Book 1), Nimitz Class (Arnold Morgan

Patrick Robinson introduced the world to one of the most deadly villains I have read in some time. The tour through Ben Adnam's submarine with the Scottish Admiral was very interesting also. The author showed great naval knowledge with some of the descriptions that he used in the book. The only dissapointment of the book was that he didn't use more of Ben Adnam. All in all a pretty good book.

I read through a few of these reviews, most notably the bad ones. I thought this was a great book, and I have reread it, and read many of his other books. But one thing in all the reviews kept bugging me... People say there are technical errors. Would you have preferred if it was an English force throughout the whole book? If so, then the Ranks would be perfect, as Admiral Woodward is English. But he chose to make his book realistic. The book is written fantastically, and any technical errors made are simply because his advisor was not part of your system. The book is well written. Screw technical errors. If you read Tom Clancy, it is set in the future often, and some ranks do not even exist! Simply take it as what it is... a mystery (not military fiction) designed for normal people. The technical jargon is there to make people sound realistic to us normal people. I do not profess to know anything about the navy, military ranks, or anything else like that, except for what I learnt in this book, and what this book prompted me to find out. It is a great book.
So let it be, and let people read the mystery, the intrigue... not the obscure clerical errors made by a publisher.

I am so sick of the political undercurrents in Patrick Robinson's books that I have stopped reading them. Though the stories are good, Robinson diminishes them by labeling and pigeonholing and demeaning anybody he does not agree with politically - especially Democrats. I stopped reading Scimiter SL-2 because I got so sick of it. I'm sure HarperCollins would sell more books if they could get him to stop the bashing.

4 stars, but just barely. The inaccuracy to American naval detail and some of the tactics are hard to excuse, but the story had too many good points to ignore. The plot was imaginative, and it granted submarines the power they really have that no one cares to acknowledge. The writing style was fluid overall. There was also obviously a good amount of researched performed, but with the blatant misses on the U.S. naval stuff and over-simplification of good 'ole Kansas boys as the stereotypical American, it's hard to tell where research backs up a detail and where a detail is plainly wrong.

I found myself extremely dissappointed by the ending to this book. The 'Grand Finale' of 450+ pages takes 5 pages to play out. In reality the book plays it much like it would probably happen in real life but that's boring (in real life a fight may only take 30 seonds but it's much more fun watching Jackie Chan fight for 3 minutes in a movie). The above may seem like a petty problem but much of the book is spent establishing the antagonist's credentials as a supreme submarine commander. You keep waiting for the better equipped American navy to go out and do battle with this genius but it never happens. I have no idea why many authors seem to rush the conclusion of a book but this, in my opinion, is one of the worst cases of this I have seen. Perhaps the author thought it was clever but it left me wanting.

I would not particularly recommend this book for those seeking fast-paced, realistic military thrillers. I would recommend books by those who have actually worn a uniform and piloted a plane or sweated under the weight of a heavy ruck. Such as Stephen Coonts or Bob Mayer. Check their books out.

The book is great mind candy reading, perfect for a winter day when you don't have anything else to do. The character interaction especially amongst the U.S. Naval Officers is a little silly. Lieutenant Commanders do not call Admirals by their first name period! Technically there were quite a number of goofs.. too bad the author didn't have an American technical advisor when writing about the U.S. Navy..

This book is a thrilling coaster ride from beginning to end! You wonder if the catastrophe is plausible for 'real world' and then you have the attack on our very own USS Cole! Patrick Robinson is right on key and this should be a wake up notice to our country to what could happen. Very well written, will keep you turning page after page well nto the night. I was so impressed that I have read each of his novels and hope there is another soon on the way.

Those who have written negative comments on this novel are way off the mark. I just finished it and highly recommend the book to all interested in global cat and mouse thrillers. All you Navy guys are challenged! Read this book! You will love it! I served on USS Coral Sea during the Vietnam conflict, and the the threat of enemy attack was always on our minds. It is very timely, considering today's events in the middle east. At times it seems more real than the news we watch every evening. I hate to "jinx" a first-class book, but this would make a great movie if anyone has the guts to produce it. Outstanding work Mr. Robinson!

I strongly recommend this book to all military book lovers. Full of Non-stop action that leaves the reader on the edge of their seat until the last page. Never a dull moment. It was a real page turner. I Can't wait to read the sequal.

I like this book because it gives a very detailed analysis of the characters and best of all its plot is marvellous. It twists around the navy of the different countries. Most of the time it is action and nothing but action.

Just finished this book after reading Kilo Class and enjoying it. Story is a little far-fetched but I enjoyed it. Characters were interesting and I found the story fast moving. Technical details were mostly beyond me and to be honest rushed through text when I got to some of it. I am retired and have a lot of time to read but I am mostly up to latest books by Lee Child, WEB Griffin, Daniel Silva, Tom Clancy, Alex Berenson and Vince Flynn. I am anxious for other authors who write similar fiction.

Maybe I gloss over technical errors to easily. This is a novel, not a manual.
Mr Robinson wrote a great book. His description of Taking off and Landing on an Aircraft Carrier made me feel like I was actually in the F/A 18 taking a trap.
Read this book, its great

I found this book started off well, but after the carrier is lost it starts to drag out. The author drags out conversations and rehashes information several times. For over half of the book the reader knows the plainly obvious, which is not that bad, but some of the conclusions drawn and actions taken by the Americans are just downright outrageous. You don't get a sense that he is writing from two different perspectives. The action really never picks up, and the ending is not climactic at all. Downright disappointing. If you have read or even like Tom Clancy, don't bother with this book. In fact, don't bother at all, whoever you are.

