Contact! A Novel of the Pacific War

Crash Dive, Book 4

By: Craig DiLouie

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

The fourth book in the popular Crash Dive series!

Still reeling from the hellish battle in the Japan Sea, Lt. Commander Charlie Harrison returns from Prospective Commanding Officer School to find the Sandtiger languishing in repair while her crew idles. He expects to take command, but the post is given to Captain Howard Saunders.

Sandtiger’s orders: Take a team of elite commandos to the island of Saipan to destroy a major coastal gun before 70,000 Marines land on its beaches. Once Saipan is taken, American bombers will be able to reach Tokyo. For the Japanese Empire, this triggers kantai kessen - the final decisive naval battle.

When disaster strikes, Charlie must save his submarine and salvage the mission, battling his erratic commander while fighting the enemy. Along the way, he learns sacrifice and the true cost of war.

©2017 ZING Communications, Inc. (P)2017 Blue Heron Audio

My favorite story teller.great 👍

This just verifys the story's told to me 55 years ago.when I was growing up with the kids of surviving vets of ww2.thank goodness they did what they did.a great book.

Once more unto the breach!

Lt. Commander Charlie Harrison is still reaching for his first command as Captain. After the last patrol in the Sea of Japan he was sent to CPO, Prospective Commanding Officer School. Hoping this was the final step to command he returned to the Sandtiger only to be stalled once again. Command was given to Captain Howard Saunders; an experienced submariner with nine patrols under his dolphins. Experienced yes, but scuttle-butt said he last two patrols were anything but by-the-book. Captains were usually rotated out after five patrols; the strain was overwhelming. Charlie would sail as Exec/CPO with the promise of command on his next patrol. This mission had Top Secret written all over it. Sandtiger was to ferry an Army Recon squad to the island of Saipan to destroy a shore gun installation prior to invasion. Contrary to an easy taxi ride this was decidedly dangerous; deep in enemy territory and well-defended. Should their mission succeed the Tokyo mainland would be within range. The Japanese were not about to let this happen! On top of all this, Charlie had to deal with an uncertain Captain. Once more unto the breach; Charlie would have to reach deep down for the strength and courage to do what was needed.

Captivating

This is book four of the series. Our protagonist Charles Harrison is now a Lt. Commander. He has just graduated from CPO School (Prospective Commanding Officer). On returning to Pearl he finds Captain Howard Sanders has been given command of the USS Sandtiger. The new assignment is to take a team of commandos to Saipan Island.

The book is well written and fast paced. As with the other books in the series, the suspense builds throughout the story. I have enjoyed the series and found the book hard to put down. I particularly like that the books are about five hours. This makes a great change from the longer non-fiction books I have been reading. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.

The book is four hours and fifty-four minutes. R. C. Bray does an excellent job narrating the series. Bray is an actor and voice-over artist. He has won the prestigious Audie Award, many Earphone Awards and the Voice Artist Award.