By Owen Matthews
Narrated by Mark Bramhall https://www.markbramhall.com/
Published by Bantam Press (Penguin) www.penguin.co.uk
336 pages ISBN 9781787634961
Publication date 29 July 2021
I was allowed access to an audio review copy on Net Galley. Thanks to the author and publisher for organising this.
From the blurb
The year is 1962, and KGB Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vasin is searching for ghosts: for evidence of the long-rumoured existence of an American spy embedded at the highest echelons of Soviet power. But it’s while on this wild goose chase, a high-stakes espionage race against a rival State agency, that Vasin first hears whispers of an ominous top-secret undertaking: Operation Anadyr.
As tensions flare between Nikita Khrushchev and President Kennedy over Russian missiles hidden in Cuba, four Soviet submarines – each carrying tactical ballistic missiles armed with thermonuclear warheads – are ordered to make a covert run at the U.S. blockade in the Caribbean . . .
Synopsis
The first Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K19 already has a reputation for bad luck before its maiden voyage, with several deaths taking place during its construction. After less than a year of service it develops a fault with its cooling system and nuclear disaster is only averted by jury-rigging a new cooling system. This comes at a high cost though with 22 men ultimately killed through exposure to radioactive steam. Deputy commander Vasili Arkhipov though physically unharmed is greatly affected by this experience.
The Soviets believe there is a mole operating at the top of the security services and Alexander Vasin is instructed to dig him out.
Due to a shortage of long range Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles the Soviet high command hatch a plan to negate this by installing missiles on the island of Cuba in the United States’ back yard. They are of course discovered and the United States blockade Cuba; the Cuban Missile Crisis is born.
The Soviets attempt to breach the blockade with four traditional diesel-electric submarines each armed with 21 conventional torpedoes and 1 special weapon a nuclear tipped torpedo. They are tracked down and submarine B59 is surrounded by 11 destroyers and a carrier of the US fleet who drop signalling depth charges to try to make it surface. Effectively out of power Captain Savitsky of the B59 with the agreement of political officer Maslennikov could use the special weapon but Arkhipov who is only number two onboard but has overall control over the flotilla knows what carnage this will create. Can he win the battle of wills onboard and thereby prevent a nuclear disaster?
My thoughts
I enjoy books in which real life figures are woven into a fictional narrative. In recent years (the much missed) Philip Kerr was a master of this placing Bernie Gunther convincingly within the action of the German war machine. This novel goes a step further in being more of a fictional dramatization of real events.
Submarine warfare and disasters has provided rich pickings for makers of film and television fiction but capturing the tension and claustrophobia onboard in print is a different matter. A 300+ page story based solely on a submarine would be a taxing and difficult read. The introduction of the mole hunt into the plot to add to the submarine incidents breaks up this narrative and gives it some variety.
The plot unfolds from the point of view of the Soviets, which is always a refreshing change. It is clearly meticulously researched as can be seen by the comprehensive Authors’ notes section at the end of the book. He manages to balance the telling of tense story, that has an authentic feel to it, without denigrating the memories of those involved, in some cases by introducing fictional characters to avoid doing so. However, it remains a work of fiction though and reads like a traditional espionage story rather than a Cold War history book.
The pacing of the plot varies as there is much to fit in with the K19 disaster and the mole hunt before it concentrates on the B59 incident where the intensity is ratcheted up which overall works out just about right. The author does a great job in building up the tension especially as we already know that nuclear disaster was averted. It has been said many times before that this was the closest the world came to all out nuclear war and after listening to this and doing some careful background reading, prompted by the author notes, I can well believe it.
The subsequent assassination of JFK and the thousands of conspiracy theory books and television programmes have overwhelmed the Cuban Missile Crisis as a historical incident. Yes, there have been books and films covering the incident before (including a documentary ‘The Man Who Saved the World’ about Arkhipov) but it feels as if it is now just relegated to a footnote of history like the Bag of Pigs invasion as part of the JFK story. Arkhipov was clearly a very honourable and brave man to risk his career and life by making the decision which could have sent him to the gulag. Thankfully he made the right call thereby saving the lives of many and is rightly recognised in the western world.
The narration style of Mark Bramhall is level and somewhat understated which is perfect for the subject matter. His Russian pronunciations, to this non speaker, seemed genuine and he didn’t fall into the trap of sinister Russian comedy accents. Sometimes less is more really does apply. As a listener to a great many audiobooks this is one narrator I will keep an eye open for.
This was an enjoyable read and a fitting testament to a brave man. One for Cold War espionage fans.
Peter turns the page 