I picked this book completely on a whim because I think that submarines are pretty cool. There have been some fantastic movies about submarine warfare but this was the first book on the subject that I have read. I hoped for something exciting and fast paced that would be fairly easy to read and entertaining.

The book is written in chronological order with the setting switching between the places the action takes place. There are three main settings for the story, the submarine USS Portland (American), the submarine Gepard (Russian) and a freighter which contains a deadly secret. That secret is a strain of smallpox which has been smuggled out of a decrepit lab in Russia by its main scientist. The reader is left to decide whether this scientist initially had good intentions or not. There is now a race to secure the smallpox otherwise potentially the world is at risk. To add further complications into the mix, a SEAL team is deployed onto USS Portland with orders which cause conflict between the captain of the submarine and the leader of the SEAL team.

There is a lot going on in this book. Global politics, gender issues, terrorism, leadership battles, and warfare. At times things do get a little OTT but there are other times where the reader's beliefs are challenged. There were some predictable events that happened but all of this is handled pretty well. This could have become a big mess but the author manages to keep the lid on it until the right time comes. I really enjoyed this book, it is exactly what I hoped it would be and it delivered the thrills I wanted. ( )

Although I was quite unfamiliar with the author, Robin White's Hunters in the Sea is a roaring good thriller. Much more than just competent. Some Chechins manage to organize the theft from a poorly monitored biological warfare lab in Russia left over from the Cold War of the "hunter" strain of smallpox virus that is virulently lethal and immune to all known vaccines, and are taking it to Saudi Arabia. They manage to get onto a small tramp steamer and make it out into the Mediterranean Sea before the US and Russian governments realize what has happened. Both governments assign their latest hunter-killer subs to the task of obliterating the ship before they reach port and there is a chance that the virus may be accidentally or otherwise released. The story develops this theme very competently. The technology science, and most of the characters ring true. Definitely a compelling read once you get through the preliminaries necessary to set up the story. I will look for more works by this author. ( )