Listen free for 30 days
-
2034
- A Novel of the Next World War
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, P.J. Ochlan, Vikas Adam, Dion Graham, Feodor Chin
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $35.09
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Buy it with
-
Ghost Fleet
- A Novel of the Next World War
- Written by: P. W. Singer, August Cole
- Narrated by: Rich Orlow
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 2026. China has taken over as the world's largest economy, while the United States, mired in an oil shortage, struggles to adjust to its diminished role. Then, a surprise attack throws the US into a chaos unseen since Pearl Harbor. As the enemy takes control, the survival of the nation will depend upon the most unlikely forces: the Navy's antiquated Ghost Fleet and a cadre of homegrown terrorists.
-
-
I go through this book at least once a year
- By Steven on 2019-10-21
Written by: P. W. Singer, and others
-
Arctic Storm Rising
- A Novel (Nick Flynn)
- Written by: Dale Brown
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a CIA covert mission goes badly awry, US Air Force intelligence officer Nicholas Flynn is exiled to guard a remote radar post along Alaska’s Arctic frontier. This dead-end assignment is designed to put his career permanently on ice, but Flynn’s not the type to fade quietly into obscurity.... As winter storms pound Alaska and northern Canada, Russian aircraft begin penetrating deep into friendly airspace. Are these rehearsals for a possible first strike, using Russia’s new long-range stealth cruise missiles?
-
-
A Great Ride!
- By Ryan F on 2022-02-27
Written by: Dale Brown
-
To Risk It All
- Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision
- Written by: Admiral James Stavridis
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the heart of Admiral James Stavridis’s training as a naval officer was the preparation to lead sailors in combat, to face the decisive moment in battle whenever it might arise. In To Risk It All, he offers up nine of the most useful and enthralling stories from the US Navy’s nearly 250-year history, and draws from them a set of insights that we can all put to use when confronted with fateful choices.
Written by: Admiral James Stavridis
-
Countdown to Midnight
- A Novel
- Written by: Dale Brown
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nick Flynn is back in action, and he has a new employer—a shadowy intelligence outfit whose roots go back to the very beginning of the Cold War. But his first mission for them almost becomes his last. While meeting with a high-ranking Iranian dissident in the Austrian Alps, Flynn is ambushed and nearly killed...just after learning that Iran and Russia are working together on a mysterious project—one they have codenamed MIDNIGHT.
Written by: Dale Brown
-
Team Yankee
- A Novel of World War III
- Written by: Harold Coyle
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Team Yankee, the New York Times best-seller by Harold Coyle, presents a glimpse of what it would have been like for the soldiers who would have had to meet the relentless onslaught of Soviet and Warsaw Pact divisions. Using the geo-political and military scenarios described by General Sir John Hackett, former NORTHAG commander and author of World War Three; August 1985, Team Yankee follows the war as seen from the turret of Captain Sean Bannon's tank.
Written by: Harold Coyle
-
Monroe Doctrine: Volume II
- Written by: James Rosone, Miranda Watson
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Blain serves at the pleasure of the president. Brought over from the last administration, there were few people more trusted. He knew the biggest threat was the deepfakes. China’s AI played war like a grand master. In what seemed like an instant, the cyberattacks crippled networks, and then the world lost faith in everything on the internet. Global financial markets were in turmoil as supply chains ceased to function. The greatest propaganda campaign ever tore apart the fabric of society. Could China’s expansionist goals be contained?
-
-
Contemporary weapon systems and current threats
- By DJ3V0 on 2022-12-19
Written by: James Rosone, and others
-
Ghost Fleet
- A Novel of the Next World War
- Written by: P. W. Singer, August Cole
- Narrated by: Rich Orlow
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 2026. China has taken over as the world's largest economy, while the United States, mired in an oil shortage, struggles to adjust to its diminished role. Then, a surprise attack throws the US into a chaos unseen since Pearl Harbor. As the enemy takes control, the survival of the nation will depend upon the most unlikely forces: the Navy's antiquated Ghost Fleet and a cadre of homegrown terrorists.
