Black Sea

by Richard Setlowe and George Rath

Book Overview

When a luxury liner is hijacked by pirates, Vietnam vet Henry Stewart is called upon to find the missing ship, teaming up with Asian expert Maggi Chancellor in the process. Reprint. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0395569273
• ISBN13: 9780395569276
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 413 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Terrorists and Pirates

This is a very unusual book. It has nothing to do with the actual Black Sea, instead centering on a ship of that name that has been hijacked in the sea just to the south of Singapore, in the Far East. The hijackers are the Malayan version of Muslim extremist terrorists, killing the passengers one at a time until their demands are met. The book is written in the usual multiple shifting points of view style that suspense novels like this usually use, and it's very well done. Among the main characters are the captain of a nearby American warship and several other officers on board, an American woman who's a university professor specializing in the local Malayan culture and language, an ethnic Chinese character whose position is shadowy, and of course the terrorists themselves. All are well-drawn and interesting, and as far as I was concerned there weren't any twists in the plot that were unlikely or improbable. Frankly, this is a near flawless suspense novel, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in this sort of thing. One slight misgiving: it is somewhat dated, having been written in the early 90s. However, given the rise of the current crop of extremists in the Mid East, even that isn't that significant.

Welcome to Southeast Asia

While this is a dated, but very enjoyable thriller along the Clive Cussler sea-adventure line, it's far more as well. The characters are much more developed and interesting than Cussler's and the plot is a worthy one, involving modern-day piracy, terrorism, and Islam.What's even more significant is Setlowe's manner of educating the reader about that vaguely-known geographic area, most of us only have hazy ideas about politically, geographically, and culturally.And it's significant to be reminded that this area houses the world's largest Muslim population, that it is still schismatic between Malays, Chinese, Singaporeans, and other nationalities, that the world's busiest trade port is the independent nation of Singapore. Setlowe teaches you the long involved history of the area, its curious scattering of small islands, and the motivations of its modern-day inhabitants.But lest you think this will be a dull learning experience, it's not. It's backstory to a fascinating adventure yarn that could happen any day of the week and for the exact reasons Setlowe lays out. ead it for the yarn, read it for the background information, but read it and get your POV about Malayasia readjusted to its startling potential and realities.

A modern tale of piracy and justice

I really discovered a gem. It could have been a simple case of piracy, but things in the real world are rarely that simple. Mr. Setlowe has managed to mix a cauldron of piracy, espionage, fanaticism and the right man in the wrong place. Captain Henry Stewart sails his guided missile frigate into harm's way. He spent his youth aboard riverine units in the Mekong Delta, and he understands the fight better than the admirals in Washington.This is a great, great read!

Great read

I read this on vacation, and it was fun to get back to my hotel each night to immerse myself in this book. Well constructed novel, moves fast, detail just right, exciting and entertaining. Setlowe knows how to keep the reader 'on the edge of the chair' and build up empathy with the characters in their predicament. Satisfying. I will look for his next book.

Modern Pirates-Of-The-Maylay-Penninsula Story

An engaging and exciting, if uneven story, taking place on a hijacked cruise ship and a guided missle frigate in the South Pacific. This is the first novel I've read involving modern day piracy - a very real threat to cargo vessels today. Technical maritime detail is good, as are character and story development, although much time is spent developing the Executive Officer Robinson's back story without much payoff at the end. Perhaps Setlowe is setting-up the Robinson character for future novels. His Captain Stewart has legs - as does Maggi Chamberlain. Expect to see them again in the next edition. Good, quick Summer Navy-action read. I enjoyed it.