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Deep Black #1
Deep Black
When the National Security Agency intercepts and decodes an obscure email message indicating a severe threat to the US, the American President considers his options. No Navy task force can solve this problem; it's too complicated for Delta Force and too delicate for the Marines. A B-2 bomber will only make things worse. What if, he asks the NSA Director, the same technology that made the interception possible could be used as an offensive weapon? What if the NSA turned from crypto-spy to crypto-warrior? Armed with satellites, ships, planes, and an array of sophisticated hardware, the NSA proves as competent at covert action as it is at spying. With members of all services working closely with the agency, there is no place on earth it can't reach. Success leads to a permanent NSA Group that acts directly for the NSA Director. But the high-wire nature of its missions and the secretive, ego-driven culture of the agency mean disaster always looms nearby...
372 pages, Paperback
First published May 18, 2003
190 people are currently reading
1842 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Coonts
180 books755 followersStephen Coonts (born July 19, 1946) is an American thriller and suspense novelist.
Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a small coal-mining town and earned an B.A. degree in political science at West Virginia University in 1968. He entered the Navy the following year and flew an A-6 Intruder medium attack plane during the Vietnam War, where he served on two combat cruises aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65). He accumulated 1600 hours in the A-6 Intruder and earned a number of Navy commendations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war he served as a flight instructor on A-6 aircraft for two years, then did a tour as an assistant catapult and arresting gear officer aboard USS Nimitz (CVN-68). His navigator-bombardier was LTjg Stanley W. Bryant who later became a Rear Admiral and deputy commander-in-chief of the US naval forces in Europe.
After being honorably discharged from duty as a lieutenant in 1977, Coonts pursued a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree at the University of Colorado, graduating in 1979. He then worked as an oil and gas lawyer for several companies, entertaining his writing interests in his free time.
He published short stories in a number of publications before writing Flight of the Intruder in 1986 (made into a movie in 1991). Intruder, based in part on his experiences as a bomber pilot, spent 28 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists in hardcover and launched his career as a novelist. From there he continued writing adventure-mysteries using the character from his first book, Jake Grafton. He has written several other series and stand-alone novels since then, but is most notable for the Grafton books.
Today Coonts continues to write, having had seventeen New York Times bestsellers (out of 20 books), and lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife and son.
Taken from Wikipedia
Learn more about Stephen Coonts on the Macmillan website.
Coonts grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia, a small coal-mining town and earned an B.A. degree in political science at West Virginia University in 1968. He entered the Navy the following year and flew an A-6 Intruder medium attack plane during the Vietnam War, where he served on two combat cruises aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65). He accumulated 1600 hours in the A-6 Intruder and earned a number of Navy commendations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war he served as a flight instructor on A-6 aircraft for two years, then did a tour as an assistant catapult and arresting gear officer aboard USS Nimitz (CVN-68). His navigator-bombardier was LTjg Stanley W. Bryant who later became a Rear Admiral and deputy commander-in-chief of the US naval forces in Europe.
After being honorably discharged from duty as a lieutenant in 1977, Coonts pursued a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree at the University of Colorado, graduating in 1979. He then worked as an oil and gas lawyer for several companies, entertaining his writing interests in his free time.
He published short stories in a number of publications before writing Flight of the Intruder in 1986 (made into a movie in 1991). Intruder, based in part on his experiences as a bomber pilot, spent 28 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists in hardcover and launched his career as a novelist. From there he continued writing adventure-mysteries using the character from his first book, Jake Grafton. He has written several other series and stand-alone novels since then, but is most notable for the Grafton books.
Today Coonts continues to write, having had seventeen New York Times bestsellers (out of 20 books), and lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife and son.
Taken from Wikipedia
Learn more about Stephen Coonts on the Macmillan website.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
February 19, 2022
After 50% of struggling through the book, it did not resonate with me and I am just giving up. Not wasting my time when so many other books are calling for me. DNF
September 5, 2018
The audiobook I checked out from the Library was pretty scratched up, so I missed about half of the story. But what I did hear seemed like a good story.
