Final Run

Final Run #1

by David E. Meadows

The Cold War is being fought on every front. Under the seas, the newest, most technologically advanced nuclear submarines are leading the fight while the old diesel engine subs are dying out. The USS Squallfish is one of the old school—as is her captain.   Captain Chad Shipley earned his stripes under the Pacific as Japanese depth charges exploded around him. Now, as he takes the Squallfish on a routine patrol, he is ordered to infiltrate the heart of the Soviet Northern Fleet to spy upon the enemy’s nuclear sub capabilities.   But the first Soviet nuclear sub is already under way, and has found its first prey—the Squallfish. Against a captain as clever and cunning as himself, Captain Shipley and the crew of the Squallfish must rise to the battle—or sink into the crushing depths.

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 6, 2008

About the author

David E. Meadows is a retired U.S. Navy Captain and the author of numerous military thrillers such as Sixth Fleet, Seawolf, and Tomcat. He also writes an OPED column for Military dot com and is a member of the Authors Guild.

During his Navy Career of 37-years, David Meadows spent nearly 10-years at-sea on a variety of warships where he qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer. He has aircrew and Naval Observer wings with over 5000-flight hours in three different types of reconnaissance aircraft. He enlisted in the Navy in December 1967; made Chief Petty Officer in 1977; and was commissioned in 1980. He rose from E-2 in the Cryptologic field of the Navy to the Number 2 position as Deputy Commander, Naval Security Group Command; his last duty station and position prior to retirement.

David E. Meadows has a Bachelor of Science degree in Arabic/Middle East Studies with a minor in French. He speaks neither language well as evident by the French offering him unlimited libation if he would never-ever speak their language again. He also has a MBA and a MS in National Resource Strategy. He has served ashore in Rota, Spain; Athens, Greece; Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico; Bureau of Naval Personnel; London, England; Norfolk, Virginia; San Diego, California; Corry Station-Pensacola, Florida; and the Joint Staff.

He loves basketball, but the sport no longer loves him with many pickup games preferring to play five against four rather than have him come off the bench.

He is a native of Newnan and Coweta County Georgia, growing up in the small cotton mill of Sargent, Georgia. He and his wife Felicity live in Maryland. He is married to the amazing Felicity Bellis of Manchester, England, who has received many accolades for remaining with him all these years. Their daughter Sara and son Nicholas are grown and pursuing their own careers.

Reviews

[William M. Sunde · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is another one of those books that has a lot of "just words" in it that have nothing to do with the story. This Submarine goes up to the Barent Sea to look around. And from I read it, appears as though the crew can do just about anything they want to do, there is a big lack of discipline on this boat. Then one of the Officers, not the Skipper gives the order to surface just off the coast of the Soviet Union in Kola Bay and they are spotted by a Soviet Merchant Ship.

This is supposed to be a very secret mission and they screwed it up right at the start. Then it goes into Chapter 2 where it talks about this Russian Captain First Rank, Anton Zegouniova and his wife for at least 2 chapters. I could never figure out what this had to do with the story. Then there was a chapter that told th ereader about this Captain getting his new boat.

Then the American submarine went back out into the north atlantic where it met with a destroyer. three men were high lined from the destroyer to the submarine to perform a secret mission. As they were heading back to the Barent Sea and Kola Bay the Skipper was told that their mission was now more secret and more dangerous.

This is where I stopped reading the book. The way the crew on this bost operated I could figure out what was going to happen, even before it happened. So, I just called it off and lost interest in the book.

Mr. Sunde

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the son of a career naval officer, I suppose that it's not surprising that I love to read a good submarine story. While I was in 5th and 6th grades, my father was stationed aboard a submarine tender and this may have added to my enjoyment of the tale of the U.S.S. Squalfish as it mixes it up with a Soviet sub during the Cold War.

[Bill Donhiser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Adventure, looking forward to more from this author.