REVIEW: Ghost Fleet by P W Singer and August Cole

Ghost Fleet A Novel of the Next World War by P W Singer and August Cole
Publishing information: Kindle
Publisher: Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 30 Jun 15
ISNB: 978-0544142848
ASIN: B00LZ7GOI4
Standalone
Copy: Provided by publisher
Reviewer: Tyson

Amazon

Synopsis: "What will the next global conflict look like? Find out in this ripping, near-futuristic thriller.

The United States, China, and Russia eye each other across a twenty-first century version of the Cold War, which suddenly heats up at sea, on land, in the air, in outer space, and in cyberspace. The fighting involves everything from stealthy robotic–drone strikes to old warships from the navy’s “ghost fleet.” Fighter pilots unleash a Pearl Harbor–style attack; American veterans become low-tech insurgents; teenage hackers battle in digital playgrounds; Silicon Valley billionaires mobilize for cyber-war; and a serial killer carries out her own vendetta. Ultimately, victory will depend on blending the lessons of the past with the weapons of the future.

Ghost Fleet is a page-turning speculative thriller in the spirit of The Hunt for Red October. The debut novel by two leading experts on the cutting edge of national security, it is unique in that every trend and technology featured in the novel — no matter how sci-fi it may seem — is real, or could be soon."

Ghost Fleet came to my attention shortly after it was released and in the spirit of Red Storm Rising, it features a beleaguered United States after a swift attack from the Chinese and Russians.

The book starts out with the Chinese and Russians subtly moving all of their pieces around the world and then striking quickly leaving the United States quickly loosing ground. It was great to see how they manipulated all of their assets and played to the American's strengths. When they finally strike the US military is at a loss and they quickly find themselves falling back and retreating in order to save what they can. The book relies heavily on America's use of microchips and it leads to their downfall.

The book has a few individuals that stand out. We have an Executive Officer who quickly gains prominence as the only officer to get his ship out of the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor. A billionaire adventurer who wants to help bring the world back to the status quo, a Russian spy who likes America, and a femme fatale who is running amok on Hawaii. All of them are developed to some degree but not many of them are all that likable.

Ghost Fleet is a love letter to the Zumwalt class destroyer and the rail gun. There is a great deal of time spent in the book regarding the refitting of the boat and the time dedicated to getting the futuristic gun ready for sea. Once the ship is ready, the gun is used extensively to bring down the Chinese stationed at Hawaii. It wouldn't have been so bad except that it does it all and has no weaknesses. However, I will say that the authors did a decent job of making combat realistic as far as casualties and ship to ship combat. Nothing is unscathed but there are a few illogical moments in the book where you will have to suspend your disbelief.

My biggest complaint with Ghost Fleet is that there a lot of jumps in time. We have the invasion and then quickly jump months into the future where American territories are now under Chinese control and then at the end of the book we have a large sea battle, which felt rushed, and then it just jumps again to after the conflict and I didn't care for it. The reason for the attack was for resources and it took a backseat once the first shots were fired. When Tom Clancy wrote scenarios like this we wouldn't have these gigantic jumps in time, everything would be in real time and there would be consequences. With this book we don't have any of that. We are just along for the ride and when it ends it is business as usual.

For all of its complaints, Ghost Fleet is still great escapist reading. It should also be praised for all of the linkable research that went into writing the book that can be found at the end of the book. That said I think most readers will find the book either hit or miss.

Overall 6.5/10