The Bin Laden Plot

Trident Deception #7

by Rick Campbell

A U.S. destroyer is torpedoed by an Iranian submarine and Captain Murray Wilson of the U.S.S. Michigan is flown to the Pentagon to meet with the Secretary of the Navy (SecNav). There Wilson learns that the Iranian submarine is just a cover story. One of the United States' own fully automated unmanned underwater vehicles has gone rogue, its programing corrupted in some way. Murray is charged with hunting it down and taking it out before the virus that's infected its operating system can infect the rest of the fleet.

At the same time, the head of the SEAL detachment aboard the U.S.S Michigan is killed and Lonnie Mixell, a former U.S. operative, now assassin for hire, is responsible. And that is only the first SEAL to be hunted down and killed. Jake Harrison, fellow SEAL, discovers that these SEALs had one mission in common - they were all on the team that killed Bin Laden. Or so the world was told.

As Wilson discovers that his mission is actually meant to cover up dangerous acts of corruption, even treason, Harrison discovers that the assassin is out to protect the same forces. Forces too powerful for either of them to take on alone.

Genres: Thriller, Military Fiction, Fiction, Suspense, Mystery, Action

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 23, 2024

About the author

RICK CAMPBELL, a retired Navy Commander, served on four nuclear-powered submarines, finishing his career with tours in the Pentagon and the Washington Navy Yard. On his last submarine, he was one of the two men whose permission is required to launch the submarine's nuclear-warhead-armed missiles.

Upon retirement from the Navy, Rick was offered a two-book deal by Macmillan / St. Martin's Press for his novel The Trident Deception, which was hailed by Booklist as "The best submarine novel written in the last thirty years, since Tom Clancy's classic - The Hunt for Red October". His first six books were Barnes & Noble Top-10 and Amazon #1 bestsellers, and the 7th and 8th books in the series are scheduled for release in April 2024 and spring 2025.

To learn more, visit Rick Campbell's website and his "Submarine 101" page at www.rickcampbellauthor.com.

Reviews

[Lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok. I'm going to try to organize my thoughts into something at least somewhat coherent for the dear reader.
This was fast paced, short chapters, and therefore a very energetic read. If I have one note, it's that some of the submarine jargon got technical to the point that my simple brain struggled to keep up. And there were points where you quickly broke from one point of action, to another place completely, and back again, like a flash between scenes that I can only compare to almost reaching climax and stopping and starting again. Frustrating, but good frustrating.
Characters were likeable, and I do want to know what happens next. I mean, I can guess, but also, I wanna see how that plays out.
The scene building was great, and I really enjoyed the description of deep sea.
There were a couple of those "I knew it" moments, but that epilogue, baby. That one I didn't see coming. The questions it left me with. Wtf.
And the authors note. I love that this is written by a Navy Commander. I feel it lends a genuine authenticity that would come off too fake even for fiction from someone else.
Loving Campbell right now, and look forward to reading him more. Thank you for the fun, explosive read!

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d forgotten the “As The World Turns” element to the connectivity of some of these characters. Lots of moving parts here and I had a hard time getting past the premise that kicks off the book but a great rollicking ride. A very creative twist on current enemies and ghosts from the past. Can’t wait to see where the next book goes.

[Ryan Renke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely awful. Worst book in the series by a mile. The plot was honestly just kind of dumb. The love triangle thing is just tired and boring. Wish he would've just stuck to the submarine stuff that he was good at.

[Jim Rickard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with a plot that I never expected

I really enjoyed this book. I did go back and read the one before this book again and that helped with understanding the beginning of this book. Really good plot and chain of events. I like the Rick Campbell books

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun, fast read (I know I put down May 7-10 as the time it took to read, but I feel I read it over the course of two days; my fault for trying to review it two weeks after I read it, hahahah!). I enjoyed the character development (until the end; that was painful). The story grabbed my attention with the first chapter and never let go. I had a hard time putting this book down and was able to pick up where I left off. It had twists-and-turns that did keep me guessing (not that I usually try and guess what happens, hahahah, but I did guess one twist correctly, but everybody else probably saw it coming a mile away), but the number of plot twists did not bother me. Nor did the various storylines occurring in the story at least four - Jake's mission with Khalifa, Christine's part in the story, the mission of the USS Michigan, and Lonnie's thread in the narrative.

