Deep War: The War with China and North Korea—The Nuclear Precipice

October 1, 2018
The latest hair-raising volume featuring U.S. Navy hero Dan Lenson (Tipping Point, 2015, etc.).Two years into a multinational war with the People's Empire of China and the U.S. as the main combatants, the U.S. is in serious trouble. China has already launched a thermonuclear strike that wiped out an American battle group in Hawaii along with 10,000 people. The U.S. does not respond in kind, fearing escalation into total thermonuclear war. Indeed, Chinese leader Zhang threatens to nuke the continental U.S. if the Americans push too hard. Meanwhile, Dan Lenson is missing in action with little hope he'll be found, but he survives and is soon back on duty and deep in the midst of a truly high-tech war. The Chinese have destroyed communications satellites and conducted sophisticated cybersabotage, for example causing the U.S. to manufacture defective turbine blades essential for their battle cruisers. Both sides have combat robots, but plenty of human blood still flows. The war is fought on a wide-ranging stage from Iran to the mid-Pacific, and Lenson tries to help win it without a "massive thermonuclear exchange." Deep inside China, a small American force led by Navy SEAL Teddy Oberg hopes to destroy a target and turn the war's tide. The Vietnamese army (on our side!) desperately tries to fend off a Chinese assault while Marine Sgt. Hector Ramos fights in Taiwan. The USS Savo Island, veteran of several Lenson tales, is damaged and Capt. Cheryl Stuarulakis must scuttle it. There's ample action for thriller readers, with terrific extended battle scenes on a grand scale, both on land and sea. But the story simply stops midaction, so it's not quite the one-and-done novel readers might hope for. That abrupt pause is the tale's only disappointment--the author could have resolved something--but Lenson's legion of fans will be glad to know that the series is far from finished.So long as readers understand they'll need to buy the sequel (at least!) to learn America's fate, they'll enjoy this exciting story.

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Starred review from October 8, 2018
Poyer continues the story arc of 2017’s Hunter Killer in this unforgettable thriller, the 18th entry in his military action series featuring U.S. Navy officer Dan Lenson. America’s war with China has expanded, and it’s not going well. Dan’s badly damaged old ship, the USS Savo Island, is scuttled; North Korea invades South Korea; China is winning the fight in India and Vietnam; and the U.S. and its military forces are threatened by possible Chinese nuclear strikes. Whenever the allies seem to be making headway, the Chinese supercomputer, Jade Emperor, launches cyber attacks that cripple weapons and destroy communications. Then China nukes Hawaii. As for Dan, he’s marooned on an uninhabited island in the China Sea with the two other survivors of the missile strike that destroyed their helicopter. Fans can count on Poyer’s naval battles to be superb, but it’s the scenes of land combat—such as SEAL Master Chief Teddy Oberg leading his band of Mujahedeen rebels in South Asia’s rugged Karakoram Mountains—that will burn their way into readers’ imaginations. Poyer is at the top of his game in this all-too-plausible future war scenario.

November 15, 2018
In Poyer's latest Dan Lenson novel, the war between China, North Korea, and the U.S. reaches a scary point as nuclear options come to the forefront. Admiral Lenson is presumed dead, the U.S. Naval Fleet is near collapse, and a computer virus launched by China could bring down the entire defense grid. Defeat seems inevitable; the U.S. will need to employ unorthodox strategies even to be in position to negotiate a truce. ?Poyer's novel effectively echoes concerns prevalent in the news. Newcomers might feel a bit lost here?this is much more of a serial novel than it is a series with self-contained installments?but Poyer's knowledge of warfare will draw in military-fiction fans and drive them to the earlier volumes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)