Following the fall of France, Commander Robert Ainsle is ordered to capture the French submarine, Soufriere from French forces in Malaya so it does not end up in the hands of German or Japanese forces. With his successful raid completed, he is ordered to use it to attack Japanese forces as they move on Singapore.

The Soufriere is the largest sub in the world with an aircraft hanger and two eight inch guns on its deck. The novel moves back and forth between the failing defenses and chaos in Singapore and on the Malay Peninsula to battles at sea as Ainslie fights a lonely battle at sea as he commands the only vessel capable of hitting back. Some of the battles are over the top especially when Soufriere takes on multiple destroyers in a surface battle and survives.

There is the usual love affair in the novel and in this case it is between Ainslie and a married woman who is hampered by a drunken husband and a handicapped daughter and the possible capture by the Japanese and what that will mean for her. This novel is one of Reeman's weaker efforts. ( )

3.8