Rating: 
Summary: Sorry for not a full review, but I must point this out.
Review: I must point out that you all must have been into the book because no one took into acount that the techinical boo-boos you some pointed out can't be counted. On page 16 the date is give, along with the year. "221700APR02 (the day, the time, 5pm, then month and year)" Note the year is 2002, who is to say that the polocies have not changed. I'm enjoying the book alot, but I think that is because I'm taking it for the story. I liked how he let us know those killed before he did and I like how he described the insident.
Rating: 
Summary: Nasty little fascist agitprop
Review: This is a nasty little piece of proto-fascism. OK, so it's a gripping yarn, in its way, though I concur with other readers that the ending falls rather flat, and there are technical lapses. But when he unabashedly promotes a "Pax Americana" with the US arrogating to itself the unelected role of world policeman, keeping all these nasty lesser breeds in line so that the US can suck their oil dry to ensure its creature comforts, the book gets really objectionable. He seems to think it quite normal that the US should spend 55% of the world's defence budget, at appalling cost to its internal social structure, and that a President should consider himself quite ready to attack three nations because one of them may possibly have injured the US. Note that the deaths of all the Iranian submariners, who were even in his story not at all responsible, are passed over without comment, while the incineration of 6000 US sailors is characterized as possibly "genocide" - that ridicualously debases the meaning of the word. If you really want to enlarge the word in that direction, Dresden and Hiroshima are much more relevant cases, but even those enormous slaughters were not aimed at "the systematic killing or extermination of a whole people or nation" (Webster). He whines about the "liberal" press - that's a joke, in today's mega-corporate media. Oddly enough, he pays absolutely no attention to television, which is where the most vigorous public exposure of the incident would occur. A totally unrealistic premise is that everyone swallows the idea of an accident and no-one hints at terrorism. That would be the first option to surface in public, and would probably have a stronger following than the other - look at Flight 800. His racist characterization of the millions of Middle Eastern peoples as "towelheads" reminds me of the US Senator who was asked where Bosnia was and unhesitatingly jabbed him thumb on the map of Africa. As another reader pointed out, Robinson doesn't even know that Iranians are not Arabs. Has he ever read one page of the history of Persia, which considerably antedates the history of his own foggy isle? Like many of his ilk, from Kipling through Heinlein (though he is far below their quality) the author believes profoundly in the merit of a class structure, one which puts the upper tiers above the laws that govern the common mass. I would have thought this would not go down so well in America, but I fear Ollie North and his gang may have polluted this particular wellspring of democracy. Well, it should come as mo surprise that the nation that spawned Oswald Mosely has thrown up a distant offshoot. As a Briton and ex-Royal navy man myself, though, I do find it surprising that he is so eager to lick Uncle Sam's boots. Mutual respect is fine, but the grovelling adoration of American power is unusual.
Rating: 
Summary: A riveting if improbable tale of international intrigue.
Review: When a US Navy aircraft carrier is vaoprized in a nuckear explosion with all 6,000 souls on board, all America mourns. The incident is publicly announced as an accident, but behind the closed doors of the White House and the Pentagon, a sneak attack is suspected. What follows is a global search for the men, the nation, and the equipment responsible. Nimitz Class is rich in well-researched technical detail, and presents a consistant, well-rounded cast of characters. The action moves swiftly enough to keep the reader riveted to his seat, though the development of the story line is straightforward and has few surprise twists. Patrick Robinson's book should be appreciated by any fan of the military-action genre.
Rating:
Summary: Where do publishers find these inaccurate authors???
Review: While this book was a good techno-thriller it was awful in its betrayal of (RECENT) historical events. First of all, US SSN's do not carry ICBMs, nuclear equipped cruise missiles or nuclear torpedos as the author suggests. Nor do any US surface ships continue to carry any nuclear weapons. On page 31 the author states the commander of the carrier group has at his disposal nuclear missiles within the carrier and the two SSNs with the group. Where does this guy get his info, Steven Segal flics??? No, even Segal flics don't overlook obvious tidbits of info such as these. All nuclear munitions were removed from US naval vessels by President George Bush during his second term. Supposedly the author had US and British naval officers aid in reviewing the technical info --- they must have skipped a significant amount of the book. Also, I was in the Navy for a few years and I knew a lot of submariners and there is no way a renegade sub could get that close (espically an old Soviet diesel!!!) And then a torpedo (or more?) is launched and not a single ship or sonobouy picks up the sound, NOT A CHANCE. Just one more complaint out of so many... This story supposedly takes place in 2002, the author within the first 100 pages keeps making references to the A-6 Intruder and its role within the carrier air group. The Intruder was phased out of the Navy in 1997!!! (and this had been planned for a while, so the argument of that's how the force was structured when the book was written is void) Sorry Mr. Robinson, next time do your homework first or write up an intro explaining that things have changed in the world in which you are writing, because this could only occur in another world.
