7 reviews for The Delta Solution
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The Delta Solution
by Patrick Robinson
Description:
The Delta Solution is an action-packed novel dealing with the Somali pirates operating off the southerly reaches of the lawless East African republic on the Indian Ocean. For the past three years, these heavily armed tribal brigands have been capturing and holding for ransom massive cargo ships, especially oil tankers, and violently demanding millions of dollars for their return. Pirating out of the tiny Somalian village of Haradheere has become a very lucrative, dangerous business, so much so that the village has its own Stock Exchange with a reputed $78 million cash, all in crisp $100 bills, in the town vault. And each time an owner pays big for the return of their ship, the pirates immediately do it again, enraging the Pentagon more and more by the day. That is, until the “Somali Marines” make a big mistake, seizing at gun point two United States ships and demanding a $15 million ransom for their return. Hero Mack Bedford, previously encountered in Diamondhead and Intercept, is deployed to SEAL Team 10 to form The Delta Platoon. His objective: obliterate the Somali Marines in the middle of the Indian Ocean, at all costs, once and for all.
About The Author
Patrick Robinson (21 January 1940) is a British novelist and newspaper columnist.
His recent books are naval-based thrillers, each telling the story of a crisis facing the world in the early 21st century. His earlier works include four nonfiction books about thoroughbred horses; True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny, the story of the 1987 Oxford Boat Race mutiny (for which he, and co-author Dan Topolski won the inaugural William Hill Sports Book of the Year in 1989); and One Hundred Days, the biography of Admiral Sir Sandy Woodward.
Skryf Review
“Excellent Reading”
Navya
It is a pity that an otherwise engaging story is full of ludicrous things. For instance, a boatswain is a deck petty officer, and has no connections to engineering officers. On the Queen Beatrix, the captain relies heavily on the boatswain to discover the source of the problems in the shaft. And he is the most experienced in the Dutch Merchant Navy? Leaving the bridge unguarded? A chief Officer at the helm?? In the Dutch Merchant navy, there is no 1st or 2nd dogwatch, only one! from midnight till four. And from 4 pm till 8 pm is the ‘flatfoot’ watch. The captain got his master’s certificate when he was 21. Impossible, you start with a 3rd mate’s certificate when you are at least 18.you need one year practice for the 2nd mate’s certificate, and another 2 years for the master’s certificate. Apart from the time needed to study, which is at least one year.In a ship like that. there would be at least a captain, with a master’s certificate, a Chief Officer with the same ticket, a second Officer with a 2nd mate’s certificate, and a 3rd officer with a 3rd mate’s certificate. There would be at least 3 engineering officers, with a C, B and A certification.there are other indications that the author does not know much about seafaring, he does not show it anyway. and to say that he modeled it on the American Merchant Navy, I cannot imagine a boatswain being on the same line as a Chief Officer. I pity the poor American Merchant Navy! All these observations can easily be checked in the Dutch ‘Zeevaartdiplomwet’, which is about tickets. and finally, if you want to write about Dutchmen, give them Dutch names! Pietr is not a Dutch name, and van Marchant also not. He could have a name Marchant, but then without the ‘van’. Van means ‘from’, and Marchant is French for ‘Trader’. In Flemish this name does exist, but without the ‘van’.
Anmol
This is the third book in the Mack Bedford series. This time around, our hero, Mack Bedford, finds himself in charge of an elite group of Navy Seals that specialize in taking back ships, hijacked by Somali pirates.The plot takes a long time to unfold but I really enjoyed the background story about the pirates themselves. In fact, I almost came to like the pirates as much as the Seals. The final confrontation between the Seals and pirates took so long to build up, that I started to become resentful towards the author. Fortunately, the details given to the Seals training, firearms and focus on current events, keeps the book interesting for die hard spec ops readers.The true downfall in this book comes from the author’s personal political opinions. Most good writers of this genre, keep their political opinions very neutral, as it should be. Readers purchase these books for the entertaining adventures of elite warriors. Robinson’s hatred of leftist politics and politicians is very flagrant and almost over whelming. It made me start to dislike some of the characters in the book. It’s very unprofessional and possibly an indication of Robinson’s insecurities. After all, Vince Flynn has written some very successful novels and he never resorts to bashing political parties or beliefs.It’s a shame the Robinson could not keep his opinions to himself as his writing abilities are not good enough to cause readers to overlook this offensive self expression. Clancy, Forsythe and Flynn may be able to get away with it but Robinson is not even close to being in the same league.I like his characters and his writing is getting better. However, if he continues expressing his political opinions in future books, I’m afraid that he’ll start to lose some loyal readers.
