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Red Star Rogue

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Red Star Rogue

Written by: Kenneth Sewell, Clint Richmond
Narrated by: Brian Emerson
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One of the great secrets of the Cold War, hidden for decades, is revealed at last.

Early in 1968, a nuclear-armed Soviet submarine sank in the waters off Hawaii, hundreds of miles closer to American shores than it should have been. Compelling evidence strongly suggests that the sub sank while attempting to fire a nuclear missile.

We now know that the Soviets had lost track of the sub; it had become a rogue. The Nixon administration launched a clandestine, half-billion-dollar project to recover the sunken K-129. The successful recovery effort helped forge new relations between the U.S. and the Soviets, even as it revealed a treacherous plan to provoke war between the U.S. and China, a plan that, had it succeeded, would have had devastating consequences.

©2005 Kenneth Sewell and Clint Richmond; (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks 20th Century Armed Forces Media Studies Military Modern Social Sciences Weapons & Warfare War China Russia Imperial Japan Soviet Union Submarine Cold War
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There were times while listening to this book where I wondered if career submariner Kenneth Sewell (along with investigative reporter/author Clint Richmond) had quite simply stolen his theoretical KGB conspiracy directly from Tom Clancy's 'Hunt For Red October'. Many of the expositions of events are strikingly cinematic and read like an actual screenplay (depicting a Russian Sailor playing with a captured pet mouse in his bunk, for example). Alternating with the scripted scenarios surrounding the saga of sunken Soviet Nuclear-armed submarine K-129, however, are some well-researched details. Furthermore, Sewell discusses c.1968 Soviet/Chinese capabilities and Cold War-era tactics & strategies with enough authority that I felt educated. By the end of the book, I was disappointingly a bit confused about what aspects of the exposé were authentic and what was fictional. Still, it was an edifying listen loaded with thought-provoking detail.

As to presentation: reader Brian Emerson displays some genuinely dreadful Russian pronunciations (names + places).. but also exhibits throughly professional diction/timbre/cadence and a praiseworthy pedagogical tone when delivering data & capable dramatic voice-acting when called for. I rate the performance "average" overall.

Altogether, 'Red Star Rogue' merits 6.5 stars out of 10. Sewell's assertion of an attempt to start a Nuclear World War and blame China - by KGB zealots (with subjugation of the crew of K-129) - is backed up by interest-piquing pseudo-"evidence". Yes, Sewell's theory is extremely conjectural, but I found the argument well-reasoned (he's not reaching *that* far).
Unfortunately, his intermittent foray into straight-up fiction really interferes with believability. As a casual consumer of military history, I both appreciated the dedication to providing some entertainment value and lamented the concurrent blow to reliability. If you can get the "what-if" book off of the "included with your subscription" menu, you should do so.. but spend your Credit elsewhere should they ask for one.

A "Fair" Mix Of Documentary and Artistic License

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Fascinating cold war history, especially loved the first few chapters on the background of Soviet submarine life at the time.

Loved it

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I agree with some of the other reviews that at times the information presented is conjecture at best. I also think some aspects of the story are very imaginative, and make for a riveting experience, even if not thoroughly backed by facts.

Overall, I do feel I learned a lot about the Cold War times from the facts that were presented, and thoroughly enjoyed the telling of a crazy tale about the sub, regardless of how historically accurate some aspects of it are. It’s definitely a casual listen type of book, more similar to many historical fiction books I’ve read than a fact book (I’m not complaining)

A Fun Listen!

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repetitive information, mispronunciation of common words. had enough halfway through. don't bother with it.

I wish I listened to other reviews.

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