Tipping Point: The War with China - The First Salvo (Dan Lenson Novels Book 15)

If you've read a Poyer novel before you know what to expect: complex characters, often forced into morally challenging situations, with crisp dialog and beautiful descriptions of even the mundane details of life aboard a warship. Throw in the traditional elements of a bad apple amongst the crew, the hint of improper relationships at various points on the chain of command, and sweet, sweet engineering casualties, then season with a spicy mix of political and strategic influences that are outside CAPT Lenson's pay grade. Sound good? You bet. The problem is that the book ends abruptly. I won't detail the plot for fear of giving away spoilers, but let's just say there's a reason this book is subtitled "The First Salvo." There are several fascinating story arcs, almost none of which are resolved here. Poyer has often been compared to Tom Clancy; for what it's worth, I think Poyer is a far superior writer-- but Clancy knew how to tell an *entire* story in one of his big doorstops, while Poyer is evidently saving some material for "Tipping Point 2: Electric Boogaloo" or whatever the next book is titled. I deducted one star for making me wait at least another year to find out what happens next.

Love this David Poyer series! Read the last 3 and just ordered Book 1. Can't wait to read the entire series and for th next book in December 2018.Davis Poyer brings a realistic look at the start of the eventual war with China and what we can expect in offensive and defensive weapons systems, tactics and strategies mixed in with domestic politics and the American will, or withering. Hopefully the US military is way ahead of what we lay persons know about Americas enemies and how we intend to beat them.Also Poyer explores America's secret weapon or lack thereof: Logistics.“Logistics is the stuff that if you don’t have enough of, the war will not be won as soon as.” -- General Nathaniel Green, Quartermaster, American Revolutionary Army.“… in its relationship to strategy, logistics assumes the character of a dynamic force, without which the strategic conception is simply a paper plan.” -- Commander C. Theo Vogelsang, USN“You will not find it difficult to prove that battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics.”– General Dwight D. Eisenhower

This is an extremely plausible "Dan Lenson" novel that deals with how the modern Navy might perform in a war in East Asia. This one features some of the gritty realities in the modern Navy, modern high technology weaponry, a plausible political backdrop, and above all, the pressures of command in a warlike environment.In this one, a US Navy weakened by lowered peacetime appropriations is thrust into a situation in which the US and China square off in the aftermath of an Indian-Pakistan conflict. In a manner more than reminiscent of 1914, the nations in the area choose sides, and the belligerents begin issuing ultimatums to one another. The use of nuclear weapons becomes suddenly very much on the table, as China seeks to assert hegemony in East Asia and throw the US out of the Western Pacific.The protagonist, Dan Lenson, commands the Navy's only operational Ballistic Missile Defense cruiser. The personnel are strained and fractured by a previously bad Captain, and the technology is experimental and barely proven. Against this backdrop the author puts together an extremely realistic political-military story that I found to be every bit as gripping (if not more so) than Clancy's Red Storm Rising -- high praise indeed. I was up all night reading this one. So will you be too. RJB.

’s another realistic but depressing naval procedural starring Dan Lenson.At the outset, Lenson is recalled to Washington and forced to testify to Congress about what’s now being called “the Lenson Doctrine” - Lenson’s decision in the previous book to use his ship’s experimental anti-missile capability to shoot down a missile fired by the Israelis, retaliating against Syria for a major rocketing of Tel Aviv. The Israelis are allies. Lenson argues it’s within his orders to counter major civilian loss of life. Evil right-wing Congresspersons go after him.His marriage is strained. Blair is running for Congress herself and wants him to quit the Navy. Things are frosty between them.Back on the ship, it’s the usual Lenson voyage from hell. His ship is wracked by illness, tidal wave, sexual assault, dangerous orders, conflicting orders, the Navy’s conflicting combat and humanitarian roles, and all while facing a brewing and possibly nuclear war between India and Pakistan, one the Chinese may come in on.Lenson is, of course, lonely at the top. Captains can’t really have friends aboard ship, but then, Lenson never had any as a lower-ranked officer, either. Poyer interestingly makes his personality an issue here: He realizes his crew is starting to look at him like Captain Queeg. That’s in part because his ship has so many simultaneous crises he can’t get any sleep, and when he’s faced with split-second decisions about shooting down Indian or Pakistani ballistic missiles, that’s not something he can delegate. Is he going to tell the Pentagon he slept through a nuclear war?Poyer has staked out a liberal storyline for the series. Conservative bad guys in Washington; in most techno-thrillers it’s the liberals who don’t get it. His own characterization of Lenson, though, shows how problematic all that political correctness is. Should a warship be asked to go fight after handing over all its stores in a humanitarian mission? Without being replenished? Should the ship be put at risk trying to shoot down missiles from both sides in a war in which the U.S. is neutral? It’s like sending one cop to stop a riot.Most of all, if having women on ships leads to fractiousness between women officers and male non-coms who are the heart of the Navy, plus increased incidents of sexual assault whose investigations further split the crew - why is this experiment considered a success? Lenson continues to silently lust for one of his officers, who occasionally seems to hit on him, but he meanwhile recognizes she’s the biggest pain-in-the-butt feminist on the ship and perhaps the entire Navy.The series’ mythology now heads towards war with China (as other techno-thriller writers like Larry Bond have foreseen.) China here backs Pakistan against India and Lenson has a run-in with a Chinese naval vessel, He gets orders to sail the Savo Island to the South China Sea, where a much larger war is breaking out.

David Poyer can not write a bad book,i have read all his books and have never been disappointed.

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I found the book to be somewhat confusing and boring. It was not as good as The Cruiser. It was also more unbelievable than some of his other works. Tipping Point: The War with China - The First SalvoTipping Point: The War with China - The First Salvo

Very interesting reading, mainly for those who are related to Navy activities. Hard to stop reading.

Poyer does an excellent job with his Navy novels. This one made me anxious to find out what's next.