Dark Transit

Anthony "Patch" Pacino Series, Book 1

By: Michael DiMercurio

Narrated by: Joseph Robert Courtemanche

Lieutenant Anthony Pacino reports aboard the “project boat” USS Vermont two years after having survived the catastrophic sinking of the Piranha. Pacino quickly learns that Vermont’s missions are all ultra-secret with the boat reporting only to the sub force commander, the national security advisor, and the president: Vermont does the dirty deeds that need doing in deadly silence and obscurity.

After Vermont misses the mark on an easy mission, there are questions asked about her ability to conduct the next mission, one that is vital to the security of the United States and the future of the submarine force. Vermont is tasked with stealing a revolutionary submarine that the Russians are testing with an Iranian crew because it’s too risky to use Russian sailors. It’s a high-stakes gamble for all involved, with the losers vanishing if things go wrong, the winners validating a world-changing technology.

Pacino is part of the mission to steal the submarine, but the toughest obstacle is a wolf-pack of Russians coming to the defense of the Iranian submarine. Getting it back to the United States for evaluation becomes secondary to surviving an exchange of missiles and torpedoes in an underwater battle that threatens to let the final genie out of the bottle.

“DiMercurio has used the last decade to refine his writing and produce the best naval thriller in decades. I couldn’t put it down.” (Joseph Courtemanche, author of Assault on Saint Agnes)

©2021 Michael DiMercurio (P)2023 David N. Wilson

Great book, can’t wait for the next one.

Have enjoyed all the authors books and the narrator does a great job with it.

Made me there - while it happened.

Liked being put in reality by clearly experienced author. Broadest spectrum development.
Long length do-able with Audible while driving.
This one has loads more exacting detail than his other sub novels which are the best.
Comment : If they were never there, how can they say it never happened.

Greatly detailed story-telling

I enjoyed this book but only up to the point where the non-qual was taking action like a seasoned sub commander. The author does a super job of story telling and the details of the on-board actions - their results - and the human interactions were very, very good. My own service bias kept me from accepting some of the story line. But this book was definitely worth the listen for those who seek military action, submarines at work and humanity.

Good Story with Poor Narration

Story was good-ish. Nice enough to pass the time. Narrator was so bad and made everyone sound like dismissive or playful college students rather than hardened military men.

Closer than you think!

Lots of real submarine life, fears, and dangers woven into a great yarn.

Hmm…some of their women were more dangerous than then their enemies. Not surprising

But the drug lord’s cargo ship was named after the SAR-GAS-OH sea 😆 Joseph! It was road trip gold listening. Thanks guys.

Enjoyed this book

Great story and great narration. I look forward to listening to more books in the series.

Correct strategy, relationships and terminology despite the nnede simplifications.

The flow of the story was good without sacrificing authenticity or character development. Thank you.

Awesome control of the tension.

The realism is outstanding and the characters are well represented. The narration is elevated by the accents utilized for different nationalities. The only downside for me was the superfluous inclusion of "time stamps," sometimes after a couple of short paragraphs. I will be finishing the series.

Great book, poor narration

I like the book a lot, has a good story and is interesting. How ever the narrator puts 0 effort into characters. And in all honesty, sounds like I’m watching an episode of how it’s made. In my own humble opinion a narrator can make or break a book. I had a hard time following character swaps due to him. I almost didn’t listen to the whole book. Hoping for a better narrator on the next book!

Too detailed

This was to long and too detailed. I think the story would be good, but couldn’t get there through all the detail. An abridged version of this would be better and I rarely buy the abridged. Too long.