Shattered Trident (2013) [/] This is the third novel in Larry Bond's Jerry Mitchell series and I read the previous one, Exit Plan. In this one Mitchell is in command of a US submarine in the Pacific as a stealth war breaks out between China and the Littoral Alliance of Vietnam, Japan, India and South Korea (and later more countries join) as the LA initiates hostiles after they find out that China will take over the Spratly Islands during their next naval exercises.

I suspect like any series that initially focuses on one character this will continue to broaden the scope of characters and action. In this novel Mitchell and his crew get maybe a third of the pages as a lot of stuff is the Littoral Alliance, China, and US politics. I want a good submarine yarn and at this point reading further books is probably not a good idea. I probably need to go to the first novel in the series for the best submarine action.

On the positive side I do like the scenario. It's an asymmetric war where the Littoral Alliance is hitting China at a weak spot (oil tankers) and have a weapon suitable for that (submarines). The events in this novel would make an interesting war game.