Shattered Trident

Blood of War

By: Larry Bond

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 19 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

While trailing a Chinese nuclear attack sub, Jerry Mitchell, the captain of USS North Dakota, is shocked to see the Chinese boat torpedo a Vietnamese merchant ship. This blatant act of aggression is the opening gambit in a war that has blindsided the U.S. and quickly embroiled all nations in the western Pacific. These nations, bound together in the newly formed Littoral Alliance, have begun a covert submarine campaign aimed at crippling China’s economy before China can set in motion its own plot to dominate the region. In a desperate attempt to buy the president enough time to resolve the crisis diplomatically, Mitchell’s submarine squadron is ordered to interfere with attacks by both sides. China and the Littoral Alliance are both determined to win, no matter the cost, and as each side increases the level of violence, they approach a dangerous tipping point. In a race against time, the submarines of Mitchell’s squadron must execute their mission before the world witnesses an economic catastrophe—or worse, a nuclear exchange.

©2013 Larry Bond and Chris Carlson (P)2013 Recorded Books

VERY GOOD!

I really enjoy this. Great story, loved the political aspect of it. Good work by the writer. Can’t wait for the next one!

Excellent Military Techno-Thriller and Topical

Larry Bond has an excellent command of the technology of naval, undersea and rocket/missile warfare. This book is similar to a Tom Clancy novel at Tom's best, loaded with military detail. The premise is that China has chosen to assert control over a wide swath of the South China Sea (sound familiar)?

This is a fairly long book (over 19 hours of listening), so the plot and the characters are fully developed. Of course, this type of book has to create some heroes, both political and military. And it has to create some weaklings also. So while the war in the Pacific explodes with realistic military fury; you have characters that are a little too cute. Think of it as "The Hardy Boys Do World War III."

I found this book vastly entertaining, informative and spot on when the military, weapon, tactics and strategies unreeled. The political picture in the three belligerents was somewhat muddled...just like real life!

The narration was very good considering the vast amount of characters and voices needed. I rate this a fully excellent modern military novel.

Simply awesome!

This story could be ripped straight off the pages of the news today. We need more Jerry's in the world

Surprisingly engaging

Not a big fan of submarines. Prefer spy/paramilitary storys. But #3 & #4 in this series have been so good, you'll lose sleep reading them. Enjoy,

A bit tedious

Have enjoyed the Jerry Mitchell series, but this story was my least favorite so far. There were just too many conference room scenes that dragged on interminably. The Jerry Mitchell action was... well... not very action-packed. The plot line pushed the limits of my suspension of disbelief- quite far-fetched and contrived. However, I will move on to Fatal Thunder and hope for better. I like Dick Hill's voice and am very accustomed to it from the Jack Reacher series, so no complaints there, although a number of other reviewers seemed unhappy with his narration.

Kept my attention & kept me wanting to keep listening.

The storyline is close enough to reality to spark your interest.
The action portions were well done.
I enjoyed this book

Good thriller

the book is Well written. Some of the performance leaves a little bit to be desired with regards to the Asian accents but in general it demonstrates a good differentiation between the individual parties with regards to the narration of the book. The story has a very credible premise and good prosecution of the story with regards to potential for military interactions in the event of a South China Sea War.

Not one of Bond's best. Enjoyable, but predictable

Would you try another book from Larry Bond and/or Dick Hill?

Sure. Bond has some very good ones and some that don't work or are too much like a comic book.

Would you recommend Shattered Trident to your friends? Why or why not?

No. There is very little "action" or even drama. Way, way too much dialogue by people "offscreen" that are very two-dimensional. Mitchell seems to have acquired supers powers now or something.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator really needs to listen to people who speak Asian languages as their mother tongue. He made them all sound the same whether they were Chinese, Japanese or Indian. Much of the time his "Asian English" sounded like Peter Lorre - not as Mr. Moto, but as Joel Cairo (Maltese Falcon). Got to the point that I dreaded any more dialog from the various Asian government people becuase of his voice.

Was Shattered Trident worth the listening time?

Not really. IT was much too predictable, with very little real drama or action.

Any additional comments?

Larry Bond has written some good books, but seems to need a better editor or yet a different writing partner.

Mitchell Continues to Move up in Command

Jerry is now the Captain of his own Boat and in the middle of a shooting War.

Like listening to Capt. Kirk for 16 hours

Would you try another book from Larry Bond and/or Dick Hill?

Dick Hill ruined another Larry Bond book. The narration is so bad, I don't even know if the story was good or bad.

If you’ve listened to books by Larry Bond before, how does this one compare?

I'm not sure if Larry Bond has gotten lazy and campy in his writing, or if it's just the breathy delivery of Dick Hill. The dialogue ... people just don't talk the way the dialogue in this books comes across. I blame the narrator, because Larry Bond has written some solid stories.

How could the performance have been better?

Dick Hill has ruined the last two Larry Bond books I've listened to. If he narrates the next one, I'll skip it. Gimme Bronson Pinchot over an out of breath Dick Hill anyday.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yeah, probably. But these modern war stories don't translate well to film.

Any additional comments?

Please permanently remove Dick HIll from the approved list of narrators.