-
-
I go through this book at least once a year
- By Steven on 2019-10-21
Written by: P. W. Singer, and others
-
Arctic Storm Rising
- A Novel (Nick Flynn)
- Written by: Dale Brown
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a CIA covert mission goes badly awry, US Air Force intelligence officer Nicholas Flynn is exiled to guard a remote radar post along Alaska’s Arctic frontier. This dead-end assignment is designed to put his career permanently on ice, but Flynn’s not the type to fade quietly into obscurity.... As winter storms pound Alaska and northern Canada, Russian aircraft begin penetrating deep into friendly airspace. Are these rehearsals for a possible first strike, using Russia’s new long-range stealth cruise missiles?
-
-
A Great Ride!
- By Ryan F on 2022-02-27
Written by: Dale Brown
-
To Risk It All
- Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision
- Written by: Admiral James Stavridis
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the heart of Admiral James Stavridis’s training as a naval officer was the preparation to lead sailors in combat, to face the decisive moment in battle whenever it might arise. In To Risk It All, he offers up nine of the most useful and enthralling stories from the US Navy’s nearly 250-year history, and draws from them a set of insights that we can all put to use when confronted with fateful choices.
Written by: Admiral James Stavridis
-
Countdown to Midnight
- A Novel
- Written by: Dale Brown
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nick Flynn is back in action, and he has a new employer—a shadowy intelligence outfit whose roots go back to the very beginning of the Cold War. But his first mission for them almost becomes his last. While meeting with a high-ranking Iranian dissident in the Austrian Alps, Flynn is ambushed and nearly killed...just after learning that Iran and Russia are working together on a mysterious project—one they have codenamed MIDNIGHT.
Written by: Dale Brown
-
Team Yankee
- A Novel of World War III
- Written by: Harold Coyle
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Team Yankee, the New York Times best-seller by Harold Coyle, presents a glimpse of what it would have been like for the soldiers who would have had to meet the relentless onslaught of Soviet and Warsaw Pact divisions. Using the geo-political and military scenarios described by General Sir John Hackett, former NORTHAG commander and author of World War Three; August 1985, Team Yankee follows the war as seen from the turret of Captain Sean Bannon's tank.
Written by: Harold Coyle
-
Monroe Doctrine: Volume II
- Written by: James Rosone, Miranda Watson
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Blain serves at the pleasure of the president. Brought over from the last administration, there were few people more trusted. He knew the biggest threat was the deepfakes. China’s AI played war like a grand master. In what seemed like an instant, the cyberattacks crippled networks, and then the world lost faith in everything on the internet. Global financial markets were in turmoil as supply chains ceased to function. The greatest propaganda campaign ever tore apart the fabric of society. Could China’s expansionist goals be contained?
-
-
Contemporary weapon systems and current threats
- By DJ3V0 on 2022-12-19
Written by: James Rosone, and others
-
Battlefield Ukraine
- Red Storm Series, Book 1
- Written by: James Rosone, Miranda Watson
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Battlefield Ukraine, all the usual suspects are hard at work: battles over resources, money, and miscommunication. This predictive novel explores a potential war between NATO and Russia over the fate of the separatist regions in eastern Ukraine. Lines have been drawn in the sand, but how firm are they? Will the massive disinformation campaign by the Russians trick the new American administration to do their bidding? Will the new American president back down, or will the world creep one step closer toward global war?
-
-
A very good opening to a series
- By Gerald Lefebvre on 2023-01-28
Written by: James Rosone, and others
-
Black Ice
- A Thriller (The Scot Harvath Series, Book 20)
- Written by: Brad Thor
- Narrated by: Armand Schultz
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Scot Harvath is having his best summer ever. With a cottage on the fjord, a boat, and his beautiful girlfriend Sølvi, he’s got everything he could possibly want. But out of vacation days and long overdue back home, America’s top spy has a decision to make - return, or submit his resignation. When his deadly past comes calling, though, he’ll be left with no choice at all. Leaving his favorite Oslo café, Harvath watches as a ghost climbs out of a taxi - a man he killed years ago, halfway around the world. How is he still alive? And what is he doing in Norway?
-
-
Always seems too short.
- By Hiker604 on 2021-07-24
Written by: Brad Thor
-
Doom
- The Politics of Catastrophe
- Written by: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Niall Ferguson
- Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Disasters are inherently hard to predict. Pandemics, like earthquakes, wildfires, financial crises. and wars, are not normally distributed; there is no cycle of history to help us anticipate the next catastrophe. But when disaster strikes, we ought to be better prepared than the Romans were when Vesuvius erupted, or medieval Italians when the Black Death struck. We have science on our side, after all.
