Stalking the Red Bear

The True Story of a U.S. Cold War Submarine's Covert Operations Against the Soviet Union

By: Peter Sasgen

Narrated by: Charlie Thurston

Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Stalking the Red Bear, for the first time ever, describes the action principally from the perspective of a commanding officer of a nuclear submarine during the Cold War - the one man aboard a sub who makes the critical decisions - taking us closer to the Soviet target than any work on submarine espionage has ever done before.

This is the untold story of a covert submarine espionage operation against the Soviet Union during the Cold War as experienced by the commanding officer of an active submarine. Few individuals outside the intelligence and submarine communities knew anything about these top-secret missions.

Cloaking itself in virtual invisibility to avoid detection, the USS Blackfin went sub vs. sub deep within Soviet-controlled waters north of the Arctic Circle, where the risks were extraordinarily high and anything could happen. Listeners will know what it was like to carry out a covert mission aboard a nuke and experience the sights, sounds, and dangers unique to submarining.

©2009 Peter Sasgen (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"An exciting and realistic journey deep into the cold black waters of covert submarine espionage during the Cold War era." (Kenneth Sewell, New York Times best-selling author)

Excellent read

Really enjoyed the narration and the content. Its just detailed enough to keep the audience engaged without driveling. Cold war, espionage, naval history all combined in one nice package.

Meh

Not what I expected. It is possible to create great historical fiction by combining the history with the fiction. Here, the fiction stands separate and distinct from the history. Not a very good mix in my opinion. At least, the way it was done here.

Tom Clancy fan

Been a sub fan since Tom Clancy’s books. This was a good narrative in line with Clancy.

An interesting and informative look at submarine ops

I liked both the main story as well as the detail of sub ops and procedures

Great book! Recreates harrowing missions!

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Very insightful and descriptive of such an important aspect of the Cold War. The chess game we were playing with the Russians is something not enough people today are enlightened about. Read this book!

A peak into a submarine's life.

This book gives some insight as events and things that could have happened during the cold war between Russia and the US under the Sea.

Enjoyed!

It was a unique format, I really enjoyed it. Well written, ready for more. I liked the use of a fictional name for a real person

the real action part of the story was excellent.

understandingly, some technical details were needed, there seemed to be an over abundance of technical information.

How good the US Subs were in the Cold War

Good read not too long good information. Amazing how the Russians could even do their job with how the government treated them and how unsafe their weaponry was

Good performer, lack luster story

I want to start out saying the performance was great, but there just wasn't any substance to the story. Well, actually no. It was only substance. It makes for a decent read, but it doesn't seem to be telling story. Everything is routine, no sense of pressure, and no conflict of any kind. And while the Russian point of view was interesting, it served no real purpose. The two subs never even interact with each other. And finally, the story just kinda stops abruptly.

TL;DR: Not a bad book, but definitely not a good one. Know what you are getting into.