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Right from the first page, Bultema makes it clear to audiences that this is no ordinary thriller, and these are no ordinary stakes. He pits two formidable adversaries—China and the United States—against each other, delivering a suspenseful chess match between US President Mark Taylor and China’s President Zhang Wei, a man who irrevocably holds the fate of all nations, and thus the world as a whole, in his hands. Reminiscent of dominant, authoritarian tyrants from history, President Zhang’s delusions of reunifying Taiwan with the mainland government become the catalyst for an unimaginable scenario in the South China Sea involving two of the world’s major military superpowers.
In this sweeping saga, audiences encounter dozens of characters from both sides and gain insight into their dreams, fears, and ambitions, their competitive drive, and, ultimately, their commitment to their country. When the narrative opens, the tenor is rather harmless and one of peace, yet with near scares from J-20s, a conflict over the South China Sea begins to look inevitable. On one side, determined US leaders, including but not limited to Lieutenant Commander Dick “Mad Dog” Johnson, Ensign Brett Jansen, and Lieutenant Broersma, are steadfast in protecting Taiwan. On the other side, the top twenty minds, featuring former Chinese presidents and powerful authority figures, struggle to speak up against the current president, their wealth of wisdom held captive by the fear of torture and death if they go against the president’s wishes. All that’s missing is the spark to ignite this whole situation and create a full-fledged inferno that, as the title fittingly attests, will douse the sea in red.
When that spark does come, audiences get a spectacular cornucopia of war. From depicting underwater submarines and pursuing torpedoes to devastating air assaults, the author does a commendable job of painting an image of a tenuous situation where every decision literally leaves hundreds, if not thousands, of lives hanging in the balance. The frenetic pace of the book matches that of the action. Every few pages, the perspective and focus shift characters and sides so that audiences can be privy to the motives and feelings of every character introduced from both ends. Perhaps what is most intriguing is the dichotomy between the events as they play out in Washington and Beijing and the live-action, life-and-death tango in the South China Sea. It truly feels like a calculated chess match where neither side is willing to relent.
Bultema’s ability to develop characters in such a fast-paced setting is impeccable, and by throwing them into essentially survival-of-the-fittest situations, their true characters come out. Getting to be a fly on the wall on the USS Reagan and the USS Mustin and then immediately on Liaoning’s CSG, one thing becomes clear: the transparency that audiences are given to peer inside a charged political landscape on the verge of war is incredible. Unsurprisingly, this uncanny perspective is rooted in Bultema’s own military combat experience, and many of his characters share the same hard-nosed, get-the-job-done-at-all-costs mentality. Ultimately, in an environment where complete and total obliteration is on the line if neither side is willing to budge, the characters will have to decide whether they will finally stand up to the president and his visions of grandeur or allow the slaughter of human lives to continue to dye the sea a deeper shade of red. Strong-willed characters and nonstop action in the author’s novel make for a battle royale that exhilarates all the way to the end.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review