"The China Sea" eBook was published in 2017 and was written by Richard Herman (http://www.richardhermanbooks.com). Mr. Herman has published more than a dozen novels.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence and Mature Situations. The story is set in contemporary times with most of the action taking place in and around the China Sea.

US President Morgan Taylor sanctions General David Santos to put together a secret off-the-books Special Operations team to combat China's plans to expand into the China Sea. The team is a combination of intelligence gathering, cyber warfare, and boots-on-the-ground shooters.

They find themselves confronted with a very competent Chinese adversary. They must do what they can to halt China's expansion while preventing the situation from evolving into open warfare. The team finds themselves at risk as Chinese operatives and their allies try to eliminate them.

I thought that this was an enjoyable 5.5+ hour read of this 249 page military thriller. I liked the overall plot, though some of the characters seemed a little too perfect and two dimensional. The cover art is OK, though it does not reflect the bulk of the story in my opinion. I give this novel a 3.8 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5.

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This is my first read of Richard Herman, it will not be the last. The China Sea is a fast paced action thriller that kept me on the edge till the end. The characters were believable and fun to cheer for. Richard's ability to create many subplots and tie them together at the end was amazing.

"The China Sea" is about a team put together by General Santos, an old Viet Nam war veteran. The task force has an unlimited budget and reports directly to the President. Their task is to stop the Chinese aggressive effort in the China Sea. China’s intent is to take over much of the ocean between its new man-made islands and Taiwan, making it all part of one China.

An extremely talented Australian computer hacker, Alexandra, takes a central role in the disruption of Chinese supply chains and ends up being personally targeted. The love interest of the task force’s second in command, at the end of the book Alexandra is abducted. She isn't recovered which convinces me that this will be the focus of a sequel.

Incorporated in this book are many of the events going on in the Pacific today. This inclusion makes the book realistic and the plot lines plausible. With regard to the task force's off the books two-billion-dollar budget, I doubt that any US President could spend that kind of money without drawing some congressional oversight committee's scrutiny. But, an almost unlimited budget made for a good story.

I liked this book. Its only 249 pages long, the plot is not complex, and it is a quick read.

It has been a while since reading my last Richard Herman novel. I remember his stories to be more tightly woven. China Sea had many instances of disjointed action with too easy fixes to problems by the heroes. The Chinese computer geek was undeveloped and knew too much of what was happening without the story explaining why.. My biggest issue was the ending. It just ended. How exactly did the Chinese give up? Many loose ends for a Herman novel.

The Chinese Dragon has awoken - and is narrowing its sights on the South China Sea.

America - and it's president Morgan Taylor - cannot permit such territorial expansion to go unchecked. But America also cannot afford to go to war.

To square the circle the President decides to employ the services of David Santos, a retired air force general and intelligence officer, and his "Bravo" team, a company of trained specialists.

As the unit is deployed into South East Asia they know that America will deny all knowledge of their existence. Capture will mean torture - and death.

Santos and Bravo team must try to prevent a war, working in the shadows.

But they will not be alone. China has deployed its own unit, to counter the Americans and foment conflict and conquest.

The fate of Bravo team in the South China Sea could shape - or shatter - the peace between two global superpowers.

The clock is ticking. The race is on.

The China Sea is the latest thriller from New York Times bestselling author Richard Herman.

Perfect for fans of Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn and Andy McNab.