Anmol
The last plan of Don Domenico Clericuzio, an aging Mafia boss, is to eventually have his family enter the legitimate world and assimilate into American society. Twenty-five years later, his grandson Dante and grandnephew Croccifixio (Cross) make their way through life, and the eighty-year-old Don is semi-retired. Cross, who holds a majority share in a Las Vegas casino, is supposed to become the strong arm of the family. However, when he refuses to take part in the murder of an old friend, Dante is left to be the sole tough guy. Dante’s greed for power and blood lead him to plan the elimination of his relatives, who are an obstacle to the desire to become as powerful as the old Don himself. Cross, who is aware of being on the black list, anticipates Dante’s plans and catches him in a trap. Having acted against the family, he waits for the Don’s vendetta, but, to his own surprise, his life is spared and he is only condemned to exile. The story concludes with the revelation that the Don had planned this outcome all along for the long-term survival of the family.
Hiten
It’s the third novel in Robinson’s series of military thrillers featuring commander Mack Bedford of Navy Seals. What distinguishes this book from dozens of other Navy Seals stories is the adversary: Somali pirates. It’s a welcome change from the majority of modern military thrillers that have Al Qaeda or the Taliban as antagonists,Also interesting is the way antagonists are depicted. I’m not sure how intentional it was, but the author gives so much attention to the pirates and describes their daily lives and operations in such way, that it’s difficult not to like them. In comparison, Navy Seals’ actions seem to be presented in a little bit half-hearted way. For me, the book is definitely about the Somali pirates, not about the Seals.The novel is definitely worth reading/listening, especially if you fancy a change from typical modern warfare novels.
Havisha
Mackenzie “Mack” Bedford takes on Somali pirates in Robinson’s rousing if less than suspenseful third action thriller to feature the courageous U.S. Navy SEAL (after Diamondhead). Mohammed Salat, “the Godfather of the Dark Continent,” is the brains and the money behind the so-called Somali Marines, well-equipped, well-trained brigands who seize tankers and cargo ships off the African coast that they hold for massive ransoms. When the pirates grab a freighter chartered by a U.S. aid agency, Mack takes charge of the Delta Platoon, a new unit of handpicked SEALs. The plot slows as Robinson dwells on the SEALs’ extraordinary training and the smooth, sophisticated operations of the Somali Marines. When the order is finally given to go, the Delta Platoon is ready for both daring rescue operations at sea and the brutal task of attacking the pirates’ fortified headquarters in the Somali town of Haradheere. Readers will cheer as Mack and his team solve the vexing problem of Somali pirates.
Smit
This book brings out a problem that we don’t think about very much. However, it has caused a great deal of aggravation and a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars. This is the problem of piracy. In this case it is the very well organized efforts of the Somalian pirates who have made a fortune out of intimidating the crews of large ocean vessels and demanding ransoms.The book is a little heavy on describing SEAL training and also you get a good idea of what life as a pirate has been. Can the SEALS complete this mission? Will the pirates be able to be stopped? These are the questions that are ever present as you read this book. I felt it was a little uneven, because there are great scenes of adventure at sea interspersed with the plodding description of the extensive training and equipment the SEAlS go through and must have for their mission. So you are reading and waiting a great deal of the book for the real action to begin. What kept me reading was the incredible character of so many of the military men and their drive to extinguish the menace of the pirates. Though you get to know the pirates very well, and the author does write them with a respect to their prowess, I was never really comfortable with their presence. I kept wanting to see how this affluent bunch of criminals was going to be destroyed. The author places you in the middle of the Indian Ocean for long periods of time and you almost feel the swell of the waves. This is not a book that I usually read, because the topic doesn’t really appeal to me. There are elaborate descriptions of high capacity assault weapons and you can see how easily they can be procured by ordinary people with a great deal of money. I found all the details of this fascinating as well as the everyday life of the pirates and their leader.