Voyage of the Devilfish

Michael Pacino #1

by Michael DiMercurio

The Kaliningrad stands as the last great triumph of Soviet submarine technology. Now it has put out to sea, lurking beneath the polar ice cap. In command is the most brilliant officer the Soviet fleet has ever produced—Admiral Alexi Novskoyy. And in his fanatical hands is the power to turn back the clock to the Cold War…and begin the countdown to doomsday.

Opposing him is the killer chase sub USS Devilfish, captained by Commander Michael Pacino—a dogged veteran of the American fleet. His orders are to hunt down and destroy the Russian vessel. But his personal mission is to settle an old score with Novskoyy—the man who killed his father.

The ultimate undersea duel is about to begin…

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Military Fiction, Adventure, War, Military Thriller

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1992

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

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a new author for me. I understand it is his first book. The book is an exciting techno-thriller. Our protagonist is Cmdr. Michael Pacino who is the captain of the attack sub Devilfish. Michael’s father was also a sub captain. As he leaves on his new assignment, Michael finds out that the Admiral aboard the new Russian submarine he is to track sank his father’s sub twenty years ago.

The new Russian super-submarine, the Kaliningrad, is superior to the U.S. submarines. Admiral Alexei Novskoyy plans a nuclear strike on the United States. He has gone rouge. Apparently, the Russians have a mole high up in the Pentagon. The suspense is palatable as the two submarines play hide and seek under the polar ice while Russian submarines line up along the United States eastern shores to launch nuclear missiles.

The book is well written with lots of action and suspense. The plot twists and turns. The characters are interesting and realistic. Apparently, the author was a former submarine officer and drawing on the experiences, DiMercurio makes the life and action on the submarine extremely realistic. I am definitely looking forward to reading more books by this author.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is just over twelve hours long. Gene Engene does a good job narrating the book. I first enjoyed Engene when he was the narrator for the Beaumont books by J. A. Jance. I think that Engene has the perfect voice for westerns. This is my first experience with him reading a submarine book. He does an average job with this book. This experience only re-enforces my view that he is superb as a western narrator.

[Nadienne Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

The review on the top of my copy claims that this is "...just like 'Hunt For Red October'..." and no, well, okay, it is, in that it has submarines, and if you come from the "My Dad can beat up your Dad" school of come-backs.

The story itself was okay, in that it had a plot, which it followed, in the typical narrative fashion. It had a definitive conclusion, and characters, and no real plot holes, so, in that sense, it's adequate and/or competent, but as a story...let's just say, it's "Hunt For Red October" if you take out all the politics, intrigue, diplomacy, politicking, intellect, characters with more than a single motivation, and add in violence, action-movie quantities of bodies being ripped apart, and elementary school level playground one-up-manship.

As to that story itself...well, apparently, during the collapse of the Soviet Union, they were able to build the biggest, most-amazing, most-advanced, most well-armed submarine ever built anywhere by anyone. Coming in at roughly three times the size of the Typhoon-class, the OMEGA-class submarine (and yes, the author capitalizes all Russian submarine classes for some reason, whilst italicizing the American ones...so, get used to seeing OMEGA-class and AKULA-class), can go faster than any submarine ever (like, freeway speed), can dive deeper than any submarine ever (I think he mentioned a 10,000-foot crush depth), and carries nuclear torpedoes capable of going faster than any submarine - other than itself, of course. It also has a small crew because it's very automated - because, we all know that the Soviet Union was on top of the game when it came to computers and automation - she says with sarcasm because I'm not sure the average reader of this book is capable of a level of thought above that of the common flea. Also, they were able to sortie all 80 of their attack submarines in the Atlantic to the east coast of the USA, fully-armed and operational, and ready to fight. Instead of languishing in port, like they did in reality, rusting away, with shut-down reactors, unpaid crews, and barely functional weapons. But, this is the mythical Soviet Union of the height of the Cold War, apparently...the fictional nation invented by the CIA to scare everyone into granting unlimited defense budgets and vast world-wide military coups to stop the farcical "domino theory"...so, they, of course can do anything, have unlimited resources, are unrelentingly evil, eat babies, are roughly 20-feet tall, and shoot lightning out of their assess.