-
-
Somewhat underwhelming
- By 099880897979 on 2022-09-12
Written by: Niall Ferguson
-
War with Russia
- An urgent warning from senior military command
- Written by: General Sir General Sir Richard Shirreff
- Narrated by: General Sir Richard Shirreff, Michael Fenner
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Closely modeled on his NATO experience of war gaming future conflicts, War with Russia is a chilling account of where we are heading if we fail to recognise the threat posed by the Russian president. Written by the recently retired Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe and endorsed by senior military figures, this audiobook shows how war with Russia could erupt, with the bloodiest and most appalling consequences, if the necessary steps are not taken urgently.
-
-
Great Novel, with a great perspective
- By mike on 2018-09-19
Written by: General Sir General Sir Richard Shirreff
-
The Recruiter
- Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence
- Written by: Douglas London
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This revealing memoir from a 34-year veteran of the CIA who worked as a case officer and recruiter of foreign agents before and after 9/11 provides an invaluable perspective on the state of modern spy craft, how the CIA has developed, and how it must continue to evolve.
Written by: Douglas London
-
Burn-In
- Written by: P. W. Singer, August Cole
- Narrated by: Mia Barron
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An FBI agent hunts a new kind of terrorist through a Washington, DC, of the future in this ground-breaking book - at once a gripping techno-thriller and a fact-based tour of tomorrow. America is on the brink of a revolution, one both technological and political. The science fiction of AI and robotics has finally come true, but millions are angry and fearful that the future has left them behind. After narrowly stopping a bombing at Washington’s Union Station, FBI Special Agent Lara Keegan receives a new assignment: To field-test an advanced police robot.
-
-
Great story on what the future will look like...
- By Jenner Budakoglu on 2020-07-15
Written by: P. W. Singer, and others
Publisher's Summary
From two former military officers and award-winning authors, a chillingly authentic geopolitical thriller that imagines a naval clash between the US and China in the South China Sea in 2034 - and the path from there to a nightmarish global conflagration.
On March 12, 2034, US Navy Commodore Sarah Hunt is on the bridge of her flagship, the guided missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones, conducting a routine freedom of navigation patrol in the South China Sea when her ship detects an unflagged trawler in clear distress, smoke billowing from its bridge. On that same day, US Marine aviator Major Chris "Wedge" Mitchell is flying an F35E Lightning over the Strait of Hormuz, testing a new stealth technology as he flirts with Iranian airspace. By the end of that day, Wedge will be an Iranian prisoner, and Sarah Hunt's destroyer will lie at the bottom of the sea, sunk by the Chinese Navy. Iran and China have clearly coordinated their moves, which involve the use of powerful new forms of cyber weaponry that render US ships and planes defenseless. In a single day, America's faith in its military's strategic pre-eminence is in tatters. A new, terrifying era is at hand.
So begins a disturbingly plausible work of speculative fiction, co-authored by an award-winning novelist and decorated Marine veteran and the former commander of NATO, a legendary admiral who has spent much of his career strategically outmaneuvering America's most tenacious adversaries. Written with a powerful blend of geopolitical sophistication and human empathy, 2034 takes us inside the minds of a global cast of characters - Americans, Chinese, Iranians, Russians, Indians - as a series of arrogant miscalculations on all sides leads the world into an intensifying international storm. In the end, China and the United States will have paid a staggering cost, one that forever alters the global balance of power.
Everything in 2034 is an imaginative extrapolation from present-day facts on the ground combined with the authors' years working at the highest and most classified levels of national security. Sometimes it takes a brilliant work of fiction to illuminate the most dire of warnings: 2034 is all too close at hand, and this cautionary tale presents the listener a dark yet possible future that we must do all we can to avoid.
* This audiobook edition includes an exclusive interview with co-author Admiral James Stavridis.
What the critics say
“It is hard to write in great detail about what ensues in this novel without giving away the drama of its denouement. Suffice it to say that there is conflict and catastrophe on a large scale, and it unfolds, as major conflicts tend to, with surprising twists and turns.... The strengths of the novel are anything but incidental to the background of one of its authors, Adm. Stavridis, a former destroyer and carrier strike group commander who retired from the Navy in 2013 as NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.... Adm. Stavridis not only understands how naval fleets work; he has clearly given a great deal of thought to America’s biggest strategic risks, and at the top of the list is war with China, which, as this book seems designed to point out, could occur quite by accident and at almost any time.... One of the messages of this book is that war is utterly unpredictable and that opportunist adversaries of the U.S. are likely to play important roles in any widening confrontation.... 2034 is nonetheless full of warnings. Foremost is that war with China would be folly, with no foreseeable outcome and disaster for all. This is not a pessimistic book about America’s potential, but the picture of the world it paints before the central conflict will be a difficult one for many to accept, albeit one well supported by facts.” (Wall Street Journal)
"An unnerving and fascinating tale of a future.... The book serves as a cautionary tale to our leaders and national security officials, while also speaking to a modern truth about arrogance and our lack of strategic foresight.... The novel is an enjoyable and swiftly paced but important read.” (The Hill)
“This crisply written and well-paced book reads like an all-caps warning for a world shackled to the machines we carry in our pockets and place on our laps, while only vaguely understanding how the information stored in and shared by those devices can be exploited.... In 2034, it’s as if Ackerman and Stavridis want to grab us by our lapels, give us a slap or two, and scream: Pay attention! George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-four: A Novel was published 35 years before 1984. Ackerman’s and Stavridis’s book takes place in the not-so-distant future when today’s high school military recruits will just be turning 30.” (The Washington Post)
More from the same
What listeners say about 2034
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Peter G
- 2021-05-01
A one-star book by a four-star admiral
To quote another reviewer with whom I completely agree: "Thermonuclear exchanges are glossed over without as much attention as a fender bender in a mall parking lot. The cast of characters are sketched in as stick figures with zero insight into the decision making processes that brought about this disaster." Climate change is mentioned only once, as having reset global geopolitics, without describing what was done and who mainly benefited (presumably the Chinese). But this is in 2034, barely a dozen years from now! The main characters seem to be involved at many intersections of the plot, completely unbelievably. The ending is pure Dr. Strangelove.
The admiral is the "game theorist" part of the authorial partnership and the plot is unimpressive, whereas the novelist partner fails to meet his obligations in this novel.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Zinchuk
- 2021-04-05
A bit of Battlestar Galactica and Tom Clancy
For the first half of the book, I thought I had not enjoyed a fictional book like this since reading the first few Tom Clancy books as a teenager in the early 90s. But then, towards the end, I found that it seemed to lose steam. While there's a coda, and an interview with the author (which I've never seen in an audibook before), I think the book should have gone on for a few more chapters and, um, ended. I was not satisfied in that regard. Maybe the authors had to hit a delivery deadline?
This book also takes pains to hit every nearly social justice warrior item you can imagine. It even takes a swing at fracking.
Spoilers:
The book draws heavily from the 2003 Battlestar Galactica mini-series, where the Cylons have the ability to hack the colonial navy's networked fighters and ships, leaving them defenceless destroying them. The authors might as well called the Chinese "Cylons." They even resort to using ancient fighters as their go-to to fight back, just like BSG. That whole plot-line is very poorly paid off, however. Indeed, I don't think it was paid off much at all. I think they should be sending Ronald D. Moore and David Eick royalty checks.
Written by an admiral, I expected fewer flights of fantasy. I didn't know an F-18 could carry Tsar Bomba, because that's what it would have needed to accomplish what happens, twice, in this book. So much for only using "tactical" nukes. As for the two American cities hit by nukes, one makes perfect sense, the second does not. It should have been Bremerton.
As an admiral, you would think somewhere in this book, U.S Navy submarines would have played a part? Like a salvo or ten of Tomahawks? Maybe a torpedo? I realize that might be pining for Tom Clancy, but there's no way a naval war with Japan does not involve the U.S. Navy's nuclear fleet.
And, given the impact last week of one ship stuck in the Suez Canal, this book doesn't even touch on what would happen to global trade in a war with China. What, are all those container ships going to keep flowing from China to Long Beach while all this is going on? Who would buy the West's exports?
Russia's involvement seemed hackneyed, at best. And they could magically make a whole division of Spetsnaz appear, only to have a "divine wind" intervene? Because that's what happened.
These are some of the reasons why the second half seemed to fall apart for me. After a good setup, it was a poor ending.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- B
- 2021-03-13
Boardrooms instead of battlefields
Huge military events are given one sentence descriptions, mundane conversations are given pages.
Not sure why this is set in 2034...
