Operation Golden Dawn

by George Wallace

When a Chinese spymaster uses an Islamic terrorist to attack Western interests in the Pacific, a US Navy submarine is sent in to prevent disaster.

____________________________________

Mustafa al Shatar, one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists, lives only for vengeance.

Indonesian Navy Admiral Suluvana plans to overthrow the government and establish an Islamic state.

And Liu Pen, spymaster for the People’s Republic of China, plans to use them both to solidify China’s grip on power.

From a secret island base in the Java Sea, Liu Pen’s research team is developing a genetically engineered version of smallpox. A dangerous biological weapon to be unleashed upon the West.

But when US intelligence catches wind of the plans, Commander Joe Hunter and his crew aboard the USS SAN FRANCISCO are deployed to neutralize the threat...before catastrophe strikes.

_____________________________________

Former US Navy submarine commander George Wallace is co-author of the bestselling HUNTER KILLER series.

350 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 13, 2013

About the author

Born and raised in Eastern Ohio, Commander Wallace received his commission in the US Navy and a degree in engineering from The Ohio State University. After the obligatory and memorable interview with Admiral Rickover, he was accepted into the nuclear power and submarine communities. He served on two of Admiral Rickover’s famous “Forty One for Freedom”, the USS John Adams SSBN 620 and the USS Woodrow Wilson SSBN 624, during which time he made nine one-hundred-day deterrent patrols through the height of the Cold War.

Commander Wallace served as Executive Officer on the Sturgeon class nuclear attack submarine Spadefish. Spadefish and all her sisters were decommissioned during the downsizing that occurred in the 1990′s. The passing of that great ship served as the inspiration for “Final Bearing.”

Commander Wallace then commanded the Los Angeles class nuclear attack submarine USS Houston SSN 713 from February 1990 to August 1992. During this tour of duty he worked extensively with the SEAL community developing SEAL/submarine tactics. Under his command, the Houston was awarded the CIA Meritorious Unit Citation.

Commander George Wallace retired to the civilian business world in 1995, after twenty-two years of service on nuclear submarines.

Commander Wallace lives with his wife, Penny, in Alexandria, Virginia.

Reviews

[Vincent Kindfuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

CDR Wallace visited the USS Boise (SSN-764), the submarine I'm stationed on, last week, and was kind enough to give signed copies of all of his books to the wardroom. I read Operation Golden Dawn while I was sitting in the wardroom of the boat. This meant that every time he mentioned a space on the boat, I was at most a few hundred feet from that space, and since I have to tour every space of the boat several times a duty day, I could see just how right he got every detail, even down to the location of the little fold down seat on the conn by the scopes and the location of the portable fire extinguishers in crew's mess. Of course, CDR Wallace was a captain of a 688I boat just like mine, so it makes sense that he'd get the little details right.

Operation Golden Dawn is a military thriller with the same tone and concept as many of Tom Clancy's novels. The plot is very simple - a group of terrorists take over an island and are creating bio-weapons on it, and a LA class submarine is tasked to get close to the island and drop off a group of SEALs to take them down. To be honest, the villains are barely developed, and though the author explores their motivations, it doesn't really matter at all to the plot. Just like the move Hunter-Killer, based off another of CDR Wallace's books, the book would have benefited by being focused purely on the submarine and its crew, and perhaps the SEALs, without POV chapters of the villains or the side-plot of the commodore caught in a honey trap by a Chinese spy.

But all that doesn't really matter, because the scenes on the submarine themselves are fantastic. The crew are believable and fleshed out, and I particularly liked the dynamic between the Captain and the XO, and the pranks the crew played on the XO. The sub suffering a loss of propulsion lube oil casualty while making a high speed run through a straight and trying to hide from a Kilo-class diesel sub made me grin, since we had a discussion on how tactical situations affect engineering casualties during engineering department training a few months ago.

Overall, I enjoyed the book immensely. Despite some admitted flaws, it operations of a submarine realistically, and if the premise is accepted, I could entirely imagine my boat or one of the other boats on the waterfront doing exactly as portrayed in the book. I will end by noting, however, that my biggest complaint was the lack of Junior Officer representation. JOPA

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the book blurb mentions, this is a high-stakes military adventure involving a submarine mission to stop terrorists from unleashing a deadly disease on Western targets.

So as to finish on a positive note, I'll address the negatives first. The text was not well edited, and I was distracted from the story by numerous spelling and grammatical errors, as well as mistakes in the dates of various sections. There are a few scenes that could be cut, since they serve only to help establish the realism of life aboard a submarine; this author needs no such credibility-building scenes; as a former submarine commanding officer, he already has that credibility. Lastly, there is one plot line (involving a crewman fond of practical jokes) that never really got resolved.

However, it would be hard to find a more realistic submarine novel. From my own experience serving in subs, I can say George Wallace gets every detail right. Moreover, the characters are reasonably complex and interesting. He gives the terrorists believable motives so they're not just evil because they woke up wanting to be evil. The action is reasonably fast-paced. Although there are a lot of characters and moving parts, the author makes it easy to follow along and not get mixed up. I'm a sucker for submarine novels, and this one is very good.

[jeremy dierst · Rating 3 out of 5]

In comparison to this author's other novels, this one was a lot more enjoyable. There was more suspense and political intrigue involved than in previous novels. Overuse of previous plot lines, terrorists kidnapped a ship full of hostages. And a seal team has to go into the rescue. That plot was already used in two previous novels. Great research and intricate details of life on a submarine. The narrative really puts the reader, right into the scene. This could be considered a stand-alone novel but compares closely to previous novels from this author. Overall not a bad read.

[Keysman Keith Cannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Operation Golden Dawn is ...

One neck of a good read! From a small island to the surrounding sea this is a book about the joys and dangers of the men of the navy and their wives who do all they can for their families. Finding a way to get things done, no matter how difficult the mission, is priority one.

I cannot describe this story as anything but heartwarming, tense, and painstakingly difficult family life that those in the navy must endure while giving their all for their country.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Operation Golden Dawn, my third read from author George Wallace, the first two co-written with author Don Keith. Again reminiscent of the best works of author Andrew Watts, another well-developed, well-written book. “I received a Kindle copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review." The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. I look forward to reading more from this author. Cuban Deep (The Hunter Killer Series Book 3) high on my TBR list. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

[Tim Mullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set aboard a US Navy submarine sent on a top secret mission to save the world from a massive terrorist attack the plot is pretty good, however you certainly can't miss the fact that the author is a retired submarine commander; unnecessary chapters just to show how brilliantly submariners handle situations, and each crew member the absolute best at his job reaching almost superhero levels of goodness and ability. If you can put the cheerleading aside you have a suspenseful military action thriller.

[Christmas Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

BREATH-TAKING, INTENSE AND POWERFUL, THIS MARITIME NOVEL HAS ALL THE INFORMATION IT NEEDS TO TELL WHAT IT TAKES TO RUN A SUBMARINE. A STORY OF BRAVE, DYNAMIC YET FLAWED CHARACTERS THAT PORTRAY THE HUMAN SIDE OF MEN TO PERFECTION. AWE-INSPIRING AD BRILLIANT.
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
A BETA BOOK, THIS IS MY FREELY GIVEN AND HONEST REVIEW.

[David A. Rosow · Rating 5 out of 5]

A GREAT SUB AND SEAL STORY

Wallace does a fabulous job in this book, apparently written before he teamed up with Lewis. But I’d like to have a glossary of all the acronyms because there are so many of them. I also liked Ben Porter in False Assurances, Threat Bias and Subversive Addiction!

[Greg Oaster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

What an amazing story, having previously read his other novels, the joe glass series I expected more of the same detail and accurate information that only someone who has served in the silent service could write about.

Excellent story, well researched.

[Rudy DeVeau]

I can see why this book would lead to a great series of sub books and even a movie. I found that Golden Dawn started out slow and had a lot of background information before the real action started. Then the book exploded into a tremendous action ending.

[Peter Dundee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Submarine Warfare at it's best.

A wild ride that makes you hold on and strap in. I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of military novels, this has it all and then some. I am sure there is more to come and I cannot wait.

[MT Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read.

Good technical sun story. Did not get too deep in the weeds on tech detail as Clancy was want to do.

[Alexander F. Contini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suspenseful

Great 👍. Never an expected outcome. Fast paced. Good read. Looking forward to more from Wallace. Written for the big screen.

[William McLoughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5. Different character set than his series, but similar and just as good.

[Allen Kuhns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable

I really enjoyed reading this Book. It was a very easy read. Read it first and then go on to the Hunger Killer Series.

[Michael Goulette · Rating 1 out of 5]

I do enjoy most submarine bools except for this one. The US leak and the threat of a family ransome are way too typical. Can't authors come up with original ideas?

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read

[Tom Barry]

if only we really could function like this Navy does. a very enjoyable read and realistic actions taken by the Commander add to an engrossing and hard to put down story.

[William M. Bulling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book !!!!

Great stand alone book. Fast moving.. Terrorists, spies, traitors and renegade military. Submarines and SEALS at the forefront of the action.

[Stewart Hubbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author

[Mark Baumwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

another excellent Wallace book

A very good escape read. I’ve been a fan of Wallace and Keith and this didn’t disappoint. Good modern day sub thriller.

[Chris Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story but felt rushed at the end

[Greg Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Operation Golden Dawn

Good story. Accurate depiction of submarine operations and a great read. Another good book to read. Always enjoy novels that are technically accurate.

[Chaplain Stanley Chapin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story line

It aS one of those that I read with some interest, however did not really get caught up in intrigue and intensity.