January 2, 2023
An audiobook that kept my attention to the end. I have the next two audiobooks in the series and am looking forward to it after listening to this one. It's a high tech action adventure novel. Lia DeFrancesca, Charlie Dean and a guy named Carr have a mission to sneak into Russia and prevent an assassination. Meanwhile the Ruskies are plotting a coup attempt to use as a cover to laser destroy the US communications satellites.
Highly entertaining novel with gizmos that would make James Bond and Maxwell Smart envious. The author wows you with attack drones, spy gear and sophisticated high-tech equipment that are used by the team of Deep Black.
Highly entertaining novel with gizmos that would make James Bond and Maxwell Smart envious. The author wows you with attack drones, spy gear and sophisticated high-tech equipment that are used by the team of Deep Black.
April 16, 2017
I felt frustrated by this book. It has an interesting plot, and I like two of the five main characters. The female lead spoiled things for me. The author seemed to use excessive profanity and rudeness to establish how tough she is is instead of showing us. Her male counterparts didn't behave this way. Of course, she's gorgeous and sexy.
I don't generally consider myself a feminist, and I don't go looking for bad examples of women in fiction. Something about this really jars me, and reduced my enjoyment of this book. I'm just not comfortable with it.
Do women have to be of noxious and crude to be tough? No, I don't think so. I have seen other examples of very tough women who behaved like human beings. They worked full-time hard asses.
I don't generally consider myself a feminist, and I don't go looking for bad examples of women in fiction. Something about this really jars me, and reduced my enjoyment of this book. I'm just not comfortable with it.
Do women have to be of noxious and crude to be tough? No, I don't think so. I have seen other examples of very tough women who behaved like human beings. They worked full-time hard asses.
February 9, 2015
Deep Black by Stephen Coonts
Coonts addresses the surveillance expertise of NSA and his fictitious Desk 3 in this book. The ability of the US government to impact another nation's computers and infrastructure is hypothesized. Of course, I think this is all speculative but how would one know unless perhaps you are Edward Snowden.
The book has lots of action and cutting edge tools of destruction. Again, I don't know if any of this stuff exists but the weapons and tech used are typical of a Coonts book, lots of whiz-bang and hooha!
The story is intricate and shows the value of "boots on the ground" when dealing with data collection.
Web Site: http://www.coonts.com/
Coonts addresses the surveillance expertise of NSA and his fictitious Desk 3 in this book. The ability of the US government to impact another nation's computers and infrastructure is hypothesized. Of course, I think this is all speculative but how would one know unless perhaps you are Edward Snowden.
The book has lots of action and cutting edge tools of destruction. Again, I don't know if any of this stuff exists but the weapons and tech used are typical of a Coonts book, lots of whiz-bang and hooha!
The story is intricate and shows the value of "boots on the ground" when dealing with data collection.
Web Site: http://www.coonts.com/
October 22, 2010
One of the first books I plucked from the at-work bookshelves, this political and military thriller/mystery was a satisfying winter read. Spy planes, Russian weapons and conspiracy, oh my!
July 23, 2010
Non-Grafton tale short on thrills & chills - why co-author??
It's beginning to look like Stephen Coonts doesn't know where to take his career now that the Jake Grafton series has been pretty well tapped out. From his first book ("The Intruders") through "America", we've watched Grafton grow from a young naval fighter pilot to an Admiral, providing suspense and thrills certainly on a par with Clancy's Jack Ryan (except in much fewer words!), with possibly a little more spin on politics (e. g. "Cuba" and "Hong Kong") and a little less focus on the glamour of technology.
