Published: June 21, 2011
Words: 101,577 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9780983741701

Short description

When Tom Dugan becomes collateral damage in the War on Terror, he doesn't take it lying down. Falsely implicated in a hijacking, he can clear himself only betraying his best friend, London ship owner Alex Kairouz. But once undercover in Alex's company, Dugan's refusal to accept Alex's guilt puts him at odds with both his CIA handlers, and a beautiful British agent with whom he's working.

Extended description

In the tradition of Clancy, Griffin, and Cussler, newcomer R.E. McDermott delivers a thriller to rival the masters.

When consultant and very part-time spook Tom Dugan finds himself becoming collateral damage in the War on Terror, he's not about to take it lying down.

Falsely implicated in a hijacking, he's offered a chance to clear his own name by helping the CIA hook what they consider to be the bigger fish, Dugan's long-time friend, London ship owner Alex Kairouz. Reluctantly, Dugan agrees to go undercover in Alex's company, despite doubts about his friend's guilt. Once undercover, Dugan's steadfast refusal to accept Alex's guilt puts him at odds with both his CIA handlers and a beautiful British agent with whom he's working. (Read more) In the tradition of Clancy, Griffin, and Cussler, newcomer R.E. McDermott delivers a thriller to rival the masters.

When consultant and very part-time spook Tom Dugan finds himself becoming collateral damage in the War on Terror, he's not about to take it lying down.

Falsely implicated in a hijacking, he's offered a chance to clear his own name by helping the CIA hook what they consider to be the bigger fish, Dugan's long-time friend, London ship owner Alex Kairouz. Reluctantly, Dugan agrees to go undercover in Alex's company, despite doubts about his friend's guilt. Once undercover, Dugan's steadfast refusal to accept Alex's guilt puts him at odds with both his CIA handlers and a beautiful British agent with whom he's working.

When a tanker is found adrift near Singapore with a dead crew, and another explodes in port as Alex lies near death after a suspicious suicide attempt, Dugan is framed for the attacks. Out of options, and convinced the attacks are prelude to an even more devastating assault, Dugan eludes capture to follow his last lead to Russia, only to be shanghaied as an 'advisor' to a Russian Spetsnaz unit on a near-suicidal mission.

Deadly Straits is a non-stop thrill ride, transporting the reader from London offices, to the dry docks of Singapore, to the decks of the tankers that slake the world's thirst for oil, with stopovers in Panama, Langley, Virginia, and Teheran. Richly spiced with detail from the author's thirty years sailing, building, and repairing ships around the globe, it is, in the words of one reviewer, "fast-paced, multi-layered and gripping."

READER COMMENTS

"An awesome book! It has a very Tom Clancy feel. Kudos to Mr. McDermott. Well done, Sir."
D. Bosshardt, Amazon - 5 Stars

"An absolute cracker of a thriller, quite simply on a par with Clancy et al. When I'd finished I wanted more! A terrific story superbly written.
'Tao", Amazon (UK) - 5 Stars

"A little Clancy, a bit of Ludlum, and a lot of Mr. McDermott!"
Libby Dunkin, Amazon - 5 Stars

"Move over WEB Griffin, Cussler, & Ludlum. Weaving together come-alive characters, McDermott takes us through an all too realistic plot involving oil tankers used to cause havoc to the worlds' shipping … a page turner."
Bob Hopfe, Amazon - 5 Stars

"International intrigue in expert hands. With breathless pacing and punchy prose, McDermott knots a plot so real it might well be breaking news. Deadly Straits ravages like a cat 5 hurricane: unpredictable, merciless, and fierce.”
L.C. Fiore, author, Green Gospel

"A brilliant thriller. I was quite surprised that this is a first novel. On par with high ranking thrillers. Action non-stop …a great read."
Cheryl M-M, Amazon (UK) - 5 Stars

"In 1994 Tom Clancy's "Debt of Honor" used a jumbo jet as a suicide missile … it happened for real on 9/11. In 2011 R.E. McDermott published "Deadly Straits" where supertankers are used as terror weapons with deadly results. Let's hope we don't look back and say McDermott predicted that. This is a book of action and suspense, well written with multiple plots woven into one coherent whole. I've read several best-sellers that are legends in the genre and this book is as well done as any of them, if not better."
Stephen C. Lovely, Amazon - 5 Stars

