Review: World Tension Contemporary Atomic Submarine Soap Opera
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 5, 2013
But it's an excellent one, this story: "Seawolf Mask of Command" by Cliff Happy.  The story is right up to date with players such as Iran, North Korea and Russia in a battle of nerves with the USA. At times the story line is slightly over the top with uber-drama and one big crisis after another, but it reads well, is well-written and at times a page-turner (Kindle clicker).The personal story that surrounds a Lt. JG Kristen W., who is the first woman ever to be assigned to a US Navy Submarine, is a bit silly and overdone a tad bit too much of the time. One must endure her enduring life on the sub, a place fundamentally hostile to a woman. She and the Captain of the ship, Sean Brodie, are transparent silent partners in their submerged attempts and failures to fall in love. The sexism and discrimination she suffers on board don't have the sound of reality. Why? Because of exaggeration. There's way too much "in her head" ramblings of her self-inflicted and self-centered suffering. At no time did I feel much sympathy for her. Nor many of the others, for that matter.The bigger international scenario in which the Seawolf sails into is both believable and fantasmagorical at the same time. The crew characters and other Naval officers we meet from time to time seem a bit overdrawn, but for the most part believable. Brodie, the ship's captain, is like his ship: silent, dangerous when provoked, and deep. He's hard to like, but I did pity him. A few of the minor characters, such as the sailor who brings Kristen her tea every morning, are fun and cleverly interesting.This book is part one of a two-part series with the same group of characters at the beginning of the sequel. The story is technical (but who among us would understand whether or not the technical aspects are correct or accurate?), full of Naval parlance, modern-day weaponry and gizmos. Only a few times did I find myself skipping ahead over the very detailed technical descriptions, however.It's a good story, and I found myself often reading it at breakfast, a sure sign of being "into" a story, no?  I give it a 3.9, rounded up to a 4.0 on Amazon's  rating scale. I look forward to the sequel which I've already begun.