Sorry, I got off on a tangent. The story is that our main character, Al Pacino, I mean, Michael Pacino, and his crew, have just returned home from a 3-month patrol, and they get to spend time with their families and stuff, but, an Admiral tells Michael that he lied about how his father, also a submarine captain, died, it wasn't an accident, he was killed by a Russian submarine twenty years ago and now that Russian Captain-turned-Admiral, is in command of the aforementioned fantasy juggernaut Russian submarine (well, the entire Northern Fleet actually), so he sends Pacino and his sub and crew out to go pick a fight on a mission or revenge the very day they return home (really - the Admiral arranges Pacino's submarine to have these new super-secret torpedoes, and tells him to do everything but shoot the Russian submarine to goad them into shooting first, and then sink it...for no other reason than revenge - which Pacino literally just found out about, believing his father died in an accident). Sorry, families, I know you miss your sons, husbands, brothers, fathers, uncles, etc., but I gotta go kill the man who killed my Daddy - right now. I can't wait a week or a month, I gotta go now...even though I literally just found out about this and have had absolutely zero time to process my thoughts, feelings, and emotions...oh wait, I forgot, this is a man's book for men, emotions have no place here...well, I mean, revenge is an emotion, but it's a manly emotion or something...and men are known for their reasoning and rationality or something right? We'll just ignore the fact that this is a completely impulsive, knee-jerk reaction...

Serendipitously, and unknowingly to everyone else, this Russian Admiral has also arranged for all of the Russian attack submarines to be armed with nuclear weapons to blackmail the USA into disarming (but he really is just planning on nuking the USA anyway), so luckily, Pacino is on the way to prevent this - even though he, nor anyone one else in the entire US Navy, have any idea that this is happening.

In the end, the USA is saved, and both the Russian submarine and Pacino's submarine are destroyed in the fight (through the aforementioned nuclear torpedo) with the loss of all crew, save like three people. I can't stress enough that the American Admiral, Captain Pacino, and his entire crew had no idea what was going on. They were drug along on a mission of petty revenge and all died for literally no reason. It's like a reverse Moby Dick. But, in the end, of course, Pacino is rewarded for his actions, with medals and a promotion and the choice of command, and the Admiral even wistfully thinking that he'd be the perfect heir to his throne...but, of course, he's manly and stoic, so he retires to try to patch things up with his family...unlike the hundred plus other sailors under his command who are all dead now because "that man hurt my Daddy"...I'm looking at you, George Bush, Jr.

As an aside, in the second book of the series - which was the first one I actually read - Al, I mean Michael Pacino keeps having flashbacks to this horrific car accident in which he slid out of control and killed a little girl, and it haunts him for like most of that novel...and apparently it was just an inconsequential thing that happens between novels, I guess, 'cause there is nothing like that in this book. We all know the mark of a good story is to have major character development moments happen off-screen and be told to the reader through flashback...

Well, on to book three - because I still drop my panties at the sight of a submarine...

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding read and good action story. As a former crew member of USS Hawkbill (SSN-666), it was kind of surreal, but familiar. Fast Attack Tough!

[Matt Crumpton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well a blurb on this book stated "If you like Hunt for Red October, you will love this book." Well after reading it I feel the opposite. I love Red October, and I just like Devilfish.....barely. This book was okay, bordering on pretty good. It has some positives, and some negatives.

First, the positive. DiMercurio sure has the skins on the wall to know what he is writing about. I mean being an Annapolis graduate, and having an engineering degree from MIT, and serving as an officer aboard a U.S. Naval Submarine, qualifies him to write this stuff. I love naval warfare, and particularly submarines. I love the language and the naval jargon. Its good for my reading pleasure. At first the plot sounded a little like Red October since its about the Russians building a secret super sub, that has the capability to destroy all enemies, and is damn near indestructible itself. Well the similarity ends there which I was glad of. The plot was simple, and easy to follow. At about 150 pages in the novel seems to take off, and you get sucked in. An angry Russian Admiral using this sub to deploy 120 fast attack subs to take out major cities along the east coast of the U.S. Pretty good plot so far. Then you have 1 American sub being deployed to find this new Russian sub and stop it. Its seems to be setting up for a nice showdown....right? Wrong!!

Now the negatives. First, you would think with this scenario you would have a nice cat and mouse game between these rival subs. I mean you could have attacks and counter-attacks, and moves and counter-moves. Instead you get ONE confrontation with each ship getting a shot off and each ship damaging the other one. That's it!! This indestructible Russian sub that is double-hulled is damaged by a convenient new American torpedo, and the Russian nuclear torpedo fatally damages both ships. And that's it!! Really kind of a let down in my opinion.
Then there is the aspect of making the torpedoes, and missiles having human-like qualities. Really, he describes them as such. He describes a Russian cruise missle as "feeling" the air around itself, and a Russian nuc "disappointed" that it had not found its target and has to initiate a self destruct was kind of stupid for me. Also he compares one duties to a human trying to achieve orgasm.....really weird. Plus he would spend a couple of pages describing the missile and torpedo, and all of its functions which for me just bogged down the narrative in a few places. Others might be interested in that technical stuff but I am not.
Then the ending is very unsatisfying to say the least. You want the good guy to take down the bad guy, and you get the good guy recovering from almost death, and the bad guy being shipped back to Russia. Oh, and he is told that he should probably take the easy way out and kill himself before he gets back home. LAME!!!!!

So all in all, a good plot that is poorly executed. However, this is his first novel and he is a good writer with some promise. I am going to start the next book he wrote and see if there are any improvements over this book

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, quick read, though it wandered into the "sea" of make believe, which is why the three stars, no more. I served in submarines, so I may be unduly critical.

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like submarine stories and this was an exciting one, with the action zipping from one place to another, one sub to another. The author was a little heavy handed with the technical details of submarines, and even though I tried to not skip those parts, I did skim them. But even with these owner's manuals sections to read, this was a good story.

[Ian Birtwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like techno thrillers and want to know how a submarine operates then this is the book for you. Lots of technical information on the submarine and the weapons systems along with an exciting and believable storyline.

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. I liked parts of it; parts of it were meh, and parts of it were bland. Elements of it reminded me of Hunt for Red October and other parts reminded me of To Kill the Potemkin. Some of it flowed kinda fast, some of it was really slow. The character development, such as it was, was not-quite-okay and borderline nonexistent. It was not as exciting as I remember it being the first time I read it [twentyplus years ago]. I honestly do not know what to say about it - I think I might have been better off not reading this one [again] so that I could have kept the positive memories I had of the book.

I have to admit, I think the best part of the book for me was the diagrams of the two submarines at the front of the book. I loved them twentysome years ago, and I loved them now. Best part of the book, by far!

The monster Soviet super sub was crazy. It was gargantuan! It was so big, I was surprised the Americans could do anything to it that would adversely affect it. I still cannot wrap my mind over how big it was, and how quiet it was at the same time. The discussion of its propulsion system was pretty cool, I will not deny that. It was so big as to be a little farfetched, to me, but it was still a great concept to read about.

It does get kind of goofy. Anthony Pacino's uncle, an admiral, verbally orders him out to sea and to come up with any excuse to sink the Russian sub. Then the Admiral issues written orders preventing Anthony from doing a Pearl Harbor on the Russki sub. So Anthony comes up with the "brilliant" idea to blow his ballast tanks and run into the Russian sub while ascending to the surface. The intent was to get the Russian to fire torpedoes at his sub, which would allow him to fire back under the ROE that had been issued to all American subs. Despite being specially built to withstand darn near anything, the Russian sub appears to be damaged more than the American sub. To add insult to injury, the Russian sub further damages itself with its own nuclear torpedo, followed by a double-whammy from the American sub before both subs are catastrophically damaged. Of course, the American sub survives long enough to deposit any surviving sailors onto the polar ice pack, followed by three Russian survivors [one of whom mysteriously disappears by the end of the book]. It involved an enormous amount of suspension of disbelief.

