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President John Hansen #2
Periscope Red
282 pages of excellent text. At the heart of this compelling novel is the capacity of over 380 submarines of the Soviet Navy to interdict and destroy the world's oil tanker fleet. First Edition.
- GenresFiction
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1980
17 people want to read
About the author
Richard Rohmer
51 books7 followersMajor-General (Ret'd) Richard Heath Rohmer, OC, CMM, DFC, O.Ont, KStJ, CD, OL, QC, JD, LLD (born in 1924). Canada's most decorated citizen, an aviator, a senior lawyer (aviation law), adviser to business leaders and the Government of Ontario and is a prolific writer. Rohmer was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and spent some of his early youth in Pasadena, California as well as in western Ontario at Windsor and Fort Erie.
The Peterborough Examiner's lead editorial of 14 January 2009 says this: "Rohmer, one of Canada's most colourful figures of the past half-century, was a World War II fighter pilot, later a major-general in the armed forces reserve, a high-profile lawyer and a successful novelist and biographer."
The Peterborough Examiner's lead editorial of 14 January 2009 says this: "Rohmer, one of Canada's most colourful figures of the past half-century, was a World War II fighter pilot, later a major-general in the armed forces reserve, a high-profile lawyer and a successful novelist and biographer."
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 25, 2023
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose!
Richard Rohmer’s high tension geo-political techno-thriller might have been written almost forty years ago, but the degree to which it could also have been taken from the headlines of yesterday’s newspaper is uncanny, unnerving and quite terrifying – the re-heating of the Cold War tensions between USSR then, of course, and the USA; the Soviet incursion into Afghanistan; the American support of Pakistan in the face of Soviet sabre-rattling; submarines toting tactical nuclear weapons playing high stakes games of chicken and hide and seek; the world’s perennial reliance on fossil fuels and its delivery system of supertankers from the Middle East that are all too vulnerable to attack; the never-ending dispute between Muslims and Jews, Palestine and Israel over possession of the Gaza Strip and the existence of a Palestinian homeland; and, of course, the belief in MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) as the deterrent to the outbreak of a thermonuclear World War III.
In short, the events in PERISCOPE RED have been most wondrously reprised in today’s current events. On the other hand, I wonder if Richard Rohmer is stricken by a gag reflex when he dwells on the irony of his depiction of John Hansen, the fictional occupant of the Oval Office, being the complete antithesis of Donald Trump and his bumbling ham-handed efforts at international diplomacy. Hansen is portrayed as intelligent but aware of his shortcomings and the necessity to seek the advice and counsel in high level cabinet briefings; a man with integrity and principles; a courageous, strong leader respected by his fellow leaders in other countries; happily in love with his wife and respectful of her opinions and her part in their administration. Trump? Well, suffice it say, he isn’t. One particularly amusing and ironic description of the fictional president:
“He always believed there was no better way of staying aware of what was going on in the country than religiously reading the Times and the Washington Post … The president took a sip of coffee and turned to the second page of the New York Times, his eye quickly running over each of the columns of interest to him. He had developed an excellent speed reading technique years before when the volume of paper he had to cope with reached the saturation point.”
Oh my! Could that be much further away from one page briefings of bullet points in simple, short words of one or two syllables? (As I read, I wondered if a modern American reader of Rohmer’s characterization of a president might even write Rohmer's novel off as fantasy!?)
The scenario is realistic. The tension is electric and the shocking ending is guaranteed to take your breath away. Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
Richard Rohmer’s high tension geo-political techno-thriller might have been written almost forty years ago, but the degree to which it could also have been taken from the headlines of yesterday’s newspaper is uncanny, unnerving and quite terrifying – the re-heating of the Cold War tensions between USSR then, of course, and the USA; the Soviet incursion into Afghanistan; the American support of Pakistan in the face of Soviet sabre-rattling; submarines toting tactical nuclear weapons playing high stakes games of chicken and hide and seek; the world’s perennial reliance on fossil fuels and its delivery system of supertankers from the Middle East that are all too vulnerable to attack; the never-ending dispute between Muslims and Jews, Palestine and Israel over possession of the Gaza Strip and the existence of a Palestinian homeland; and, of course, the belief in MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) as the deterrent to the outbreak of a thermonuclear World War III.
In short, the events in PERISCOPE RED have been most wondrously reprised in today’s current events. On the other hand, I wonder if Richard Rohmer is stricken by a gag reflex when he dwells on the irony of his depiction of John Hansen, the fictional occupant of the Oval Office, being the complete antithesis of Donald Trump and his bumbling ham-handed efforts at international diplomacy. Hansen is portrayed as intelligent but aware of his shortcomings and the necessity to seek the advice and counsel in high level cabinet briefings; a man with integrity and principles; a courageous, strong leader respected by his fellow leaders in other countries; happily in love with his wife and respectful of her opinions and her part in their administration. Trump? Well, suffice it say, he isn’t. One particularly amusing and ironic description of the fictional president:
“He always believed there was no better way of staying aware of what was going on in the country than religiously reading the Times and the Washington Post … The president took a sip of coffee and turned to the second page of the New York Times, his eye quickly running over each of the columns of interest to him. He had developed an excellent speed reading technique years before when the volume of paper he had to cope with reached the saturation point.”
Oh my! Could that be much further away from one page briefings of bullet points in simple, short words of one or two syllables? (As I read, I wondered if a modern American reader of Rohmer’s characterization of a president might even write Rohmer's novel off as fantasy!?)
The scenario is realistic. The tension is electric and the shocking ending is guaranteed to take your breath away. Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
November 2, 2019
In my opinion this is the best of Richard Rohmer. It has a good plot that kept my interest high until the very end.
On the other hand Rohmer does not develop his technologies or his characters as well as Tom Clancy or others I could mention. Where Clancy could give the reader ten or fifteen pages on two submarines in battle, dancing, from the time they sense each other, through the time they fire at each other, to the time that one, both or neither are sunk. Rohmer gives barely a page then does not really tell you until the end of the book. This could be a literary device, however in this case, since both of the subs have finished their impact on the plot, it is just annoying.
In my opinion, characters who had very little to do thoughout the entire book, who said only about four lines, who we knew nothing about, came to have extrodinary impacts at the end. This was very unsatisfying to me.
On the other hand Rohmer does not develop his technologies or his characters as well as Tom Clancy or others I could mention. Where Clancy could give the reader ten or fifteen pages on two submarines in battle, dancing, from the time they sense each other, through the time they fire at each other, to the time that one, both or neither are sunk. Rohmer gives barely a page then does not really tell you until the end of the book. This could be a literary device, however in this case, since both of the subs have finished their impact on the plot, it is just annoying.
In my opinion, characters who had very little to do thoughout the entire book, who said only about four lines, who we knew nothing about, came to have extrodinary impacts at the end. This was very unsatisfying to me.
August 14, 2020
It does play a tight-gripping scenario of the implications of the Cold War: America is being held hostage by the Russians, and then ends with a cliffhanger note of the military taking over.
February 4, 2015
A sequel, Periscope Red begins three weeks after the end of Balls!. The Buffalo Disaster and Cuban Missile Crisis II are so last month that they're never mentioned. President Hansen has more pressing problems: blue-eyed Palestinian Said Kassem is blowing up tankers in the Persian Gulf as Soviet submarines do the same on the Atlantic. If allowed to continue, this could lead to an energy crisis of similar magnitude to the one that consumed Balls!… the crisis no one mentions. Just to make sure, Hansen commissions a study. Having more or less occupied Afghanistan, Soviet Chairman Romanov tips his hand, telling Hansen that his next move will be to invade the entire Middle East.
More: Periscope Red discussed at the Reading Richard Rohmer blog
More: Periscope Red discussed at the Reading Richard Rohmer blog
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews