Storming The Black Ice by Don Brown

When British geologists discover the world's largest oil reserves under the desolate, icy tundra of Antarctica, Britain and Chile form a top-secret alliance for control of petroleum resources that will rival the economic power of OPEC. But when their discovery is uncovered by an Argentinean intelligence officer, a surprise-attack against a secret British outpost in Antarctica triggers a war. Britain and Chile are in a military standoff against Venezuela and Argentina, and when the war escalates, Britain asks America for help. For two couples separated by the battle, the outcome will be either love reunited or devastating heartbreak. For a young British boy living with his mother in London, his father’s life is on the line. And for Pete Miranda, an American sub commander detailed on a special military assignment to his father's homeland of Chile, will his fate be a crushing death under the icy-cold waters of the Antarctic Ocean, or a future of life, light, and a second chance for love?

My review:
   My only complaint with Don Brown's books, are that he doesn't write enough of them. I quickly became a fan of his books when I read his first one, Treason, nine years ago. I like military fiction, and there isn't a lot of it being written on the Christian market, though there is more than there used to be.

  Storming the Black Ice is set in a couple of places that I don't know much about, nor have I read many books, if any, set there: Chili and Antarctica. Brown brings back a main character from a couple of his previous books, Pete Miranda, to be one of the main characters in this book, and adds a lot of new characters.

 It is interesting as I do this review, we have the makings of World War III on the horizon, depending on how this Russia/Ukraine deal goes, for in the book, the Russians are involved with other countries being thrown in the mix, and there are  the makings of World War III.

 The book is fictional, but the possibilities are very real of something like this happening. Brown does an excellent job of describing military maneuvers, likely conversations and actions of political figures, and does a remarkable job on his submarine and ship battles.

 Something I appreciate in this book, and in others Don has written: he does a lot of shifting scenes from location to location. Every time he changes a location, he puts where it is, and what time. I have read books like that before that left you hanging for a while til you figured where the book had gone.

 There is a lot of action in this book. It is one of those too rare of books that fall into men's fiction, although some women would probably enjoy it too. There isn't a lot of Christian content in it, but there is some, and it is definitely clean and curse free. It is a great read, and a great ride through the countries of Chile, Britain, and Antarctica. I highly recommend it to readers of military fiction.

I also highly recommend his Naval Justice series, which should be read in order.

 And even though the one main character has been in other novels, this is one that could be read before others.

About the author:

Don Brown is the author of Thunder in the Morning Calm, The Malacca Conspiracy, The Navy Justice Series and Black Sea Affair, a submarine thriller that predicted the 2008 shooting war between Russia and Georgia. Don served five years in the U.S. Navy as an officer in the Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps, which gave him an exceptional vantage point into both the Navy and the inner workings of 'inside-the-beltway' as an action officer assigned to the pentagon. He left active duty in 1992 to pursue private practice, but remained on inactive status through 1999, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He and his family live in North Carolina, where he pursues his passion for penning novels about the Navy.