Good 1960s thriller by Finney. This book is not SF like his "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". It is a fun read about a group of adventurer criminals with an insane but implausible plan. ( )

A unique mixture of submarine adventure and crime caper. Set in 1959 (when first written) Hugh Brittain is recruited to help several other ex-submariners in raising an abandoned German U-boat from off of the sea floor just off the coast, fix it up, and use it to stop and rob the ocean liner Queen Mary. Jack Finney, who previously wrote books about incredible shrinking men and invading body snatchers, goes into great detail on budget refitting of the little submarine and executing the crime. Very entertaining, it was made into an obscure 1966 action movie with Frank Sinatra, Tony Franciosa, and Virna Lisi as the sole female member of the group, script by Rod Serling, music by Count Basie. Highly recommended for submarine buffs especially.

Fine book for a summer's day. Several people come across a German U-boat from World War I that had been abandoned off Long Island at the end of the war. Most of the crew decimated by the flu, only the 15 year old ensign made it to shore, while the captain took the sub down but didn't scuttle it, dying as he set it down intact on the bottom. In the 1950s, the ensign returns locates the ship, and brings together a crew of former submariners to raise and restore the forty year old submarine.
They were able to get it to the surface, and then they worked for days to get the old rusted sub ready for sea, because they were going to hold up the Queen Mary by posing as an expeimental British submarine in need of assistance. While the Queen Mary was stopped, part of the sub's crew went aboard, and signaled to the sub to fire a dummy torpedo, which banged against the cruise ship without damage. Threatening next to fire live torpedoes, they stole the ship's cash reserves from the ship's purser, and held up the first class passengers.
Alerted to the stopped ship, a US destroyed is signaled by lamp from the Queen Mary, and the chase is on. The story is exciting and improbable, but lots of fun to read. It was later made into a movie of the same title with Frank Sinatra. Enjoyable fun for a summer's afternoon. ( )