"Expert plotting … the sheer excitement of the story kept me reading until I finished in two nights. I look forward to the next work by Mr. McDermott."
James E. Daman, Amazon - 5 Stars

"In a book that takes no prisoners, McDermott tells a tale of high seas terrorism and tells it well. Go get this one, right now!"
Nancy, Cheryl's Book Nook - 5 Stars
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Tags

cia, thriller, terrorism, espionage, terrorist, ships, terror, russia, china, london, action adventure, intrigue, panama canal, spy, technothriller, iran, mens adventure, turkey, istanbul, marine, singapore, mi5, maritime, tehran, sea story, panama, venezuela, bosphorus, straits, thriller adventure, thriller adult, mens action, tanker, chokepoint, strait, malacca strait, politics of oil

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Videos

Deadly Straits - A Thriller
" A fast-moving thriller packed with action and intrigue." Scott Nicholson, best-selling author of Liquid Fear

Reviews

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Review by: georgiamom on Feb. 21, 2012 :
Outstanding book for a debut. Kudos to the author! This thriller is about a terrorist attack involving a shipping company based in London. I will definitely recommend this book to my friends.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Quentin Stewart on Jan. 20, 2012 :
If you enjoy mystery and intrigue then McDermott's book is a must read. He takes the reader into the international shipping lanes and involves them in an intense struggle to stop the destruction of some vital choke points in the shipping industry. The characters he has created are believable especially the CIA political appointee who is more interested in his own career then in helping to stop the tragedies that are developing around the world.

Mr. McDermott takes the reader on a worldwide tour of the important tight spots that the large ships must navigate to keep the world's economy flowing. The person who is the headmaster of this scheme is one of the most clever and brilliant masterminds that I have run across my reading. He is ruthless and it is his bringing together various individuals who want control of different areas that keeps the novel moving and keeps the reader wondering if he can be stopped or not. The ones trying to stop the madness are often just reacting to occurrences and often left scratching their heads wondering why and where next.

I enjoyed the way McDermott ended the book by tying up all of the lose ends and showing what happened to the principals in the story. How some met justice after thinking they were free and clear and others found new jobs and loves. He also leaves the door open for a sequel with some of the same people working together to combat the ones who want to upset the balance of power or the world economy.

A very interesting and excellent read. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in thrillers. Good job.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Bill Thibadeau on Jan. 12, 2012 :
There are numerous reviews that tell you the storyline and plot so I will not duplicate their fine synopses. I do wonder why some gave glowing reviews that resulted in only four stars.

Mr McDermott has written a first rate debut novel of suspense and intrigue. I hope that our security services realize the potential for similar terrorist activities. The author has written a complex story of intrigue with great characters. He has provided the reader with characters we can empathize with, or hate, or hope for.

Personally, I was happy to read a maritime novel by someone very familiar with that industry. The references are all authentic and you can tell that the author personally has been where the story happens. All this brings an aura of realism to the story.

I highly recommend this novel to anyone interested in intrigue, suspense, action, or mystery genres. I hope that the author continues to write as I am hungry for more. This book is easily in the class of the good Tom Clancy and Le Carre books.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Mike Davis on Dec. 31, 2011 :
This is a good first effort by author McDermott, an experienced shipping professional who knows the language of the maritime industry. The plot is multi-faceted and well written, and tension continues throughout with some surprises enroute. I had a bit of trouble visualizing some of the descriptions at the Panama Canal and the scene onboard the tanker, but overall it was in a class with Clancy, et. al.

I received this in eBook format from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: deborah godwin on Nov. 20, 2011 :
My husband and I both read this book at the same time. We were mesmerized and could not put it down. For me the first 55 pages were a slow start but then it all started falling in place. Lots of characters, places and ships to keep straight as you read. The dialog contains some sarcastic humor that always adds to a book for me. The setting of large oil carriers being hijacked by terrorists was believable. There was a lot of words specific to this industry that had me scurrying for a dictionary but even without knowing exacly what the word neant did not detract from the story. The ending was perfect and screams for more. This new author writes like Tom Clancy (Sum of all Fear) and Nelson Demille. I look forward to more by R E McDermott!
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Sarah Brown-Schmidt on Nov. 18, 2011 :
This book has a lot of different sub plots, which makes it complex and interesting, but a little hard to follow. Some of the subplots were more interesting than others. So, it would be a good one for you if you like complex books with lots of themes and lots of characters. Not for you if you want a quick and light read.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Doug Bower on Nov. 16, 2011 :
If you love spy thrillers involving espionage and terrorism this is a book you do not want to miss. This is an amazing thriller by a new author that writes like a master. The complex storyline keeps you thinking and always on your toes. The characters (both good guys and bad guys) are extremely well developed. Unlike many thrillers the characters are multidimensional and impacted by the things that impact normal people making them very realistic. The author tells a great story with such amazingly fast paced action that it makes the book almost impossible to put down. I have read some great books over the past few months and this ranks right at the top. I look forward to more books by this author.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: Tony Brennan on Nov. 04, 2011 :
Deadly thriller with masterful suspense from first time author.Mr McDermott outlines a terrifying scenario where terrorists target shipping choke points using oil tankers as weapons of destruction.Shipping expert Thomas Dugan,a part time CIA agent is persuaded to spy on his friend and shipping owner Alex Kairouz against a background of suspected terrorism links and actions by Iran and Venezuela to effect world oil supplies.The novel is very fast moving and the author manages to juggle his characters and develop the various plots while escalating the the suspense factor. Well worth reading and I look forward to more of Mr McDermott's fictional output.I hope earnestly that his plot outline does not become true in the future.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

Review by: A.B.R. on Oct. 29, 2011 :
Deadly Straits is one of the better thrillers I’ve read of late, along with John Le Carre’s ‘Our Kind of Traitor’ and Michael White’s ‘The Beautiful Assassin’. Good company to be in. There is lots of action, but for me characterization is critical for determining my reading enjoyment, and the characters are genuine and believable, deliciously fallible, and heroic without falling into the all too common heroic stereotypes. For me the real hero was a mentally challenged girl, but it is not overplayed and may, in fact, be a touch underplayed in the novel. But I don’t want to say too much for fear of giving the plot away.

The plot is complex and can get a bit confusing at times, so pay attention to the chapter headings as you read it. I too often didn’t. A Cast of Characters list in the table of contents would have been helpful, but I was able to use the find function to refresh my memory or clarify which terrorist was which. The find function is one of the great benefits of reading ebooks.

This is a fine book, drawing attention to the potential of maritime terrorism. Most thriller fans should enjoy it, whether or not they have any particular interest in maritime subjects.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)

Review by: Stephen England on Oct. 12, 2011 :
Take a lifetime of nautical knowledge. Mix in a potentially lethal international situation. Bring to a boil. The result? A thriller that may materialize as reality in tomorrow’s headlines.
R.E. McDermott brings a career in the maritime industry to the table in his debut thriller, Deadly Straits. And it shows—as a diabolical Iranian plan unfolds to cripple the sea-going oil trade.
The target? Chokepoints—straits and canals—through which the world’s oil supply flows.
The weapons? Supertankers known by the acronym VLCC(Very Large Crude Carrier), which have been sabotaged and turned into floating bombs.

The only man who can stop them is Thomas Dugan, a ship inspector and part-time CIA asset. An asset that is about to be activated.

From the opening scenes in Singapore to the pulse-pounding climax in the Straits of Bosphorus, McDermott spins bureaucrats, spies, commandos, and sailors into a well-researched and frighteningly plausible tale that smacks of the salt sea.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Mark Van Raam on Sep. 17, 2011 :
This was a great read. The action was great with a couple of sub plots. For me it was a fast page turner and I can't wait for the next book from this author.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Amanda Wimer on Sep. 08, 2011 :
This is not the type of book I usually enjoy, but enjoy it I did! I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline as it was very action packed although it was difficult to follow at times. Trying to figure out which characters were which and the technical aspects of the novel made it kinda of difficult to follow and I found myself having to re-read certain parts to get a better grasp on the situation at hand. Even with all of the difficulty I found myself engrossed and totally involved with what would happen next. Now I have to read the next book!!
(reviewed the day of purchase)

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