In "Deep Black", in which Coonts collaborates with co-author Jim DeFelice (himself with a half dozen or so books to his credit), we find a tale about National Security/CIA intrigue fostered by a possible coup in Russia. Our leading characters, Charlie Dean, a ex-Marine sniper, and Lia DeFrancesca, a former Delta Force trooper, spend most of the book deep in Russia ferreting out various evidence of mischief by the bad guys. Activities there alternate with command and control vignettes back at the "Art Room", some sort of conglomerate spy oversight agency. [Perhaps we know now how the co-authors divided their assignments.:] At any rate, all are out to control world politics before the Russian President becomes an assassination victim, with most of the suspense leading up to the moment of truth re that event.
While the story was mildly entertaining at times, we thought the plot and writing skills on display were a departure from what we expect of Coonts. In particular the gender and sexual tension generated (or not) between the leads Charlie and Lia were barely beyond adolescent. Much of the technology used by the operatives, such as ear-embedded communications with an agency half-way 'round the globe, remote controlled drone fighters, and many other sensing and locating devices, were rather far-fetched, detracting from the credibility of the plot. It doesn't seem to us Coonts did his fan club any favor with this novel - perhaps it was just to keep his name out there while he gets ready to publish his next hardback? Our advice: wait!
It's beginning to look like Stephen Coonts doesn't know where to take his career now that the Jake Grafton series has been pretty well tapped out. From his first book ("The Intruders") through "America", we've watched Grafton grow from a young naval fighter pilot to an Admiral, providing suspense and thrills certainly on a par with Clancy's Jack Ryan (except in much fewer words!), with possibly a little more spin on politics (e. g. "Cuba" and "Hong Kong") and a little less focus on the glamour of technology.
In "Deep Black", in which Coonts collaborates with co-author Jim DeFelice (himself with a half dozen or so books to his credit), we find a tale about National Security/CIA intrigue fostered by a possible coup in Russia. Our leading characters, Charlie Dean, a ex-Marine sniper, and Lia DeFrancesca, a former Delta Force trooper, spend most of the book deep in Russia ferreting out various evidence of mischief by the bad guys. Activities there alternate with command and control vignettes back at the "Art Room", some sort of conglomerate spy oversight agency. [Perhaps we know now how the co-authors divided their assignments.:] At any rate, all are out to control world politics before the Russian President becomes an assassination victim, with most of the suspense leading up to the moment of truth re that event.
While the story was mildly entertaining at times, we thought the plot and writing skills on display were a departure from what we expect of Coonts. In particular the gender and sexual tension generated (or not) between the leads Charlie and Lia were barely beyond adolescent. Much of the technology used by the operatives, such as ear-embedded communications with an agency half-way 'round the globe, remote controlled drone fighters, and many other sensing and locating devices, were rather far-fetched, detracting from the credibility of the plot. It doesn't seem to us Coonts did his fan club any favor with this novel - perhaps it was just to keep his name out there while he gets ready to publish his next hardback? Our advice: wait!
February 22, 2019
I lasted about 150 pages before giving it up. This futuristic-action-techno-thriller just did not cut it. Characters, plot lines and the excessive techno mumbo-jumbo were not credible, and not engaging at all. Sorry Stephen, I'm sure that many may love you, but not me.
February 5, 2013
Uninspiring. 4 of 10 stars
May 24, 2017
worst action/spy book ever.
August 3, 2018
Finished the book but for some reason it didn't really click with me.
July 4, 2025
Couldn't even get through chapter 5 of this novel. Too much "technical" detail, always leaving me with the big question of "Who cares?" Long slabs of text describing things that really didn't need to be described in such detail, and as I was reading, I was wondering if this was stuff I needed to remember, that was vitally important to the plot or progression of the story. If it was, then it ought to have been written far more succinctly, and if not, then it simply should have been omitted. I had started this series with great optimism but I wasn't grabbed at all. Doggedly I kept at it. Surely it would get better, I hoped. But then I met the protagonist Charles Dean who appeared, at first blush, to be completely inept. But things only got worse when the female lead appeared. I'm not after actual realism, reading this sort of novel, but I'd rather have something that sounds at least plausible. Dean was a total twit, and I can only hope he improved as the book progressed (and as the series did) but I couldn't get far enough to prove that. Very disappointing, but hey, there are loads more books out there that I do (and protentially will) enjoy so I'm not going to waste my time on a series whose first book I could not even get a quarter of the way through.
