Red Tide

Winds of War Series, Book 5

By: William C. Dietz

Narrated by: Ryan Burke

When Chinese satellites detect the presence of an American Battle Group only a few hundred miles over the horizon, Captain Peng Ko receives orders to attack it. The enemy battle group includes the aircraft carrier Concord which, given its planes and escorts, should be impervious to anything that a single cruiser could throw at it.

But the Sea Dragon is equipped with a one-of-a-kind experimental weapon that can not only fire projectiles from a long distance away, but can inflict terrible damage when it does so. Five hits are sufficient to send the Concord to the bottom. The hunt for the Sea Dragon begins.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world, the Allies are planning to attack the Russian fleet in the Black Sea. In order to succeed the Allies will have to engage enemy patrol boats and neutralize heavily armed gun towers.

The invaders will also be forced to fight the cruiser Omsk which, if allowed to enter the Mediterranean Sea, could wreak havoc on Allied shipping. US Navy Commander Maxwell Ryson and his squadron of Pegasus Class II Hydrofoils will befront and center during the attack, and will, despite their relatively small size, be forced to engage the mighty Omsk.

©2019 William C. Dietz (P)2022 Tantor

Nice Stories, but the devil is in the details

I have continued to buy and read this series. Each time wondering why. I generally enjoy the stories and plots. But in this most recent book, it seems that the things that have bugged me in previous storeis has gotten worsee. Understand it is a "novel" and a work of fiction, but if you are gong to to use actual weapons and weapons paltforms, at least get the details correct. There are too many wrong facts, or erroneous information to list. This has been noticable in each book, but seems worse here. Each time I hear one of those it detraacts from the experience. There are also frequently repeated phrases and sentences not far apart in the story. Again, distraction....from an otherwise enjoyable story.

And as far as the performance, that is even worse. The narrator uses a simulated "shout", dragging out words as if being shioted way, wayyyyyy too often. It is very tiresome. Also, many words are mispronounced. Especailly location names.

Although I gnerally enjoy the storylines of these books, this will probably be my last as I can no longer get past the inconsistancies and narration. Get a better proofreader and new narrator, and I'd gladly come back.

Difficult to follow

I kept forgetting my place before realizing it didn’t matter. The book was more a series of vignettes loosely connected by a thin thread than a coherent story.