Deep War

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.