One thing I did find funny in the book was the discussion between "rapid prompt critical disassembly" versus a nuclear explosion (194). Not sure why, but it made me laugh.

Something else that I found 'funny' [but not necessarily in a 'hahahah' kind of way] was the 'internal discussion' Anthony Pacino has with himself on page 156. The author writes "And then he reminded himself that ...monster was the man who had killed his father. The same man that now threatened him, his crew and the ship that he loved." Really? How is the Russian submarine or the Russian admiral threatening Pacino and Pacino's crew? The Russian sub had done nothing overtly offensive prior to that point; it had done nothing illegal or 'wrong' as far as the Americans were concerned. Yet Pacino is getting himself worked up over some perceived threat from the Russians? Other than the Admiral revealing that the Russian had killed Pacino's father twenty years ago, Pacino would have had no reason to feel the way he did about the Russians. It did not make any sense, in light of what had transpired before, from an objective point-of-view. The difference being, the readers obviously know that the Russians intend to launch nuclear missiles at the United States in a 'first strike' maneuver, which would then "justify" Pacino's attitude/thoughts/behavior. I felt this was one of the weaker parts of the story by far.

The book was more anticlimactic than I realized. Perhaps it stems from a conversation I had with my brother when we watched Crimson Tide many, many moons ago. He pointed out that the movie was exceptionally anticlimactic, because the consequences were so great. The way movies tend to be made, to make it an 'end-of-the-world' scenario essentially requires the 'heroes' to save the day and save society as we know it by preventing the 'end-of-the-world' scenario from happening [nuclear war, in the case of the movie]. He felt the movie would have been better if it had been about a country in which "nobody cared if the population lived or died" that was threatened with destruction as opposed to a global conflagration. Of course, if the movie had been made 'today', they might have gone the other way in how the movie ended. So, back to the book. The book felt the same way to me. On the one hand, there was this 'huge build-up' of Russian forces, and then it amounted to essentially nothing. It's like, the author tried to get the tension all wound up in a tight ball, and then it started to unravel. Intentionally unravel. Something happened. Tensions went down. Something else happened. More tension was released. Then essentially a great, big 'nothing' / 'letdown' between the American sub and the Soviet super-sub, and the Soviet sub quietly concedes to the American sub, sinking into the dark, black depths of the polar sea. The American sub survives by the skin of its teeth, as it were, before sliding back into the depths. There was all this build-up and then, whoosh, nothing, at the end. I felt like saying, "That's it?!? That's all that happened?" I realize, at the same time, the ending in the book would be the 'preferable' ending in 'real life' as opposed to both sides escalating to the point of no return and everybody's nukes start flying through the ether. So perhaps it was a better ending than I initially gave it credit for being.

It would be kinda funny to read a book in which some crisis is averted with plenty of time to spare as opposed running down to the wire. :) Even if not funny, it would definitely be crazy, as it would be so 'different' than the norm.

One other thing that bugged me: What about all of the dead bodies on the Devilfish? I realize that they were 'buried in the deep' when the submarine sank, but over three-quarters of the crew was killed. Why would that not have reflected poorly on Captain Anthony Pacino and his choices, his command decisions? His men died due to his decisions, and he seemed to barely suffer for it. It was really odd to read, considering the number of other stories I have read where the commanding officer agonized over how many men would die versus live in the upcoming battle. It just seemed like there should have been some kind of repercussions for the decisions he made, that Pacino should have been held to some kind of accountability. But that is just me.

On a more personal note, I first read this when I was 'big' into fictional stories about US Navy submarines. Charles D. Taylor had written some stories about attack subs and boomers. Hendricks had also written a slew of books about underwater conflicts between Russian subs and American subs. I read quite a few of them, when I came across this book. I tried reading some of Bart Davis' books, but I could never quite get into them, for some reason. Regardless, I do remember 'loving' this book when I first read it [although the ID number of the sub always made me cringe]. I do remember enjoying most of the books I read, regardless of how far-fetched they might have been.

