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MWSA Review
Intrepid Spirit is an engaging thriller set in the contemporary Middle East, where a terrorist fanatic is planning to foment Shiite uprisings across the region. The goal is to alter the balance of power under the leadership of the principal Shiite state, Iran. At the core of the strategy lies a bold move designed to paralyze the ability of the United States to counter the pending Jihad—the kidnaping and assassination of the American Vice President.
The inspirational twist in the story is in placing the USS Constitution, the oldest ship afloat and the oldest commissioned US Navy warship, on a goodwill tour of Mediterranean ports. The ship, known to American sailors as “Old Ironsides,” has just been given a new commanding officer as a consequence of an unfortunate encounter between a US Navy patrol boat and an Iranian corvette. The American vessel had sunk the Iranian ship in an attempt to rescue a group of refugees. The ensuing international brouhaha led to the American boat’s overly aggressive skipper being relieved of his command and sent to a low-profile assignment as the captain of the Constitution.
It is inevitable, however, that the turn of events results in the Constitution being the only US Navy vessel in a position to thwart the Shiite terrorists’ plan.
Author David Tunno has crafted an exciting and innovative story that pits the technology of the early days of our republic against modern-day weaponry in a setting of continuing international tensions.
Review by Ingo Kauffman (March 2023)
Author's Synopsis
Against orders, navy loose cannon Moses Redding destroys an Iranian patrol boat firing on a refugee vessel, jeopardizing upcoming mid-east peace talks and banishing him to command of 200-year-old USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides," still a commissioned warship, in Italy on a goodwill tour - purgatory for a man of action. Conflicts arise immediately between the disgruntled Redding, his second in command, his crew and Dr. Miriam Hannah, attached to the cruise as a naval historian and top aide to V.P. Virginia Mitchell, point person on the peace talks.
The alpha-male Redding and the alluring, intellectual Dr. Hannah clash from the start, but the mutual attraction is undeniable. Their battle-of-the-sexes romance alternates between intellectual challenges, heated exchanges and touching, often comic moments.
The other woman in Redding's life is Constitution. Known to be haunted, she plays a mysterious supernatural character interceding to affect the arc of Redding and at key moments in the epic battle to come.
A terrorist plot is unveiled by Iranian Colonel Farzad, his Amazonia Guards, a traitorous Egyptian general and a radicalized operative on Mitchell's staff. They abduct the V.P. in Egypt to end the peace talks and launch a world-wide jihad, to be ignited by the V.P's beheading on the 4th of July at a remote location on the Libyan coast.
In a speech to international journalists, Dr. Hannah reminds her audience that the threat from Islam can be traced back hundreds of years, and a lengthy invective from the deliciously evil Farzad reveals the failures of the west to recognize that threat and the current political landscape in the U.S. that aids and abets it.
The plot fools the navy and by chance, only the crew of Constitution know the terrorists are in an ancient fortress near their position, but Redding can't convince the navy. Against orders, he and the crew must foil the plot with nothing but the ships antique weaponry, Redding's brilliant strategy and large doses of bravery in an epic battle on land and sea against the descendants of the ship's historic foes, the Barbary Coast pirates.
Author’s website: https://davidtunno.com/
Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 328
Word Count: 88,482