Ice Station Nautilus by Rick Campbell

Published by St. Martin's Press on June 28, 2016

I’m a sucker for submarine novels. This one has four submarines, torpedo battles, undersea rescues, SEAL shootouts with Spetznaz, and all sorts of technical jargon that sounded convincing to me, given that I know nothing about submarines apart from what I glean by reading submarine novels.

A new Russian ballistic missile submarine is carrying a secret. The USS North Dakota is assigned to monitor its maiden voyage. As might be expected when submarines play tag under the polar ice cap, things go wrong pretty quickly, and the story turns into one of survival and rescue. But while the American Navy goes about its rescue mission, the wily Russians hatch a more nefarious plot. That leads to the aforementioned torpedo battles and polar shootouts.

National Security Advisor Christine O’Connor and presidential military aide Steve Brackman are the main characters, although a full cast of military and political characters round out the story. This is the third novel in a series and, while I didn’t read the first two, it works well as a stand-alone. Relationships between the central characters, however, are probably more meaningful to readers who followed the series.

While much of the story is predictable, it is predictably exciting, and occasional surprising moments are rewarding. The story moves at flank speed. Characters have enough characterization to carry a thriller and the plot is no more far-fetched than is typical in a modern action novel. Credible excitement is about all I ask from a submarine novel, and Ice Station Nautilus delivers.

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