Rating:
Summary: I liked it a lot.
Review: Great story even though the antagonist's role is a little unbelievable. What is not unbelievable is that someday soon our fleet may be hit. As far as I'm concerned, all these negative reviewers can take a flying leap. I was glued to the book for a week.
Rating: 
Summary: Pulls you through and leaves you wanting...
Review: I found myself extremely dissappointed by the ending to this book. The 'Grand Finale' of 450+ pages takes 5 pages to play out. In reality the book plays it much like it would probably happen in real life but that's boring (in real life a fight may only take 30 seonds but it's much more fun watching Jackie Chan fight for 3 minutes in a movie). The above may seem like a petty problem but much of the book is spent establishing the antagonist's credentials as a supreme submarine commander. You keep waiting for the better equipped American navy to go out and do battle with this genius but it never happens. I have no idea why many authors seem to rush the conclusion of a book but this, in my opinion, is one of the worst cases of this I have seen. Perhaps the author thought it was clever but it left me wanting.
Rating:
Summary: It seems I know more than the *author*
Review: 2 out of 10 for the author for finding a publisher to print this junk. I tought I was the only one picky enough to see the errors and inaccuracies since it is claimed to be an *explosive thriller* (or something like that). In addition to all of the other good points I read in other reviews, this guy doesn't even know that Iranians are NOT arabs. All location names, supposedly around Bosphorus, are misspelled (Believe me, I was born in Istanbul!) Hey, get a good map or a tourist book next time Mr. hot-shot author!
Rating:
Summary: Not even *remotely* in Tom Clancy's league
Review: I'm soooooo glad I *borrowed* a copy of this book. :-) I won't comment on the technical failings of the book (that's been done well enough by the other reviewers) suffice it to say that the premise of the book, suppose to be so realistic that "tomorrow it could be news", is laughable. As a writer, Robinson isn't worthy to be Tom Clancy's boot strap. OK, OK, in the techno-thriller genre we don't expect literary masterpieces, but Robinson's writing is so bad as to be laughable. The plot actually gets *bogged down* through the middle third of the book -- a capital crime in the genre. The characterisations are ridiculously sketchy and/or cliched, even for a technothriller. Buy one of Clancy's you haven't read, get a subscription to Jane's defence weekly, watch "The Hunt for Red October" again, call your mum, just do anything but buy this book (it'll only encourage him).
Rating:
Summary: couldn't finish it
Review: The title, the cover, the fly leaf all suckered me in to buying this- thought we had a new Clancy or Poyer. Then a sub sneaks through the screen and launches a torpdo to sink the Jefferson. I was in the Navy, involved with CIC operations, and in a hot area like this, someone would be active. Even forgiving this area, I was STUNNED no one heard the torpedo! This weapon zooms at 40 knots and EVERYONE within site distance of a pair of sonar headphones would have heard that! Amazing. I forgave that error (since I had spent $25), but continued to find so many more...just wish I could get my money back...
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely authentic
Review: Patrick Robinson wrote Nimitz Class with the help of Sir Admiral Woodward who single-handedly commanded the first computor war this world has ever seen. The Battle of the Falkland Islands in 1982. He was the top man in the Royal Navy and every piece of technical jargon is absolutely spot on in Nimitz Class. The book was spotted by Ed Victor (one of the most important literary agents in the world) who quickly became Mr. Robinson's London agent. Nimitz Class has paid meticulous attention to detail, and the way Patrick Robinson writes places him among the best thriller writers of this century. He blew Tom Clancy out of the water in the Italian literary awards this year, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is a breath taking debut and I believe it really could be the news one day. It has provoked wide military concern, and as a direct result of this book, no foreigner will ever be trained again in England - Ben Adnam scared the Royal Navy away from that idea. Books that lack realism tend not to have the same international effect. Jengo R.
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