Panic Switch

by Michael DiMercurio

The oily and brackish waters of the Russian Northern Fleet submarine base part for the passage of the colossal special purpose Omega II-class submarine Belgorod, on a mission to hold the United States hostage. This gigantic submarine is armed with three Poseidon unmanned submersibles, each with a 10-megaton warhead. Her placing them offshore in U.S. ports in a nuclear-blackmail chess move.

In response, the United States dispatches the newest special operations attack submarine, the Virginia-class USS New Jersey, which lies in wait to follow Belgorod under the polar icecap. Because every submariner knows that what happens under the ice...never happened.

Legendary former admiral and current National Security Advisor Michael Pacino and his son Anthony, a combat-decorated veteran of undersea warfare, return in this epic novel of submarine-versus-submarine warfare.

Genres: Thriller

626 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 21, 2023

About the author

Michael DiMercurio is an honors graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, and has served as a paratrooper, Navy diver, and as a lieutenant and Chief Propulsion Officer aboard the U.S.S. Hammerhead.

Reviews

[Nooilforpacifists · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very much like the first in the series, which isn’t so bad a thing. Except for another fuzzy, and unnecessary dues ex machina halfway through.

[Bryan Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gets four stars because DiMercurio tells his usual three star story with much more skill than before. Gone are the pages and pages of exposition. Instead he learns to let characters say the things he wants the readers to know. That does create a few instances where I wondered why a character was explaining something to another character that in my opinion the second character should have already known.

No matter, DiMercurio displays a skill upgrade and I'm all for it.

This continues the Anthony Pacino stories. As usual the story is chock full of details on military hardware, amazingly gorgeous women, and the men they can't resist, especially the young Anthony. He does manage to sideline the current romantic partner for the bulk of the book which simplifies the situation on the submarine and allows the story to proceed without fraught interpersonal interactions on duty. He does, however, set it up so when romantic partner comes back she will be XO and he will be Nav reporting to her. Yeah, that sounds hard.

I follow DiMercurio on twitter (which is not X, never will it be X) and he's hilarious. But he does claim that he's met tons of these amazingly gorgeous women and I wonder how that can be true, since the number of amazingly stunning lookers I have run across in person is pretty low. Maybe sub guys meet them more than IT guys. Dunno.

With the skill upgrade I am looking forward to reading more of these stories.

[Ian Birtwell]

Another very enjoyable story in the Pacino universe. The story is good and the characters are all very believable; There are several familiar characters from other book in the Pacino universe. A bit more political evolvement with this one, which isn't an issue and is necessary, given the storyline. Looking forward to the next one in the series - Ambush Of The Dragon that pits both the US & Russia against the newly-unified China.

[james baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the previous book because: endless descriptions of people having coffee, endless descriptions of uniforms, a plot that is entirely implausible (I mean really - Russian and US intelligence collaborate to destroy a Russian submarine that is planning to place nuclear torpedoes in US harbours because the Russians didnt support their presidents decision to do that???). I might also add that the romance aspect is very stereotyped and is it really necessary for every female submarine officer to be glamorous - the Russian female submariners are also blond beauties. I also got fed up with the nickname thing - its like high school.

I can handle the technical details but the above criticisms push me in the direction of leaving this author to continue on this way without me.

[Stephanie Stokes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action Packed!

DiMercurio really gets the readers attention not only with the flow of the story but with some technical details that do not take pages to read through that can leave a reader feeling a bit lost from the story line itself. Great action and follow up to his last Anthony “Patch” Pacino book.

[A.M. Leishman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Undeniable military expertise

What a great, exciting read! Panic Switch was my second book from this author, and he always does a fantastic job taking traditional world building into the claustrophobic environment of submarines. This story had the added feeling of suffocating under Arctic ice.

I'm never disappointed by a book from Michael DiMercurio.

[Dale parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly a page turner

DiMercurio has done it again! Another brilliant tale of the risks our submariners face every day while punching holes!! Intrigue and technical expertise that captivates the reader, but also enough background is provided for those unfamiliar with submarine operations. I can’t wait for his next release!!

[Larry Bunting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book in the Pacino series! Michael DiMercurio is one of my favorite authors for writing submarine stories. Having served on a nuclear submarine, this adds more authenticity to the stories.

[KB' Eleanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brrrrrr!!

Insightful novel of how nuclear technology in machines of war has changed the nature of undersea warfare. The capacity to traverse across the north pole opened new ways of projecting power readily and covertly! A great educational read !!

[Kevin Sells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty darned good.

Truly enjoyed this one. A little heavy on the fantasy tropes…but a grand old sea opera. You can feel the decks vibrating. You can smell the submarine stink. Patch Pacino is the luckiest man who ever put to sea.

[sandi fowler]

all i can say is, where is book 3

[Jim Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good read.

As usual couldn’t put it down the action sequences are written superbly can’t wait for the next instalment of a good series.

[Mark Curless · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

Easy read and never a dull moment reading it. This is my kind of book to read one that you hate to put down reading.

[Ralph Nezas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down

Great story
Full of laughs a d tears. Lots of technical.
I am no longer a no qul air breathing puke.
I am now a scurvy pilot pirate.

[Reynaldo Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

I really enjoyed reading this book, please, read it. Ok t keeps you in suspense from the beginning to the end.

[William F Kimpflein · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review

Another great read in the books. Can't wait for the next installment. A great writer and writing style. Two great series from the same writer!

[Steve Karayinopulos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Might be just me..,
But it read/felt like a different author writing.
Seemed to extend explanations /details way to much .. to fill pages ?

[Stan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Ronald C Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good and Slow

Plot is good. Action is good. But it is all pulled down by too much detail Too may lengthy titles, too much background on characters not central to the story.