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Geoffrey Peace #2
Hunter Killer
A top-secret mission to launch a revolutionary Anglo-American missile axed by a budget-conscious government; a nuclear submarine carrying to a secret destination the scientist most concerned with its vindication, who happens to be the Vice-President of the United States; a combination of powerful forces intent on preventing the Vice-President arriving in time for the countdown; a British submarine ace who will stop at nothing to ensure the mission's success and who is none other than Geoffrey Peace, R.N., that memorable figure from A Twist of Sand; these are the ingredients of Geoffrey Jenkins's latest riveting thriller, set in the uncharted coral seas of the Indian Ocean, where the elements also play their unpredictable part.
Add to this magnificent sea story, set a few years from now, a twist of fate which suddenly makes the daring mission one of vital significance for the world, and you have the distinctive brand of adventure which Geoffrey Jenkins has made peculiarly his own.
Add to this magnificent sea story, set a few years from now, a twist of fate which suddenly makes the daring mission one of vital significance for the world, and you have the distinctive brand of adventure which Geoffrey Jenkins has made peculiarly his own.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
44 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 30, 2023
Usually sequels are a step down from the original. In this case, I liked this one much better than the first book 'A Twist of Sand'. More modern day submarine action and suspense, even though the plot was a little far fetched. For the most part the characters were okay, even though I couldn't understand the motivation behind a couple of them.
May 1, 2019
Hunter Killer can arguably be claimed as one of the first of the 'techno-thriller' genre. The crew of a Royal Navy submarine conspire with the US Vice-President to test-launch a radical new manned rocket. Jenkins keeps the action moving along and keeps up the suspense to the end. There are no 'bad guys' here, but the good guys come in different shades of good, which adds an edge to things.
April 18, 2025
I’ll start off by saying that I’m a huge fan of Geoffrey Jenkins. His prose is sharp. His dialogue is usually pretty decent and his characters are well drawn for their type - these are hard men living hard lives in extreme conditions and Jenkins excels at plunging us into the wind and waves of their world.
I’ve read four of his books now and they’re all good examples of the action/adventure/thriller genre that was so popular from the late 1950’s - mid 1980’s.
Hunter Killer marks the return of Commander Geoffrey Peace, who made his first appearance in Jenkins's first novel A Twist of Sand. Peace is a retired Royal Navy Submarine Commander who, along with Marvin K. Green (or MKG as he is usually referred to in the novel), has been responsible for promoting the use of a new nuclear powered motor for missiles. It should be noted at this point that Marvin K. Green also happens to be the much loved Vice President of the United States of America.
We're told that the motor which will power "Little Bear" will put the United States and Great Britain ahead of the rest of the world for a decade - giving them the edge over, presumably, the nasty Communists (although this is never explicitly referred to) - but sadly, due to inter-service rivalry in the United States of America, they haven't had a chance to put this to the test.
Peace is a determined man and is absolutely obsessed with proving the capabilities of the rocket. With the backing of the retired Director of Naval Intelligence and the support of MKG and the President, a plan has been hatched to undertake a top secret launch of a manned rocket from the middle of the Indian Ocean. And the pilot of this missile - none other than the Vice President, MKG himself!
In Jenkins' earlier books the plots have been 'out there' but generally believable - as he pits 'good men' against ruthless villains who are usually out to exploit some secret part of the ocean (or desert) for their own gain. In "Hunter Killer" Jenkins ramps up the stakes - he makes the firing of the missile about lofty concepts like 'peace in our time' and the book suffers somewhat as a result. Elements of it feel like Roger Moore era Bond but, given that it was first published in 1966, it actually feels well ahead of its time.
Peace is a fanatic who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal - to prove the "Little Bear" missile and the SNAP motor that powers it - but he is not a bad person. And neither, for that matter, are the American fleet who spend the second half of the novel trying to track him down and stop him. They just have a different set of values - ones which, if you think about it, are quite sensible - is it really a good idea for the Vice President of the United States to be fired off into space in an unproven missile? Probably not.
Having said all of that, Jenkins is still an absolute master when it comes to sea based adventure - both on top of and below the waves. The scenes set in the submarine are fabulous and his description of the cyclone that destroys the French trawler Semittante and pounds the small shelter on Love-Apple Crossing where the stricken crew take refuge is white knuckle reading.
