Barracuda

by Irving A. Greenfield, Peter Elson (Illustrator)

Book by Irving A. Greenfield

Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Irving Greenfield was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was a youthful runaway, a merchant seaman, and a soldier during the Korean War, afer which his writing talent burst into print. His novel, The Ancient of Days, was a best-seller for six weeks and Tagget was made into a film for TV. his work has appeared in a variety of media, but, of all his works, Only the Dead Speak Russian is his masterpiece.

Reviews

[Nadienne Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book in one sitting…but that’s not necessarily saying that this was a good book…it’s more due to the fact that I was at the dealership waiting for them to finish servicing my truck which ended up taking almost 4 hours. And thus, a book was read, cover to cover.

Scarily enough, you could have written this today and it would seem topical, as it involves a White Christian Nationalist Plot to overthrow the United States government which has perceived to have been taken over by Left Wing Radicals who have gone soft on Russia and China, so they are going to do what needs to be done, by starting a Third World War and taking over to set things right after America emerges triumphant and the new leader of the entire world. And, of course, since this was written in the 70s, its chock-full of misogyny and racism.

Honestly, with a few rewrites here and there to make it not offensive, it might actually make a pretty good submarine movie – although the action on the submarine is bare minimal – which is the entire reason why I picked this book up in the first place, for it has a submarine and a Backfire bomber on the cover. The Tupolev Tu-22M is one of those ugly as sin aircraft the Soviets made and I love it to pieces.

The hero also ends up with the women he was boning (with them declaring their love for each other and proposing to get married after their second date/fuck) – albeit highly problematically – as she was actually an asset for a corrupt CIA agent who was using her to manipulate him – so, she wasn’t exactly consenting…

Anyway, it was a quick and easy read if you like conspiracy-based, techno-thrillers…and it has sequel bait at the end.

[Philip S · Rating 1 out of 5]

Each chapter starts a new protagonist. Each chapter ends with the death of the character that was being developed. About twenty chapters, about twenty dead protagonists. That's all I remember about this book.

[Johnny · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t miss the days of the Cold War. As a high school student, I loved political (geopolitical?) thrillers such as Fail Safe and Seven Days in May. Ironically, I never saw the films based on those novels. Nonetheless, Barracuda is designed to be in this tradition of Cold War thrillers, even though the events take place in the latter part of the Cold War and, unlike the President with the easily imitable Bostonian/Hahvahd accent in Fail Safe, the President seems nothing at all like the President so often overrated for ending the Cold War, this novel is rather elastic with plausibility. It involves an elaborate conspiracy (which will beco me obvious enough as one gets only a few pages into the novel) and, as everyone knows, “Whenever one has to choose between conspiracy and gross incompetence, the latter wins nearly every time.” (quotation is of general wisdom, not a quotation from the book)

One huge difference between Barracuda and its Cold War thriller predecessors is that it is bloody and ruthless. On several occasions, the reader moves along assuming that the character currently in focus will be the main protagonist, only to read about a horrendous death (by many means) only a few pages later. Actually, for this genre, I rather appreciated that. It raised the level of suspense and colored the conspiracy as dangerous with a colorful texture designed to keep the reader off-balance.

The narrative revolves around a mixed military-political conspiracy where a handpicked Poseidon nuclear submarine believed to have been lost with all on board is spotted in waters where it shouldn’t have been. It turns out the sub is expected to perform a clandestine mission on behalf of this conspiracy, a mission which could, theoretically, bring about the fall of the U.S. government. Spoiler Alert: The fast-paced conclusion simply doesn’t ring true. The real protagonist is able to sidestep higher levels of command (all the way to the President) too easily and get full cooperation with what the reader knows is viable evidence but would be highly unlikely to convince the ossified mindset of high command. That’s where Irving A. Greenfield (and this is the first of his many novels that I’ve read) goes astray. Prior to this point in the book, everything except the involvement of the entire ship’s company (and the unusual method in which the crew was selected) and that of many in high command engaged in the conspiracy, rang true.

Okay, Barracuda is no worse than some of the “mind candy” thrillers being published today. And, it’s very interesting in providing a snapshot of fears and politics (however exaggerated) during the latter part of the Cold War. I’d probably pick up another Greenfield novel as vacation/travel reading at some point in the future, but I don’t expect his work to become a regular part of my reading program.