The reviews that compare Mr. Robinson to Tom Clancy are off the mark. Robinson's characters are omnipotent, superhuman, and completely unbelievable. They belong in romance novels, not a military techno-thriller that is billed as "the new standard" in this genre. The level of technical detail is woeful, and where it is present, it doesn't leave the reader believing or trusting it fully. Clancy is a master, this guy is trying to cash in on his coat-tails with a shoddy product. I wish I hadn't wasted my money.

I cannot believe how reviewers could compare this with Clancy. There are so many facts plain wrong regarding naval aviation that I can hardly believe it. Be it ranks, the details of flying an aircraft or operations on a carrier or the radio communications - many things are ridiculous, most plain wrong. It spoils what could otherwise have been a great book - especially since all these facts are readily available, e.g. by reading a few from Clancy, Coonts et al.

I have read Clancy and now I have read Robinson. I now know that Clancy has some competition. There was not one moment in this book that I considered a "snooze". This is a work of fiction, praising the naval prowess of the U.S. and the U.K. If you are a red, white, and blue blooded american, then you will enjoy this book thoroughly. Works of fiction like this are not textbooks, therefore they are not 100% accurate, if they were then they would be so wrought with detail, they would be boring. I.E Larry Bond.

This was my first Robinson book. I heard the unabridged tape version. The narrator was very good.
The plot for this book was very original. The character development was at times difficult to follow. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in political and military affairs.

Although the author punctuates his story with a few paragraphs of action and suspense, for the most part the book begs to be put down. I found that I really looked forward to the book ending, and became upset when I found that the main character still had alot to do before his mission was complete. The ending was dissappointing and obvious. The book is not really worth the paper its printed on..

This book was highly entertaining and written so that even us "non-navy" type people could understand and follow along. I loved the people in the story and hope to see them again in future books by Robinson. Also, I think I more clearly understand why it is so important for us to keep up our military budget!! It may be fiction, but the reality sure rang through!!

Nimitz Class is a first class 'faction' novel written by Patrick Robinson advised by a British sub commander who is widely acknowledged in naval circles as one of the top submariners of all.
First class locations and story.
If Jack Higgins and Clive Cussler's high praise doesn't sell you this book, read the intro and attempt to deny buying.

Nimitz Class is an excellent book that I found had some irrelevant components in the beginning, but 50 pages in, it is very good, and hard to put down. It truly is a great book to read during a long vacation that you have a lot of time to read.

If you disregard his idealising of the main characters along the lines of some romantic novels, Robinson is a master of disaster. I could not put this book down. Super read for a long journey or flight.

I found myself extremely dissappointed by the ending to this book. The 'Grand Finale' of 450+ pages takes 5 pages to play out. In reality the book plays it much like it would probably happen in real life but that's boring (in real life a fight may only take 30 seonds but it's much more fun watching Jackie Chan fight for 3 minutes in a movie). The above may seem like a petty problem but much of the book is spent establishing the antagonist's credentials as a supreme submarine commander. You keep waiting for the better equipped American navy to go out and do battle with this genius but it never happens. I have no idea why many authors seem to rush the conclusion of a book but this, in my opinion, is one of the worst cases of this I have seen. Perhaps the author thought it was clever but it left me wanting.

This is a nasty little piece of proto-fascism. OK, so it's a gripping yarn, in its way, though I concur with other readers that the ending falls rather flat, and there are technical lapses. But when he unabashedly promotes a "Pax Americana" with the US arrogating to itself the unelected role of world policeman, keeping all these nasty lesser breeds in line so that the US can suck their oil dry to ensure its creature comforts, the book gets really objectionable. He seems to think it quite normal that the US should spend 55% of the world's defence budget, at appalling cost to its internal social structure, and that a President should consider himself quite ready to attack three nations because one of them may possibly have injured the US. Note that the deaths of all the Iranian submariners, who were even in his story not at all responsible, are passed over without comment, while the incineration of 6000 US sailors is characterized as possibly "genocide" - that ridicualously debases the meaning of the word. If you really want to enlarge the word in that direction, Dresden and Hiroshima are much more relevant cases, but even those enormous slaughters were not aimed at "the systematic killing or extermination of a whole people or nation" (Webster). He whines about the "liberal" press - that's a joke, in today's mega-corporate media. Oddly enough, he pays absolutely no attention to television, which is where the most vigorous public exposure of the incident would occur. A totally unrealistic premise is that everyone swallows the idea of an accident and no-one hints at terrorism. That would be the first option to surface in public, and would probably have a stronger following than the other - look at Flight 800. His racist characterization of the millions of Middle Eastern peoples as "towelheads" reminds me of the US Senator who was asked where Bosnia was and unhesitatingly jabbed him thumb on the map of Africa. As another reader pointed out, Robinson doesn't even know that Iranians are not Arabs. Has he ever read one page of the history of Persia, which considerably antedates the history of his own foggy isle? Like many of his ilk, from Kipling through Heinlein (though he is far below their quality) the author believes profoundly in the merit of a class structure, one which puts the upper tiers above the laws that govern the common mass. I would have thought this would not go down so well in America, but I fear Ollie North and his gang may have polluted this particular wellspring of democracy. Well, it should come as mo surprise that the nation that spawned Oswald Mosely has thrown up a distant offshoot. As a Briton and ex-Royal navy man myself, though, I do find it surprising that he is so eager to lick Uncle Sam's boots. Mutual respect is fine, but the grovelling adoration of American power is unusual.