Overall, I am glad I read the book. It was not nearly as good as I remembered it being the first time I read it, but at least now I know.

[Robin Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I knew I was destined for disappointment in this novel when, in the very first chapter, the author has an Air Force general wondering what the rank equivalent to a lieutenant colonel is in the navy. Really? I have a hard time imagining a US flag officer not being aware of cross-service ranks. I mean, the guy used to be a lieutenant colonel. It never occurred to him what his counterparts in the navy were called? No, can't buy it, especially since it was completely irrelevant to the story. It went downhill from there as we're invited in to a secure, heavily fortified room (the 'Flag Plot') where the navy commander in question absolutely bubbles with unprofessional, junior-high school enthusiasm while giving the general a tour of the room.

In the next chapter, we find our hero, Commander Michael Pacino, commanding a fast attack submarine engaged in a war game exercise (slight spoiler as DiMercurio wants you to think it's real at first). Pacino uses an absolutely stupid and dangerous tactic to evade the dummy torpedo, endangering not only his boat but also a nearby surface vessel. DiMercurio essentially writes this off as an example of Pacino's unconventional ways that get things done. No, it's an example of why he should be relieved of command (not 'lose his dolphins' as DiMercurio inexplicably writes). Moreover, Pacino used that tactic to exploit a possible weakness in the torpedo's programming but later wonders if Russian torpedoes have the same weakness. So you risked the lives of everyone on your boat, plus on the surface vessel, just to win a war game using a tactic that you had no idea was applicable to an actual enemy engagement? This is our hero, folks.

I'm an ex-submariner so I like to read submarine books. In every search for the best submarine novels, DiMercurio comes up. He's compared to Tom Clancy. Sorry, again no. Clancy could write a tight novel, as can several other military thriller authors. This is DiMercurio's first book in the 'Michael Pacino' series. Maybe they get better.

[Bryan Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like submarines. They are the closest thing we have to a starship. So I'm surprised it took me so long to finally read any of DiMercurio's books. What tipped me over the edge was a post he wrote on Twitter and it was so compelling that I thought his books might be good too.

The first book is this one, introducing the hero Michael Pacino, and his story. As the captain of the Devilfish he was sent to dog a super secret brand new super awesome Soviet submarine. Oh, this is set in an alternate cold world. He does and adventure ensues, including torpedoes, missiles and space opera style drama.

All in all the book was enjoyable, but a little jerky in the story telling. Reading up on the story later, apparently this first book was heavily edited by the publishers and removed some of the motivations and background from the story that might have fixed the sudden jolts to the reader.

It feels like old school Tom Clancy and was enjoyable to the point that I resolved to continue the series.

[Brice Fisher · Rating 2 out of 5]

(I listened to the unabridged audiobook borrowed from my library on Hoopla.) Entertaining submarine military drama. Characters are pretty shallow and one-dimensional. They wear their motivations on their sleeves. Extreme focus on technical, strategic, and tactical details (not surprising for the genre). The primary villain's motivation was a bit incoherent, simplistic, and out-of-line with his mentality and capabilities. Likewise, the hero's motivations were compromised and some of his actions were suspect. The final resolution was a downer, but realistic given the series of actions taken. The audiobook was well voiced with good characterizations and sound effects.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of underwater activity, ranging from the North Atlantic to the U.S. East Coast to the polar icecap. The launch of a possible "game changing" Russian submarine that no one knew about causes the Navy to send Mike Pacino and the USS Devilfish on a top secret mission under the polar icecap to determine the intentions of the commander of the Russian submarine fleet. A sudden excursion of Russian submarines headed to the U. S. East Coast raises the situation to almost a panic level, despite the efforts of an agent in the Defense Department to downplay the problem. As submarines are lost, and lives are lost, will Pacino and his crew be able to prevent a global conflict.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK. Although the author doesn't know much about the Arctic sea ice. Or if he does know about it, then he didn't write that.
Basically I'm constantly amazed that someone who is hailed for accuracy in how submarines work, can miss so much in what I would have thought of as easy things to correct.
Overall (if you can ignore all the bits about the ice), then it was a decent read.