The cover is just beautiful. It caught my eyes on the shelf before I sat that it was Rick Campbell's next book in his series. The brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows at the top margin above the ocean surf and the shades of blues surrounding the submarine firing a torpedo. Just beautiful. This book's cover leaped off the shelves at me and stood out amongst the rest of the books surrounding it.

The author does slip back and forth a few times between metric and feet; on page 175, the author describes a Spanish super-yacht's length in terms of meters and then an American naval vessel's lengths in terms of feet. I thought it was amusing because of how it threw me for a minute. Granted, I don't know enough about ocean-going vessels to know if that is normal, to describe one nation's or type of vessel in terms of meters while always describing U.S. vessels in terms of feet.

I loved the twist of the USS Michigan encountering the USS Jimmy Carter as the Michigan was hunting for the alleged rogue unmanned underwater vehicle. I did not see that coming, so the moment the Michigan attacks and then is momentarily attacked in turn by the Carter was a suspense-filled chapter in the book for me, followed by the Carter's commander chewing out Murray Wilson, Captain and C.O. of the Michigan.

I was also surprised and laughing at the SEAL teams infiltrating an abandoned base on a supposedly deserted island thinking it was some kind of CIA interrogation facility only to discover it was now some kind of illegal drug production operation. I did not see that coming, either (although capturing the facility and discovering the mystery of the "man in the mirror" that quickly might have been a little anticlimactic for that moment in the book; the ending of the book implies this thread will be picked up later).

I remember the author saying in one of his prior books (maybe the 6th one?) that he was going to "resolve" the triangle between Christine, Hardison, and Angie. I natch assumed he was going to "kill off" Hardison's wife Angie; I did not expect it to go down the way it did (as an act of vengeance by their former friend, Lonnie Mixell - who I kept thinking of as "Ronnie" from American Assassin, which I had watched before reading this book, hahahah). Part of me half-expected her death to be totally random (like in a car crash while Jake was on a mission) and not nearly as brutal or painful as it occurred. I don't know - it will be "interesting" to see if Jake has any more feelings for Christine in future books and how that leg of the triangle works out.

I thought the author killed Jake's daughter, too, when he described her body as being "lifeless" after Lonnie hit Maddie in the side of the head with the blade of a shovel, knocking her body across the Hardison's barn. I was "what the HECK? He did not just kill Jake's daughter, too!??!?!" when I read that. An excellent, gut-wrenching moment in the book.

The prologue was a bit of a surprise to me. As I said above, I could see this leading directly into the next book or being a thread for a future book.

I really came to like Angie's character development in this book. I felt I did not know her that well in the other books other than being Jake's wife, jealous of Christine, and never completely secure in her marriage to Jake. I felt like Angie came into her own in this book - loved her satisfaction over Jake dropping Christine off a cliff in order to save the Russian president when Jake had to make the choice on who to save and who to drop (possibly to their death) and Jake (both symbolically and physically) letting go of Christine - which made the ending of this book that much worse (or hit that much harder). I do hope there continues to be repercussions, to be waves, in the subsequent books so that her death truly "means something" and was not just some cheap ploy "just to get Christine and Jake together again." I feel like I'd lose a lot of respect for the author if he did that..

Khalifa and Jake's relationship was interesting, too. Well, working relationship. It's not like they had a relationship out of working together on two missions for the CIA. After it was pretty blatantly obvious, I did guess her relationship to bin Laden before it was revealed in the book, so that was funny to me. She is a complex character who serves her own purposes while working for the CIA - at the moment, the CIA's purposes coincide with her personal mission/goals, but I could see that easily changing. Part of me wonders if she and jake might develop a more personal relationship in future stories, but that might not be possible as I think Jake would always be wondering if she would ever shoot him in the back of the head (or in his chest or face) if she ever came to doubt his competency or loyalties to her. The nature of her not killing him outright more than once and his having to talk her through her not killing him a couple of times would also be a huge obstacle to overcome for any kind of relationship to work. Part of me could see it happening; part of me says, "never in a million years!", hahahah. She is an interesting character, and the mystery dude's comment(s) about her at the end of the book makes her even more interesting as a character and what the future holds regarding any future stories featuring her.

