RED TIDE

A bloody conflict erupts in the waters of the western Pacific.

China seeks dominion over the South China Sea, and Americans must push back. In a war that will be nasty, brutish, and short, the Chinese offensive takes out important U.S. resources in the region, including fighter jets, a dozen B-2 bombers, and proud vessels like the aircraft carrier Stennis, which sinks near the Marianas Trench, the deepest part of the ocean. Evading a missile attack, the submarine Missouri is stuck in the undersea mud when its skipper realizes the U.S. is at war. Can they get back in the fight? In China’s quest for global domination, it invades Taiwan and captures an AI chip factory, giving them control of most of the world’s chip supply. Chinese missiles even sink an Australian merchant marine ship near the Solomon Islands. At first, the Americans suffer horrific losses, and Chinese leaders believe they have won an easy victory. So the U.S. Navy must find a way to drive out the enemy without triggering World War III. The Marines have a specific goal to rescue Sam Chang, the 79-year-old chief executive of the world’s largest semiconductor fabrication company. He is indispensable to the U.S. tech industry, and he may be on his deathbed. People around him, including his son, do not have his interests at heart, and they will gladly turn everything over to the People’s Republic of China. Although the story is not part of a Tom Clancy series, it’s very much in that style. Indeed, Woodward has written for the Clancy franchise. There are spectacular battle scenes that will give fans of the genre heart palpitations.

Plenty of excitement for fans of military fiction.