September 5, 2024
The novel has a lot of action and thrilling passages. William Rubens, the head of the NSA, is one of the main characters. Christine Collins, CIA head, wants Rubens' job, and they don't get along. Charles Dean, an ex-Marine sniper in Vietnam, is a contract worker for the NSA, sent to Siberia to investigate an American plane shot down by Russian MiGs. The story is full of high-tech NSA war-related material: lasers, computers, satellites, etc. Coonts co-wrote the book with Jim Defelice. These kind of espionage thrillers are often made into movies. While it has engaging characters and plot twists, I wouldn't say the novel stands out in the genre. I found some of the NSA computer geek stuff somewhat boring. If you're interested in World War scenarios, this one is for you.
March 9, 2023
I never know how possible scenarios & storylines are. But - knowing most of the books I read have had parts of them come true years after they were written tells me all is possible.
This book was written and released in 2011.
It is now 2023.
We still have the same countries, people, religions & politics fighting. It’s too bad EVERYONE can’t start to figure out how this is going to end if things don’t get better.
This book was written and released in 2011.
It is now 2023.
We still have the same countries, people, religions & politics fighting. It’s too bad EVERYONE can’t start to figure out how this is going to end if things don’t get better.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2023
Good start. Having some troubles with the language of many of the characters: I mean foul-mouthedness is one thing, but at times it interferes with the flow of the story. Otherwise Deep Black seems to start off as an inferior Op-Center. The structure and tech are promising, though, so I'm still glad I got many books of the series already.
May 8, 2018
Coonts and Jim didn't let my expectations drown.
Perfect action packed military thriller with political conspiracy.
P.S. Lia's characterization sounded more like characters played by Michelle Rodriguez.
Perfect action packed military thriller with political conspiracy.
P.S. Lia's characterization sounded more like characters played by Michelle Rodriguez.
May 9, 2017
Review
I liked this book very much. Good plot lines, but it took awhile two figure out who the protagonists were.
I liked this book very much. Good plot lines, but it took awhile two figure out who the protagonists were.
May 11, 2017
I really liked this book. A nice action/ suspense novel. Give it a shot.
August 28, 2017
Well-paced thriller, with plenty of action. At times, thought I wondered just how the US agents got all their gizmos and gadgets at very short notice. Worth having in the holiday bag.
December 5, 2017
Collection of 3, w the common theme of spies saving the day w a group of enemies, like Vietcong,isis,and the Chinese
May 8, 2019
Utterly grabbing - and really an interesting read if you love airplanes, guns & action!
August 28, 2019
Great story, once you figure out what is going on!
June 10, 2020
Page turner.
Fast action and certainly a little different with the technology being used to save the world. And yet still has some good old fashioned hand to hand.
Fast action and certainly a little different with the technology being used to save the world. And yet still has some good old fashioned hand to hand.
June 17, 2020
Looks like I found a new series to read. Action, Adventure and a bit of humour. Just the way I like them.
Want to read
July 19, 2020elibrary
October 18, 2020
I really struggled through this story. I never understood the story line throughout the book. The pace didn't pick up until I was about 60 pages from the end.
January 10, 2022
A good book but some unrealistic scenarios made me reduce a star. Interesting ending! I will try the next one in the series to see how it goes. Typically I like Coonts
March 21, 2022
Excellent Geo-political thriller from Mr Coonts.
May 20, 2023
Fast paced and fun to read, with a nice little twist at the end. But nothing extraordinary.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews