What lies at the very heart of Launch Code are questions that occupy a space even deeper than the question of what happened: do we have a right to know? Will there be, should there be ramifications if the truth is revealed? An opening quote from Mikhail Gorbachev and Robert Gates, a former Deputy Director of the CIA and later Secretary of Defense, helps to set the scene. The pace undulates as any good thriller should. The bitesize chapters left me hungry for more. Certain scenes are slow-moving, which can be hard to get past. In this instance they are written in a way that only heightens the buildup of tension. It is during these quiet scenes where I felt most on edge. A simple turn of phrase or seemingly innocuous detail could at any moment explode into chaos.
The story is clear in its goals, bringing up the issue of morals in the best possible way: it does not seek to preach. It is up to the characters and the reader to decide where their loyalties lie. A good story entertains the reader. A great story does this and more. It marries fact and fiction, past and present to provide something much more than the sum of its parts. Before reading the book I knew very little about the US navy and submarines. Not only was it an exciting read, it also taught me new things. The characters’ personalities and experiences are woven through the narrative in a way that leaves them believable and effortlessly easy to identify with. History, and descriptions of the settings painted a brilliant backdrop for the story.
If you want to know all the secrets buried here then be prepared. Be prepared to dive to the deepest depths, then rise all the way back to the surface.
The story is clear in its goals, bringing up the issue of morals in the best possible way: it does not seek to preach. It is up to the characters and the reader to decide where their loyalties lie. A good story entertains the reader. A great story does this and more. It marries fact and fiction, past and present to provide something much more than the sum of its parts. Before reading the book I knew very little about the US navy and submarines. Not only was it an exciting read, it also taught me new things. The characters’ personalities and experiences are woven through the narrative in a way that leaves them believable and effortlessly easy to identify with. History, and descriptions of the settings painted a brilliant backdrop for the story.
If you want to know all the secrets buried here then be prepared. Be prepared to dive to the deepest depths, then rise all the way back to the surface.