The Gulf
A Thriller
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Aboard the guided-missile frigate U.S.S. Turner Van Zandt, Lieutenant-Commander Dan Lenson and his dedicated crew take on a daring assignment: escort a convoy of supertankers through the mine-filled Persian Gulf.
For Lenson and his men, however, the danger is only just beginning. When a missile from a hit-and-run enemy sinks a U.S. destroyer, every ship and aircraft in the area goes on red alert.
As all hands prepare for the inevitable showdown with a hostile Middle Eastern nation, Benjamin Shaker, the destroyer's hair-trigger captain, plots his own secret form of revenge. If he isn't stopped, it could mean disaster for the entire Gulf region-- and maybe the world!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The sequel to The Med is set in the Persian Gulf late in the Reagan administration in an uneasy climate of ``no war, no peace'' aboard the Turner Van Zandt , a Knox -class frigate whose captain, Benjamin Shaker, seeks to avenge the sinking of his previous command by an Iranian cruise missile. Taking artistic license with history, the story hovers between techno-thriller and naval procedural: an American helicopter is shot down and an Iranian sub torpedoes a supertanker. The U.S. responds with a full-scale attack on an Iranian naval base, with the Van Zandt in the thick of the fighting (a subplot involving a nuclear warhead, however, adds unwelcome melodrama). At the helm with Shaker are the lieutenant commander, Dan Lenson, a more cautious warrior; and Washington's delegate to the combat zone, senatorial defense aide Blair Titus. Poyer provides gripping descriptions of naval operations: helicopter searches, mine disposal, escort work; his mastery of technical and procedural detail does for the modern small-ship fleet what Tom Clancy does for nuclear submarines and Stephen Coonts for aircraft carriers.