I should end this by picking up on a comment I made in the first paragraph about the characters being "well drawn for their type". As with a lot of writers in this genre at this time, Jenkins resorts to "ideals" - men are often broken individuals, hard drinking, taciturn and 'strong' (for want of a better word). They measure things in pretty simple terms and view the world as black and white. There's rarely any attempt at analysis but given that the characters in the novels are likely to have seen action during the Second World War maybe there's some truth in all of that. As John Garland says of Peace "He was a brave, cruel, heartless, determind, ruthless bastard who killed more men than he could remember."
Women within these worlds also fit into a type and, irrespective of their other talents, they invariably fit into one of two categories - available or not. Inevitably, at some point, they will fall for the charms of our hero - no matter how badly she might be treated along the way - and quite often will pay some sort of a price for it. In "Hunter Killer" the sole female character is Adèle. She's a smart and intelligent woman - an expert codebreaker and radio operator and absolutely vital to the mission - and whilst Jenkins falls into the trap of describing her physical beauty on more than one occasion she actually comes out of it reasonably well.
I say all of this only to reflect on the fact that these novels should really be read as fantasy. They're not really any different to Mills and Boon romance novels or, nowadays, the sort of fan fiction that spawned the "Fifty Shades of Grey" books.
I’ve read four of his books now and they’re all good examples of the action/adventure/thriller genre that was so popular from the late 1950’s - mid 1980’s.
Hunter Killer marks the return of Commander Geoffrey Peace, who made his first appearance in Jenkins's first novel A Twist of Sand. Peace is a retired Royal Navy Submarine Commander who, along with Marvin K. Green (or MKG as he is usually referred to in the novel), has been responsible for promoting the use of a new nuclear powered motor for missiles. It should be noted at this point that Marvin K. Green also happens to be the much loved Vice President of the United States of America.
We're told that the motor which will power "Little Bear" will put the United States and Great Britain ahead of the rest of the world for a decade - giving them the edge over, presumably, the nasty Communists (although this is never explicitly referred to) - but sadly, due to inter-service rivalry in the United States of America, they haven't had a chance to put this to the test.
Peace is a determined man and is absolutely obsessed with proving the capabilities of the rocket. With the backing of the retired Director of Naval Intelligence and the support of MKG and the President, a plan has been hatched to undertake a top secret launch of a manned rocket from the middle of the Indian Ocean. And the pilot of this missile - none other than the Vice President, MKG himself!
In Jenkins' earlier books the plots have been 'out there' but generally believable - as he pits 'good men' against ruthless villains who are usually out to exploit some secret part of the ocean (or desert) for their own gain. In "Hunter Killer" Jenkins ramps up the stakes - he makes the firing of the missile about lofty concepts like 'peace in our time' and the book suffers somewhat as a result. Elements of it feel like Roger Moore era Bond but, given that it was first published in 1966, it actually feels well ahead of its time.
Peace is a fanatic who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal - to prove the "Little Bear" missile and the SNAP motor that powers it - but he is not a bad person. And neither, for that matter, are the American fleet who spend the second half of the novel trying to track him down and stop him. They just have a different set of values - ones which, if you think about it, are quite sensible - is it really a good idea for the Vice President of the United States to be fired off into space in an unproven missile? Probably not.
Having said all of that, Jenkins is still an absolute master when it comes to sea based adventure - both on top of and below the waves. The scenes set in the submarine are fabulous and his description of the cyclone that destroys the French trawler Semittante and pounds the small shelter on Love-Apple Crossing where the stricken crew take refuge is white knuckle reading.
I should end this by picking up on a comment I made in the first paragraph about the characters being "well drawn for their type". As with a lot of writers in this genre at this time, Jenkins resorts to "ideals" - men are often broken individuals, hard drinking, taciturn and 'strong' (for want of a better word). They measure things in pretty simple terms and view the world as black and white. There's rarely any attempt at analysis but given that the characters in the novels are likely to have seen action during the Second World War maybe there's some truth in all of that. As John Garland says of Peace "He was a brave, cruel, heartless, determind, ruthless bastard who killed more men than he could remember."
Women within these worlds also fit into a type and, irrespective of their other talents, they invariably fit into one of two categories - available or not. Inevitably, at some point, they will fall for the charms of our hero - no matter how badly she might be treated along the way - and quite often will pay some sort of a price for it. In "Hunter Killer" the sole female character is Adèle. She's a smart and intelligent woman - an expert codebreaker and radio operator and absolutely vital to the mission - and whilst Jenkins falls into the trap of describing her physical beauty on more than one occasion she actually comes out of it reasonably well.
I say all of this only to reflect on the fact that these novels should really be read as fantasy. They're not really any different to Mills and Boon romance novels or, nowadays, the sort of fan fiction that spawned the "Fifty Shades of Grey" books.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews