Bright Shark

by Robert D. Ballard, Tony Chiu

When the U.S. Navy discovers a long-missing Israeli submarine at the bottom of the Atlantic, the ensuing investigation sets off an international scramble to protect the secrets hidden by the wreck. Reprint.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Adventure, Military Fiction, Novels

514 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1992

About the author

Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942 in Wichita, Kansas) is a former commander in the United States Navy and an oceanographer who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology. He is most famous for the discoveries of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic in 1985, the battleship Bismarck in 1989, and the wreck of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in 1998. Most recently he discovered the wreck of John F. Kennedy's PT-109 in 2003 and visited the Solomon Islander natives who saved its crew. Ballard is also great-grandson of American Old West lawman Bat Masterson.

from wikipedia.org

see also
http://literati.net/Ballard/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/fie...
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/pa...

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first thing a reader has to know about BRIGHT SHARK is that it is slightly dated. Written some years ago, some of the technology is just a little out of date..

That didn't mar my enjoyment of the book one bit. Not anymore than a novel about World War II that used period technology would annoy me. This story is set in 1988 and the computer items described were indeed state of the art in 1988.

Ballard, one of the men involved in finding the TITANIC-- is one of the authors of this fine novel. That means that the underwater stuff is just plain right, which I think adds to the pleasure in this novel.

With that said, the big conspiracy is fun, though the book's prologue which was meant to keep the reader thinking about this conspiracy and to whet the appetite of the reader really worked as a bit of a spoiler for me. The diplomatic stuff is fun, the undercover stuff is fun, and the bad guys are the sort of guys one would want to hat. This was written like one of the Dirk Pitt novels without the super heroics of Pitt. In fact, in a few places the authors take time to poke fun at Dirk Pitt, Clive Cussler's oceanic hero.. the biggest joke is mispronouncing his name and the name of his agency.

One reference that just kept coming up was an idiom about being someone's teacart. By the time I got tired of hearing that if someone had wheels that they would be a teacart.. I didn't get it and thought it was a stupid thing to say repeatedly.

Still, there is a time-table that keeps the book moving-- a mysterious conspiracy to be uncovered regarding a sunken submarine, and a lot of undercover stuff going on. There is plenty of action, and some good dialogue (despite the "teacart" idiom that kept cropping up.

Started off slow and built to a frantic pace that had me turning the pages trying to get to the end last night before mthe muscle relaxer I took for my back caught up with me. The last 100 pages will likely keep the reader occupied.

The underwater robots, Bert and Ernie, were most interesting as was the efforts to keep them operating and tricks that the team used to solve problems. I could almost see Ballard's team using these robots as they explored the Titanic-- so this part of the novel, the technical part, was quite interesting to me.

This is the sort of stuff Tom Clancy USED to write, before he decided he would just stick his name on other people's books to sell CRAP disguised as fiction. This is the sort of stuff Larry Bond fans will find pleasureable. The authors out-Clancy modern day Clancy by many, many fathoms.

Undersea adventure and a spy mystery at its best with realistic characters and no Super spy like Bond or Pitt.

[Leo Robertson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m doing research for a story related to this so I thought I’d give it a go, but I kinda knew I wouldn’t make it far in before giving up. This is just not my kinda thing and I resent how much this “barking MR PRESIDENT while aggressively saluting the flag” bullshit had a stranglehold on the 90s when I grew up and thus assumed that kinda thing was really important.

Instead jt obviously forces its convolutedness, introducing character after setting after terminology to make it sound like a grander more complex conspiracy than it was. And it was already difficult to follow as it was without all the unnecessary filigree.

And then it just became an endless chain of jargon and suck-ass characters.

I don’t even know what LANGLEY is but I’ve heard the word so often, never willingly.

[Ruthe Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book should have been more engaging than it was. A submarine-naval-political story, set in 1988 it is the story of a grologic exploration -- with a conveniently placed naval officer aboard -- that discovers a missing (sunk) Israeli submarine where it wasn't supposed to have been. The following actions involve American industry and several federal departments, the higher-up Israelis, a Russian conspiracy, and Reagan's trip to Moscow. The characters seemed to be the vehicle that carried the story.
It was NOT, however, bogged down with technical details, which I appreciated. For me, this type of story is generally hard to read. This one was, too, but I was interested in what they would find, iff they would find it, how the others would react, etc. The events take place on a holiday weekend -- Memorial Day to be exact, and that adds to the tension somewhat, with lower level officials having to make higher echelon decisions.

[Tekken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Üks neid Ballardi teoseid, millest lihtsal põhjusel bestsellerit ei saanud. Suurem jagu kirjeldatud masinavärgist on nüüdseks lootusetult vananenud, aga sellest hoolimata oli pinge olemas ja püsis lõpuni. Mis tegelastesse puutus, siis nemad jäid usutavuselt küll tehnikale alla. Ajavahemik Dakari avastamise ja uurimise vahel oli ka uskumatult pikaks venitatud, aga ikkagi, neli tärni.

[Jackie Schoenherr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of the other reviews for this book seem disappointed that the technology mentioned is out of date. As someone who knows quite literally nothing about deep sea recovery or unmanned submersibles, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and thought the suspense and plot were intriguing. As all books do, this book has aged, but the story and intrigue have not.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story but a bit too long. Of course interesting subject, but saw too much real-life Ballard.

[Wynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok read, several tech errors

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm surprised at the reviews complaining that this book is dated. It was written in 1992, set mostly in 1988, and it reflects state-of-the-art technology from that time period. Of course it isn't up to date to the 2020s. That's like complaining a novel about the Titanic lacks cutting-edge cruise ship technology.

Regardless, this book is what you'd expect from a techno-thriller of the time. Robert Ballard's involvement with the text is enough of a draw for some readers (like me). There's underwater exploration, shipwrecks, political intrigues, mysteries, and historical events. The real-life sinking of the submarine INS Dakar is the basis for the plot. I find it interesting that this book was written a few years before the wreck of the Dakar was located.

The finale of the novel explains what happened to the Dakar as the culmination of several historical events. During the Six Days War, the Israeli government captures a Soviet prototype surface-to-air missile system the Soviet Union desperately wanted back. The US was also very interested in obtaining the technology. The Soviets chooses to ransom back the technology from Israel. Israel decides to send part of the missile system to the US, and the other part to the Soviets, claiming that the missing parts of the system were accidentally destroyed.

In exchange for the parts returned to the Soviets, they agree to secretly load Dakar with clandestine cargo: a large amount of Uranium 238, 53 Soviet Jewish refugees, and canisters of Soman nerve agent. Israel doesn't know that the Soviet premier has declared the loaded submarine will never reach its destination, and has a spy in England plant explosive in the submarine's hull when it was being retrofitted for Israel.

When the American research ship Fanning II stumbles upon the wreck and uses ROVs to explore the interior, they discover what exactly was on board. In the book, the most shameful material on the Dakar was the Soman, which was developed by the Nazis by testing on Jewish victims. The U-238, which could be turned into weapons-grade plutonium, was not as concerning. The main character in the Israeli government who is trying to keep the Americans away from the Dakar is trying to keep the knowledge that Israel tried to obtain chemical weapons developed by killing Jewish people a secret. This same character also organizes the theft of a deep-diving torpedo from the Soviets, which is then used to cause an undersea avalanche to bury the wreck of the Dakar. Despite efforts to destroy evidence of the Dakar's contents, the Americans are able to save copies on LaserDisc (lol).

[Joe White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Co-written by Robert Ballard, this reflects his geophysical and naval expertise. It is 20 years old, so reflects some outdated technology and the old cold war situation, but nearly everything in it lending suspense is still active in more contemporary forms.
Complaints: lots of detail and a large cast. A little longer then the normal boilerplate suspense novel at 514 pages versus the normal 300.

[Eric]

I found this book on the shelf at the library and based on reading the flap it sounded kind of interesting. It was actually a fun book to read. A little slow at times but overall a fun easy ready.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bob Ballard and Tony Chiu should have kept this story going. It was an interesting case about a missing Israeli submarine, a weapons, and people pipeline out of Russia, and what people will do to keep their secrets. It is well written and a fun read.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still one of my favorites of all time, despite the fact that I am not generally a fan of the technothiller genre.

[Jared Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dated, a little too jumpy with cuts, but good.