I am not sure how I feel about Christine's fight with Lonnie, let alone her surviving it. I suppose it could happen. I think I'd rather have had Lonnie be shot multiple times before being double-tapped in the skull. Or her saying, "Screw it!" and setting the barn on fire to burn Lonnie out. That would've been more believable to me than her getting hit in the side of the head with a shovel with the full-force of a two-hundred-pound man swinging it hard (not sure if it was "as hard as he can" or not but still "hard"). The sides of the skull are thinner than the front and back of the skull; I don't believe Christine could have survived a hit to the head like that, let alone Maddie.

Granted, you also have Lonnie "monologuing" long enough for Christine to recover enough to fight back (and eventually kill him). Why don't villains "just" incapacitate their victim enough so that they can't fight back and then torture them to death? Ah, well. The point can be made that Lonnie did not respect Christine or her abilities to fight back enough that he could not help but start bragging to her and taunting her, which opened himself up to her being able to defend herself like she did. Lonnie's monologuing did feel somewhat in character with his character and nature to brag, to shoot his mouth off; while it was stupid on Lonnie's part, I could see him doing that. I still don't think Christine would have won the fight, but I am glad that Lonnie is now dead.

I have already said more than I thought I was going to about this book, so I will stop here. It was a fun book to read; a thriller that did keep me on the edge of my seat guessing as to what was going to happen next. It did have some slowdowns at points that allow the reader to gasp for breath before picking back up speed, which was great. I know there are blurbs that say Campbell is a worthy successor to Tom Clancy, and if he keeps writing these "short", taut, page-turning thrillers and does not become bloated like Clancy did at times, I agree he will continue to be a worthy successor to Clancy. I am glad I read this book, and I could see myself reading it again at some point in the future.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC through "NetGalley" and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

This story begins with the destruction of a destroyer in the Persian Gulf. The explanation that POTUS receives is that it was the result of a rogue UUV. A decision is made that it needs to be destroyed and Murray Wilson, USS Michigan Captain, is directed to destroy the UUV. As he attempts his mission, he learns that another submarine mother ship is in the area. Advising the Sec. of the Navy, his orders now advise hime that he needs to destroy both of them. As he again begins his search and once more finds them, he proceeds to follow his orders, but his new discovery has him wondering why he was told to destroy both.

In the meantime, the CIA director has contacted Jake Harrison for his help relating to another matter. Jake has learned that two of his Seal mates have died. It seems that an old friend of Jake's has been identified as the killer of one of the Seals and he has been brought in to find him. Jake is once again assigned to work with his former partner on this case. Later, Jake receives an envelope from the last Seal's wife that was killed. In the envelope was a thumb drive and once the information was revealed, a new mission was then assigned. It seems the file contained information to a mission Seal Team 6 performed for the killing of Ossama Bin Laden. As a side note, it was learned that all of the Seal Team members on that mission were dead with the exception of Jake. This nes mission now brings Jake and his partner to Kuwait where an unknown party was brought after the raid and this info had been hidden.

Two events were now planned as a result of the information that Jake learned, one involving a Seal team and another that involved the CIA director. After each event was concluded; they were more confident with the earlier conclusion of the Bin Laden raid. They once more reviewed the file given to Jake and proceeded with a new follow-up on what they discovered.

This now brings the reader back to the destroyer destruction as to who was responsible and what the reason was, To discover this answer, learn who was responsible for the Seal Team 6 deaths and why Jake was on the list, then you need to read this book. The ending will almost answer everything except it once more leaves a question unresolved about Bin Lden.