[Boyd Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book free of charge. I really enjoyed this book. It read fast and always made me want to get to the next chapter to see what would happen. I really do not know how much I would have paid for this book if it had not been free. But as a free book it is worth you time. If you like Tom Clancy novels this should be some thing you should like.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot seemed fine but soooooo much technical detail as the climactic scenes came on. Spoiled the action and pace for me. Explosion, then 3 pages of detail as to why it happened...power levels, carbon filters...whatever. I ended up skimming so many pages just to get back to the action. And the end...spoiler alert....what a wimp. Get yourself back in a sub!

[Alan Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but could be better

A good thriller but diminished by overly technical language and poor descriptions of the submarines involved. I think some pictures might have helped the reader to explain the complexity of these boats. I have not read subsequent books in the series but if they are burdened with similar language, I will stop after this book.

[Trey Maldonado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly written by a submarine officer, not enlisted. A lot of systems described in ways that are mostly accurate, but not quite right. Anything sonar related brought me great pain. Multiple spheres? Lmao, makes zero sense. Diesel engine location makes zero sense, exhaust would have a ridiculous path through the boat. But a decent fiction that scratches the itch well enough. The more knowledgeable on submarines you are, the less you'll enjoy it.

[Glen House · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy a good submarine thriller, and this story delivered. However, I find DiMercurio's writing a little too technical. I enjoy learning while I'm reading a fiction story, ala Tom Clancy, but I think DiMercurio goes overboard with details. I found myself glossing over paragraphs like this. This book also got a little depressing at times.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought book 4 of the Michael Pacino series on clearance. I soon after picked up this one. Dimercurio has a way of telling the story that just puts you in the spot, with an unpredictable plot. I'll be continuing this series soon.

[Stewart Hubbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first book by DiMercurio, and I really enjoyed it. The book is exciting and flows thru very well. The level of detail in sub operations was very interesting. I have immediately purchased the next two in the series and I am reading it now.

[Jerry L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exciting Naval story...Even for "landlubbers"!

Believable tale, with highly technical but understandable explanation of the innards of rocket propulsion and the steps for a nuclear detnotation. I enjoyed the read through my and look forward to reading more stories by this author.

[Jbird · Rating 5 out of 5]

Realistic and detailed. Can’t be beat.

Anybody who loves Cold War thrillers and espionage will love this book. Only an author with extensive firsthand knowledge of submarines could write it. I look forward to reading others.

[John Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hot Cold War thriller

Another DiMercurio thriller. An interesting premise and many unexpected twists. More intricately detailed technical equipment descriptions than I could follow but overall a good read.

[Steve Royce-Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a retired submariner myself I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the others in the series.
For those of you who have always wondered what it would be like to be on a submarine, disregard the films and read this. Let your imagination run wild.

[Rajesh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fun, mindless book. Submarine sub sub sub genre is pretty wild.

Always a chapter in the voice of the torpedo. Comically little character development. Overuse of formal titles. Lots of ice. Poor Russians.

On my enforced curve rating scale though, even fun books get 1 star.

[Ethan Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb start to this riveting series. Took a little while to get into its stride, but an excellent plot, vaguely reminiscent of the classic Clancy, Hunt for Red October, but also very different. Highly enjoyable.

[Richard McCann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. DiMercurio spun a modern classic submarine tale from the Cold War through modern times. The detail of the submarines and the action were superb and realistic. If you like a compelling submarine story, then Voyage of the Devilfish is for you!

[Anyaraquel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read

A rocket sicken sub tale. Immensely enjoyable. Lots of fun high tech stuff, great settings and a wild sea story.

[Gregg Hopps · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little bit too much detail on how a submarine works, but a decent book. I'm looking forward to reading the second book in the series.

[David G. Waddington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

Good vvvv bvbbb ddvgfr bhg. Vfr. Cfr vfg. Vgh. Bvgfr vcd codes mbvgd vgf mjutf bug njdfr bd xfs eed