Other than some random references to cyber warfare there’s nothing that requires this tale being set any other time than now.
Ambitious, but falls short.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tom
- 2021-04-17
It was ok... it was a bookclub book
interesting idea but fell short on the character depth. overall cool idea for the future
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Andrea
- 2021-03-12
Save Your Credit
Very concerned the authors have no real understanding of our current world (let alone 2034). To say this book is unrealistic feels equivalent to saying 2020 was mildly unpleasant, lol. Plot doesn’t make sense, characterization sure as shit doesn’t and let’s not even talk about basic facts (M*di is India’s PM, not President). This book is very clearly trying to cash in on current events today and anti-racism movements (and doing a bad job). I would recommend getting this book if you’re in the mood to waste a credit or are for some reason trying to support people who can’t proof read. Voice actors also missed the mark.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 2022-03-07
Unimaginative, poorly written
The format was interesting, having different readers for each character.
That said, the novel was horrendously cliché, brutally politically correct and lacked actual depth.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Todd Slack
- 2022-02-01
You have better ways to spend your time
Fiction needs to be believable and there are too many wait a second, how did that happen and if it did, why isn't it happening to these guys.
I have an hour forty left and I'm just not going to go any more
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- R. Ward
- 2021-10-24
Macguffins, magic & stupidity drive the story
The author combines conventional thinking, with use of magical, unrealistic tech by an enemy, and Curtis Lemay-esque morons in USA & China to drive an unbelievable narrative full of social justice virtue signalling. This is a waste of your time unless you already hate America and want to see it knocked down several pegs. Voice actors were very good.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Wilf Gobert
- 2021-06-16
intriguing but highly improbable story
The story bounces between world centers, looks at a world crisis thru the lense of major and minor countries. "The good guy wins" will lead you to cheer for USA. but views from other world leaders creates an irreconcilable difference. The story is really character oriented not a military story, in the end.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dog owner
- 2021-05-25
Overall good story, some flaws
Too many stereotypes but a good tactical and strategic analysis. Some of the subplots are corny/cheesy, and some of the characters predictable, but the big picture with the roles of India and Iran make it quite intriguing as a plot.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Ronald A McBroom-Teasley
- 2021-03-10
Meh....
This book started off pretty well, a plausible scenario for a future conflict between two superpowers. However, the book quickly devolves into ill-explained science fiction cyber weapons that can completely shut down enemy technology and render systems defenseless. The only solution is for one side to attack the other with WWII technology and rely on the superior cunning of its service members. If you're into that sort of story, this is a good book for you. However, if you're looking for a Tom Clancy-style techno-thriller with accurate depictions of military technology, I'd pass on this one.
37 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 2021-03-30
Too many unbelievable plot elements
This kind of book succeeds or fails on presenting a credible scenario for the unfolding of future events (it certainly wouldn’t want to be relying on the quality of the prose or the character development). Some aspects of the plot were believable. That a confected incident could escalate out of control in the tense military conditions of the South China Sea is definitely believable. That the Russians could engage in tactical shenanigans with unanticipated consequences I also found believable. That the US arrogantly underestimates its geopolitical opponents and comes a cropper as a result was believable too.
Many of the details, however, left me scratching my head. Military aspects like the fact that the Chinese air force and air defense system were seemingly on holiday for much of the events, lack of use of missiles and particularly new hyper sonic missiles, how much damage a tactical nuclear weapon could really do to a city and whether it could be carried by a F18 hornet are things that others have focused on and I wont reiterate them here. But the following really caused the failure of my suspension of disbelief.
1.
The Chinese spend years devising their strategy for invading Taiwan including devilish new weapons, deceptions and the remote hijacking of war planes, but seemed to have ignored the possibility that the action could escalate to a nuclear war
2.
The Chinese, having developed a game changing cyber capability that could essentially disable all US ships , decided to use that technology on a small number of US ships first, and then allow some of the crew to escape to report back and warn the US naval command, giving them the opportunity to develop countermeasures
3.
The US, having been given this opportunity, rather than trying to come up with a counter measure, decide to sail a quarter of their navy into the face of this new weapon so that they can be disabled and sunk.
4.
That the Russians, on a covert mission to destroy subsea cables and ‘disable the US internet’ (something that there is a degree of debate about I understand since the action would most likely have a worse effect on the Russians, given that so much of the infrastructure on which the internet is based is already in the US) sit and sunbathe above the cables for a few days waiting for the right time to act.