[William Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Bin Laden Plot," by Rick Campbell, and published by St. Martin's Press. is a strong addition to his literary canon. I am working from an ARC provided to me by the publisher (for which I am very grateful). For those of you not familiar with Campbell's work, he has largely concentrated in the area of modern submarine warfare although his most recent works seem to be moving in a somewhat different direction as they increasingly focus on political machinations as well as the consequences of them for the United States Navy, most especially the submarine force. Campbell's writing in this book, as in his others, is tight and well developed. Don't let the title mislead you; Bin Laden and his minions are a motivational force that propels, in an historical sense, much of the narrative but they are not really the core of the work. Terrorism and greed, as well as political corruption at the highest levels, are really the center of this complex and compulsively readable thriller. Mix in the undersea combat scenes which are as finely drawn as ever and you have a formula for sleepless nights as you move to a fantastic and unpredictable conclusion. The narrative structure reflects the firm hand of a mature writer at the height of his powers, and I can only wait with bated breath for the next book presently in the planning stages. Incidentally, while this book clearly belongs in a canon and does include recurring characters, it is easily a stand alone read. Want to try something a little different, give it a shot; you won't regret it.

[Jessica Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Military thriller that was both thrilling and entertaining.

When a U.S. ship is destroyed by a submarine from Iran, Captain Murray Wilson is sent to the Pentagon to meet with the SecNav and learns that it is all just a cover story for what really happened. It was an unmanned underwater vehicle owned by the U.S. that destroyed the ship. Now, Murray must hunt it down and stop it before anyone else gets hurt. While he is doing this, the head of the CIA is in charge of its own mission to stop a terrorist and keep the country safe by any means necessary.

First off, this book would have been so much better if I had known it was the 7th in a series. I read this without realizing any of that. The story itself was very interesting and did hold my interest with the Bin Laden family aspect. There were lots of characters and different locations to keep up with but that added to the mystery of the whole story. I think this story would be great for readers that have read the previous books and love the mystery that Campbell can write. While I did enjoy the story it was a little much for me having not read the rest, but I would recommend this to anyone who loves military thrillers in particular.

[Lawrence Roth · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I still think that Rick Campbell's true talents are in military fiction rather than espionage/action fiction, he continues to produce quality technothriller books in a manner that is refreshingly consistent similar to Larry Bond.

The Bin Laden Plot is a good book, and my current favorite book of the "soft reboot" of the series that Campbell started with the previous entry Deep Strike. There are several shocking turns and twists throughout the story, which I do believe shows Campbell's improving skill as a thriller writer. But the presence of such twists means I cannot particularly dive into details into this book as that would totally spoil basically everything. What I can say is that fan favorite characters return, and the scale of the conflict in this book is less in global magnitude and more domestic.

Campbell has set up the story for a following book that may complete this trilogy of spy fiction. I do hope he can get back to writing straightforward military fiction though. As I've mentioned throughout my numerous reviews of his entire series, Empire Rising is my favorite military fiction book of all time.

A high recommend from me for fans of Campbell and good espionage action!

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

When a US Navy ship is sunk by a rogue US submarine, the hunt is on to locate the sub before it can do any further damage. Simultaneously, an assassin is hunting down US SEALs who all have one thing in common - they were all part of the team that killed Bin Laden. The Bin Laden Plot suffers from trying to do too much; there are so many things going here - rogue subs, assassins, arms dealing, shady government leaders, etc., that the overlapping plots are confusing, and coupled with an extremely large cast of characters, it’s just too difficult to keep track of events. Trying to juggle all the moving parts causes the reader to lose focus, and when the action ramps up, it’s too late to recover interest and it was a difficult book to get through. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[R. Fulleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book #7 in Rick Campbell's gripping nuclear submarine series, "Trident Deception."

Again, Campbell's experience as a former commander aboard a nuclear submarine is combined with his detailed story telling to create another winner. In this book, after a US Navy destroyer is sunk, the submarine USS Michegan is called in to find and destroy the seemingly broken secret weapon that was thought to have sunk the destroyer. The plot gets deeper as the US Navy SEAL team members who were responsible for hunting down Osama Bin Laden are themselves hunted down, by one of their own, former SEAL.

Turns out, Iran and another country is involved with the destroyer sinking and the peace of the world depend on both a submarine's actions, along with others working at the top level of the US government.

This story is a bit of a cross of Patriot Games and Hunt for Red October.

[Eric Cousineau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written and gritty noir tale of betrayal and vengeance. This action filled, suspenseful edge-of-your-seat thriller that will leave you breathless at times in anticipation of the next twist in the plot. It has an interesting premise and well-developed, and sometimes stereotypical characters.

The story grabs you from the first page and the many twists and turns in the story make it a real page turner that makes it hard to put the book down. Don’t start reading it if you are not prepared to stay up all night!


Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press who provided me with a copy of this book. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

[Mark Easter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bin Laden Plot is a GREAT read. Campbell taps into raw emotion on multiple levels that engage the reader and pull one into the storyline by the throat. This is the stuff that begins to separate good writers from great writers hence my first four star rating for a book in this series. I may, however, never forgive him for his "resolution" of the Angie plot line. How fast can I get my hands on the next installment!

[Julie Pint · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great political thriller much in the vein of a Tom Clancy novel. There’s political intrigue, nuclear bombs, a rogue element that is trying to assassinate numerous people, and a government trying to manage it all. This was my first in the series, but it can definitely be easily read alone. It was a quick read and not an overt amount of technical jargon. Thanks to NetGalley for the read- this is my kind of story!

[Ron Baumer · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exciting and thrilling read. Great suspense and sure to grab your attention. The use of modern-day realistic weapon systems really drives home that this could be possible scenario. A great book in the series! I cannot wait to read more.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good guys bad guys and military technology combine in this latest page turner from Campbell. There's a rogue UUAV, there's someone killing members of the Seal Team that went after bin Laden, and there's Jake Harrison. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is long on propulsive plot and short on character development but it's a fun read for fans of the genre.

[William McLoughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5. A U.S. destroyer is sunk in the Persian Gulf. By Iran? Or by our own experimental drone sub? Who is killing-off the SEALS who killed bin Laden? And why? Was he really killed? Or was he secretly captured? Is someone at the highest levels of government a spy and/or selling embargoed technology to the Iranians? The search for answers bounces the action back and forth between D.C. and the Middle East.

[KerryO · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely fast-paced “what if” political thriller with plenty of twists and turns. I am totally hooked and cannot wait for the next installment of the Chris and Jake story. I received an ARC from NetGalley, and the opinions expressed are my own.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book captured me within the first 7 pages! I’ve stayed up way too late at night savouring every subsequent page. Although I haven’t finished, I can highly recommend it without spoiling the plot or the ending. (I’ll be finishing it tonight no matter how late it gets.)

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

The writing is good. I just felt like there was a lot going on, and I got confused trying to keep up and keep everything straight of who's who and what's what.
I won this book on goodreads-giveaways.

[Matt S Johnson]

This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope There is more to come from this author! I am totally hooked!

[Daniel Hutmacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

When I saw that Rick had written this book I pre-order it. It is the best in the series although I thought the fight scene with Christine was not very realistic. Otherwise it was a great read.

[David A. Rosow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read

Campbell delivers a great story with enough twists and turns, especially the last few lines, to defy any attempt to figure out his ending. A brutal last couple of chapters, but they fit the characters.

[Ed Moody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book!

Like all the other Rick Campbell’s books… Absolutely wonderful. The plot ties in well with other books by Rick. Can’t wait to see what surprises he has next@

[Jim Samas · Rating 5 out of 5]

As usual, Rick Campbell rolls out another winner. This novel reads fast and furious. Very enjoyable. Tom Clancy would be very proud indeed.

[Joseph Antonello · Rating 5 out of 5]

real nice book

Campbell is a great author..I've read most of his books. This is a good one but the way this ended, a sequel is on the horizon

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, ending a bit of a heartbreaker.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Sheryl Nudds · Rating 4 out of 5]

4++ great action and I love the technology

[Bernard Beckerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written but an incredibly long-shot plot. It’s worth the read if you have nothing better close at hand.