Deep Strike (Trident Series Book 6)
Rick Campbell
St. Martin’s Press
March 16th, 2021
Deep Strike by Rick Campbell is filled with plenty of action. The sixth book in Campbell’s Trident Deception series has his main female protagonist Christine O’Connor literally missing in action. In his previous books she was in the middle of many of the action scenes but in this story line she is sitting on the sidelines, with readers only seeing her on a few pages.
“I did not write Christine having many scenes in this book because others are front and center that are determined by the plot. There were chapters that got cut involving her, that will make it into the next book. In the last book she had many action scenes, but I felt I was pushing the envelope with her adventures since she was a White House staffer. I thought moving her to the CIA was a good change of pace. As director of the CIA, she is more insulated, protected, and does not get into the types of trouble as before. Her role will evolve.”
In this plot Christine has moved to a new job, the Director of the CIA. She has her hands full after a terrorist attack that kills the American UN Ambassador. It is revealed that the culprit is former Navy SEAL Lonnie Mixell, who served time for killing insurgent Jihadist prisoners. He is now out for revenge on those who imprisoned him, which includes the American government and his SEAL buddy, Jake Harrison, who testified against him. Knowing that more bodies might fall, Christine enlists the help of Harrison to find Mixell and bring him to justice.
“I wanted to show how Mixell is out for revenge. Some people accused me from taking the part of him being a court-martialed Navy SEAL from the headlines. He is physically similar to the hero, Harrison, but not in personality. Mixell has a mean streak, is vindictive, a traitor, vengeful, resentful, and angry. He is determined to pay back Harrison, the US government, and now Christine.”
The problem is that Mixell has decided to go to the dark side and gets funding for his plan from ISIS. He also gets Soviet Submarine Captain Alexsandr Plecas to fire missiles on American cities by agreeing to fund Plecas’ daughter’s hospital and medical bills. This is where the author’s professional experiences come into play. As a former US Navy Commander and submariner, he is very knowledgeable about underwater combat, including several elaborate underwater naval sequences. While Harrison tracks Mixell, Plecas plays a cat-and-mouse underwater game with American submarines pursuing his sub, Kazan, as it moves within range of U.S. targets.
“Everything in my books regarding technology is very true except for a few things. I always write about the realm of possibility. The submarines and weapon systems are real including the intelligent torpedoes that take over once close to the target.”
The best scenes are the vivid descriptions of the submarines chasing each other. Hopefully, the next book in the series will include Christine more front and center. The plot will involve lies within lies. This book, and the next two books have arcs with a Middle Eastern connection.
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