seventh Fleet sends in a task force to test the responses of the Russians, the potential for catastrophic responses by both sides is always a factor. These writers illuminate the problem and the novel presents the ever-present danger. I found this book intriguing and exciting as the situation unfolds. I recommend it to anyone interested in world affairs and naval tactics. 4.5 stars – CE Williams

A new group of revolutionaries have surfaced in the Kamchatcka Peninsula in far eastern Russia. They call themselves the "Children of the Gulag" and they are the children of people sent by the USSR to one of the cruelest topographies on earth to mine gold and other minerals. But after the USSR fell they were just abandoned to their fates.

The "Children" have created a viable community of those left in this icy wilderness. They now want to declare themselves independent from the Russian Federation. To do this they have made deals with the North Koreans, the Red Chinese and the Americans for arms and strategic help.

It's an odd story and takes some turns that are a little over the hill, but it reads as a good story.

I have just finished my read of George Wallace and Don Keith's "Snapshot" from an ARC graciously provided to me by the publisher, Severn River Books. I am pleased to report that the book, best characterized as technofiction, is a delightful and fast read. The premise here is that survivors and their descendants from some of the old Soviet gulags, long forgotten by the modern Russian state, have now banded together and have been working since the collapse of the Soviet Union to lay the foundations of a new Siberian state. They realize that their struggle will necessarily be asymmetrical, and they try to compensate for their obvious underdog position by utilizing surprise and manipulating the United States, China and North Korea and playing them off against each other in a truly Machiavellian fashion. This is a very risky business with potentially devastating consequences, and there is an abundance of action with naval forces facing off against each other in international waters claimed by Russia and American naval forces vs. Russian naval forces vs. a stolen Russian submarine now working for the "Children of the Gulags" as the Siberian separatists style themselves. Throw in a desperate Russian leader overextended in the Ukraine, an unscrupulous American President financed by the Chinese, and a North Korean regime gleefully playing off everyone else, and you begin to get the increasingly plausible picture. The book is action packed and almost impossible to put down as the rather far fetched premise begins to come together and everyone tries to navigate their way through the morass of international implications. Fans of submarine tales will love this as will those looking with concern at the way the world is developing in these troubled times.