5.
That the US wouldn’t track a flotilla of Russian boats hanging menacingly around subsea internet cables and send some planes out to intercept,
6.
That the Iranians don’t take the defense of islands in the Straights of Hormuz seriously.
7.
That the Europeans wouldn’t intervene in the invasion of a European Union and NATO country, even if the US didn’t.
8.
That Saudi Arabia and Israel wouldn’t have been centrally involved in a state of war or near war affecting the Gulf
9.
That there wouldn’t have been an earlier nuclear war had Iran launched a military invasion of the Golan Heights.
I also disliked a lot of the tone of the book. I don’t think the gravity of the threat of nuclear war was adequately expressed. I didn’t care about the individuals and how they felt if they were complicit in the deaths of millions of people and I found the yahoo-ing, top gun-esque maverick pilot story line, pretty distasteful in the context of dropping a nuclear weapon on city full of civilians.
But with all the illogicality of the book, the most bewildering thing about it is the author. The precis to the interview at the end of the audio book describes the James Stavridis’ CV which, if true, makes him the ultimate geo-political and military insider. So why when you read the book are there so many illogicalities and non-sequiturs? If the leading lights of US foreign policy and military thinking can be so basically illiterate when it comes to the politics of the world, the US’s days as a superpower must surely be numbered. God help us when she goes down fighting
31 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- carpet man
- 2021-03-17
POLITICALLY CORRECT WAR STORY
The world is involved in a great war. India steps up to save us from ourselves. Cigarettes tossed from a jet fighter cocpit remind us of the good old days when life was simpler. Equal opportunity has given us a female president, and a cigar smoking female admiral with the courage to start a nuclear war. Can't we just get along?
P.S. Don't move to Galveston
17 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 2021-03-14
good story, not clancy technical though
wanted more technical on cyber attack methods employed and how. suppose we'll just refer to the real world events and papers for that.
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jeff Jensen
- 2021-03-13
Not plausible
The authors want you to think that the bad reviews are because readers disagree with the message. They are because this book jumps around from China is the most technological country in the world to China allowing an American jet to circle its largest city. They have the ability to remotely disable whole carrier groups and then either can't, or won't find one they know carries nuclear weapons. Authors should stick to their think tanks.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Thucydides
- 2021-03-11
Good setup, disappointing execution
I was eager to read this book, given the reputations of the two authors. The setup of the book that begins the scenario is good and highlights the risks that both the South China Sea disputes and cyberconflict present. The payoff of this setup was pretty disappointing and becomes increasingly implausible. The interview with Adm Stavridis at the end of the book is well worth the listen, as he highlights many of the chief dangers the U.S. faces today quite well.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- P. Mikolajczyk
- 2021-03-13
WAKE UP CALL!
A must read for those STILL unwilling to acknowledge the world has changed and so have the threats!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Jim
- 2021-03-18
A Harbinger
A Harbinger. It's this generation's On the Beach meets Dr. Strangelove meets the Guns of August.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- John Mac
- 2021-03-18
Not The Gripping Tale You're Looking For
A tedious story with flat characters and predictable outcomes telegraphed far in advance of the conclusion. Ackerman and Stavridis wanted to deliver a character driven cautionary tale about where the US might be headed, but in doing so they skip by details, cut away from any action, and focus on a set of characters who are mid-level functionaries with little control over events or their respective destinies.
Unfortunately, none of the characters are all that interesting in and of themselves, so you're not left with much to hang your hat on other than to wonder if they can influence anything. If you're looking for something akin to Tom Clancy or Harold Coyle, keep on looking, you won't find it here. This title yadda yaddas its way past anything of technical or political substance.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- matt
- 2021-10-30
Great book!
Seriously, it's a fantastic book.
One thing though, in chapter 4 the narrator for the Chinese military part BREATHS LOUDLY after each sentence. GASP. It wasn't off putting. GASP. It was more humorous than anything. GASP.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Roberto
- 2022-02-26
Takes too long to get into the point
Do not waste your time here if you like to get a clear vision of a scenario about world security.
To the author: Next time, just cut directly to the chase. Then, defend your point with a scenario that backs up you hypotheses.
I am sorry. But I doubt that a book like this would have made it if not from its source or context.